the man at raiders nation

The line at raiders stadium is pandimonium on the way in. Liquor sits on the breath of every man, testosterone flows through the air, and everything is interactive and inflamatory. This gauntlet is not the place for a child.

Today there was a man walking with his boy. The child was at that age where a man is gestating inside the boy, he is being shaped consiously and subconsiously by every boob, rockstar, and dose of pop culture. The man walking with his boy kept one arm on his son's shoulder. They both wore the colors of the invading team, they were both the ire of the gauntlet though not the subject of any direct scorn.

In front of me stood a man. He looked like what you would expect a raiders fan to look like. If you didn't know better you may not ask for directions if you were lost, a woman may have instinctively clutched her purse in front of him in the elevator, and my mother would have locked the doors of the car if she saw him in the street. This man was directly behind the man and his son and he was surrounded by an ambivalent pack, all intoxicated by the moment.

The man in front of me did an honorable thing. The raiders fan represented all his kind powerfully and with a quiet dignity. You had to really be looking to see it, I can assure you the father and the son did not see it, but I saw it. I watched as the aroused mass lurched forward in a good natured frenzy with no regard for this man and his boy. You could see an awkward misunderstanding, perhaps violent, almost assuredely hatefull could happen at any moment, you could taste the two paths that this moment could have taught that boy who would soon be a man.

The raiders fan in front of me was shielding the man and his boy. He was doing it so subtley that you could barely tell he was doing it on purpose. The raiders fan kept a watch for what surprises may be coming at them, he steered his freinds and all the physical hootin and hollaring by "moshing them away". He was not clearly any more sober but he was clearly protecting the foriegn invader and his boy. Like a body guard he made sure nothing happened with general decency and honor. I noticed how he watched his friends and steared them jujitzo style from carelessly starting some shit, and none of them even saw the patronizing behaviour he emplored to keep them in check.

The raiders fan was so human at that moment and not just because he did right thing but because he did it invisible to untrained eye. That moment, that butterfly effect resonated through the man, the boy, the raiders fan and me. It did so silently potent and infinitely confident in mankind. It made me think deeply about how I think about God and what I mean when I say I see God everywhere. It is also my only explanation for how the raiders beat the eagles today, I challenge you to prove that wasn't God.