"DO LIKE YOU CAN NOW!!"

Sitting in the stands tonight at baseball was like attending the longest and loudest unsolicited advice convention. Thankfully, none of the advice was directed towards me. I guess certain people would call some of the banter cheering. I've heard some of these cheers a trillion times and either it never made sense to me to begin with or else it is becoming increasingly non-sensical the more times I hear them. It's like when you say a word over and over and pretty soon it doesn't make any sense anymore. Not sure, but "Do like you can now!!" became confusing to me at one point. (Is that guy speaking Arabic?... Oh no...no, It is English) Another strange cheer: One parent continually yelling at his boy on first base "NOTHING GETS PAST YOU! NOTHING!!" (everything got past him... everything.) Then there was the comic relief as the assistant coach of the opposing team repeatedly howled across the field for his son to spit out his gum during play. The red headed boy heard his father... he just wanted to see his father act it out i guess. Thus began the funniest session of gesticulating. The father shoving his fingers into his mouth, pulling out imaginary gum and then pretending to throw it away angrily. (i smiled) He repeated this skit numerous times while his chubby, red headed son watched him, sheer pleasure flushing his face. Suddenly, the boy became brave. Perhaps his bravery stemmed from the level to which he had caused his father to stoop to so successfully already, perhaps it was his friends surrounding him, perhaps he just had temporary insanity. He raised his fist into a "hang loose" sign and wiggled his freckly hand at his irate father. As the son exited the field, he wore a smug grin that read "I'm goooood!" Have you ever watched the Daffy duck cartoon where Daffy's beak gets smacked off? That's pretty much what happened when #30 reached his dad on the other side of the fence. His dad snatched him by the back of the sweaty neck to steady #30 as he shoved his sausagy fingers into his son's howling mouth, extricated the gum and threw it away JUST like he had mimed. It was too much. I looked away and laughed. Curt's aunt, who was sitting with me muttered "Baseball players are supposed to chew gum aren't they?" I guess NOT... not according to #30's dad. Not when they chew gum AND give the hang loose sign. Anyways, we laughed, he cried and someone yelled yet another inane cheer. "Look alive!!" (Who made up these cheers anyways?)