The World Cup ends today. One game left. By tomorrow most of you visitors will be packing up, heading to the airport, going home.
So before you go, let me say the thing I actually want to say.
A few weeks ago I wrote a silly post about all the things you were discovering here. Free refills. Free water. Ice like civilized people. Chips and salsa before you even order. Air conditioning that is a fact and not a moral debate. Drive-throughs. Ranch by the gallon. The Germans standing in the HEB meat aisle in reverent silence, finally understanding why we do not have trains. Buc-ee’s, for which there are still no words.
It blew up, because it was true, and because you were so delightfully stunned by all of it.
Even the Wall Street Journal caught on. Their headline this week: how the US lost the World Cup and won over the world. We did not lift the trophy. But apparently we lifted something else.
We even learned a few things about ourselves along the way. Like the fact that Elon Musk, the single richest man on the planet, shops at HEB. Just rolls in and queues up for fresh tortillas with everybody else. The man could buy the tortilla company, the state it is in, and the moon it sits under, and instead he is standing in line at the hot-tortilla counter like the rest of us, because that is where the good ones are. Only in America is the wealthiest human alive elbow to elbow with a mom of four at the salsa bar. That is the whole country in one aisle.
And here is the part I want every one of you to hear on your way out the door.
None of it was a show.
We did not roll all this out because you were coming. The ice was always there. The refills were always free. The grocery stores were always the size of aircraft hangars at ten on a Tuesday. The stranger who adopted your whole section, the guy who gave you a ride, the waitress who remembered your order, the family that invited you to the cookout, that is not World Cup America. That is just America. That is Tuesday.
We are exactly like this when nobody is visiting. Loud, generous, ridiculous, overfed, and genuinely thrilled you came. We will still be exactly like this tomorrow when the stands are empty and the flags come down.
So thank you. To everyone who came, who sang in our streets, who cleaned our stadiums, who turned our cities orange and filled our bars and taught us your chants. You were wonderful guests, and you made a country that just turned 250 feel young and seen and loved.
And to everyone who could not make it this time, the door does not close today. We meant all of it. Come whenever. The porch light stays on, the fridge stays full, and there is always room for one more at the table.
You found out who we are these last few weeks.
Good news. We are like this all the time.
Safe travels home.
Y’all come back now, you hear. 🦋
@4SigmaSmarter@guttenbirder22 I can barely look at the video because I’m so afraid of heights.
It is easier when I’m the driver or sit behind the driver so I’m away from the cliff side.
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Two issues with your reply (three if I count your insulting, unladylike language-represent us women AND yourself better and learn how to engage respectfully).
1. How a person reacts to an action doesn’t define the intent of the action. If you are a boxer, you shouldn’t be surprised if you get punched in the face. Wrestling is a full contact sport. There are going to be awkward situations in the sport. This may have been the first time an opponent grabbed her like this and that is why her face registered shock. I assume it is her mom whose voice we hear. She witnessed the entire thing and obviously didn’t see anything wrong because, as she states, she doesn’t know what that face was about or what she said.
2. Unless she had a hole in her singlet and wasn’t wearing panties, it would be virtually impossible for the opponent’s fingers to have ‘penetrated’ her vagina. She definitely would’ve felt hand/fingers grab her there, but penetration would be a stretch. If that had happened, I think we would’ve seen surprise on the opponent’s face. The opponent is obviously working to pin her. If the opponent is indeed a boy, intended assault seems even less likely; I’ve been married for 41 years and what I’ve learned about males is they aren’t typically ‘multi-taskers’. One thing at a time. Hunting the bear while thinking about sex can get them killed.
I do take issue with boys in girls’ sports. I also never liked when my son or his teammates had to wrestle girls because of this exact situation. The boy is vulnerable to an accusation just by the nature of it being a contact sport.
Regardless of my opinions on the video and boys participating in girl’s sports, we females need to fight for our spaces and sports to remain ours.
And again-do better and show some self respect in how you reply. Your language does less damage to a person on whom it’s poured than to the brain in which it’s stored.
I have to agree with Great Dunn. Having watched wrestling for over 35 years, I didn’t see anything unusual in the video. I see a wrestler doing a pretty standard attempt to get control of his opponent and get the pin. Any wrestling mom out there can pull up video from her son’s matches and you will see the same move over and over. If this was a girls’ wrestling tourney, I don’t think this match should have taken place. If it was a coed tourney, then it shouldn’t be a problem.