Pittsburgh, There Are SO Many Great Things About You. This Isn't One of Them.
We're in a good groove right now, so the answers come easily. Sometimes they come even without me asking the question.
"My day was terrible today, momma," Alexis said as she buckled her seatbelt. Tears formed in the corner of her eye as she continued. "Everybody made fun of my jersey."
It was the jersey that she decided to wear somewhere around 3:30 am. Long before the first birds started chirping, a mussy-haired little girl stood in the dark, holding my phone in her hand as she looked for an answer.
"Alexis, what are you doing?" I mumbled to her. We all know how very much I love sleep. I couldn't think of a single reason why I wasn't making out with sleep at that moment, other than WHY WAS THERE A KID RIGHT NEXT TO MY BED? STANDING THERE. STARING AT MY PHONE.
"I need to know if the Pacers won," she whispered.
"Yes, they won," I told told her before demanding that she return to bed.
They did win, by the way. They tried very hard not to, but that was probably just because they like stressing me out. Regardless, Lebron James can suck it because the Pacers won.
The little 8-year old with the heart filled with glitter and sparkle somehow has grown to care about the Pacers. She especially cares if they beat the Heat or not. She has the schedule memorized and knows when they play. She demands to watch the games, but never manages to finish them since bedtime is important time.
Once she knew the Pacers had beaten the Heat, Alexis knew she wanted to wear her jersey. She proudly wore it to school, beaming as she walked out the door this morning. Then, the other kids made fun of her.
Because Pittsburghers don't get the NBA.
Except that one little Pittsburgher. She does.
So after a pep talk and a reminder that it's not nice to make fun of anyone's clothes, I armed the kid with the tools for a comeback. I hope. I asked her if any of the same kids ever wear Steelers, Pens, or Pirates gear.
Of course they do.
So now she's thinking about how she will reply if it happens again. And she definitely knows that it wasn't worth letting it get under her skin.
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Reader Comments (3)
You tell Alexis that there's another Pittsburgh-related girl (although I know I'm 22, so she probably thinks I'm SUPER OLD) who thinks the Pacers are AWESOME - and nobody can change that, especially not other kids who are mean just because they don't understand! [Roy Hibbert went to Georgetown, where I currently go to school. :)]
Poor thing. What jagoffs. Makes me #smashy
I mean, I TOTALLY don't get basketball, but I'm not going to make fun of someone's jersey. (But yeah, Pittsburgh + Basketball = ?)
Tell her I think her jersey is wonderful.
i know nothing of basketball. which is why i don't make fun of it.
well, and i also don't make fun of other people's clothes. but you know what i am saying.
i bet alexis rocks a jersey. hope they others learn to appreciate her in it.