Saturday, October 19, 2019

As long as we beat ...

I just misread the clock. I thought it was 5.00 pm. Turns out it was only 4.00 pm. I don't think I can get through the remaining hours without a sleep. Mind you that's most days these days.

I do have an excuse today though. I was up at 8 ready for the England Australia rugby world cup quarter-final. (England won convincingly.) Then we watched Ireland play the New Zealand All Blacks. Wow, they're good. (The ABs that is.)

So by the time we had lunch I felt as if I'd done a whole day's work.

I made a breakthrough (Do you make a breakthrough? It doesn't sound right.) today: to watch England play I wore one of Husband's England rugby shirts.
As I wrote on FaceBook it's taken years of therapy to get me into that. It's a Welsh thing. No, not only Welsh; other nations feel the same.
I have an English husband so it's difficult and it's only been recently that I've been able to support England - and even now sometimes it's half-hearted (but it wasn't today). I've had to force myself, re-educate myself more accurately perhaps.

I've always thought of it as a joke.


But in 2017 a BBC advert was banned for being anti-English, and comments other people have made caused me to rethink my position. Comments along the lines of 'why isn't what you are saying racism?' 

The thing about rugby is that, unlike football, the supporters are very amiable. They sit together, drink together, mock each other, and are very good-humoured, win or lose.

But, anyway, I have made myself change. Should England meet Wales in the finals, however, there is no doubt which team I'll be supporting.

4 comments:

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Sports rivalries are a difficult thing to resolve, so I salute you!

Anonymous said...

You make a good point, Liz, and congratulations.

Even 65 years ago, in high school, I didn't understand why the stadium was segregated. I cheered for good performance by either team - even when one of our daughters was playing. That carried over into adulthood. Why do we separate? At the dinner I hosted following my sister-in-law's funeral, I tried to mix things up in the seating (with little success, I must admit) so that we could get to know one another better. Even at weddings, guests are segregated into "his" and "hers" (or into "hers" and "hers", etc). Why, oh, why do we emphasize division. As it is nearly impossible for me to dislike someone whom I know well, I see great value in our all getting to know one another.

I'll step down off of my soapbox, now.
Cop Car

Anonymous said...

Well, I conflated. I hasten to clarify that neither of our daughters was playing while I was in high school. That would have been 20+ years later when they were in high school.
CC

Marie Smith said...

I’ve never fancied rugby but it is popular!