Only in Wisconsin

My husband is a die-hard Denver Broncos fan. When our church interviewed Keith two years ago, their first question was, "Are you a Packers Fan?" When he said he liked the Broncos they supposed that would be okay, as long as he wasn't for the Vikings. 

Some friends gave Keith a Green Bay Packers tie saying that if he wanted to save souls in Wisconsin he needed to  become a Packer fan. But how can you expect a man to change his football allegiance just because he changed states?

So despite the state-wide Packer frenzy and general euphoria, while Keith and the oldest 4 girls went to a youth group Super Bowl party, the rest of us stayed home and watched Letters to God on Netflix. I could tell by the firecrackers going off outside that the Packers had won.  

Happy sigh! Football is done for another year. Big grin.

The next day I'm checking out at Wal-mart. Nobody behind me so the clerk is not in a hurry. I tell her I want my two groups of items rung up separately. 
     
She gets a bit crabby. "Do you want them bagged separately?"
    
I know attitude when I hear it so now I'm on guard.  "It doesn't matter."
       
The clerk grunts, "You're paying for them separately but it doesn't matter if they're bagged together?"
     
So much for the customer always being right. Wanting to get away from this testy lady as soon as possible, I reply, "Yeah."

The clerk switches gears, "So what about them Packers?"

She'd have no way of knowing I'd rather have a cavity filled than watch a football game, but I want to be polite. "Um...yeah."

The clerk suddenly becomes Chatty Cathy. "Man that game was exciting. I kept holding my breath."

It didn't matter now whether I talked or not, she just kept going. "Um...yeah."

By now the clerk is almost done bagging my groceries. She grins, "I would have lost a lot of money if the Steelers won."

I'm weary of being polite.  "I'm glad it worked out for you."
      
People are now in line behind me but she keeps talking. "There was a lot of yelling at our house."

Finally done being polite, I admit, "I didn't watch the game."

The clerk stops what she's doing. Looking genuinely stymied she asks incredulously. "How can you live in Wisconsin and not root for the Packers?"

Indeed. How could I? Probably some sort of genetic defect. Which is worse - to not like football or to not like the Packers? I offer a conciliatory "If I would have watched the game, I would have rooted for the Packers."

At that point she probably decided I wasn't worth talking to and we finished our transaction and I was out of there. 


Sheesh! I'm back to my conclusion from my hair-dying post, when you're not sure what to say, the safest response is "Yep."