2 Ravens Fans, One Store, and a 9 Year-Old

Once the offical word came out that 49ers backup quarter back Alex Smith would be seeking release from the 49ers, I thought I'd go to Twitter to "declare" the day before the Super Bowl "wear AS11" day as a means to thank the quarterback for his years in SF, for putting up with the crap that he has, and for putting up with some mean fans. As part of the "wear AS11" deal, tweeps were to post a pic and tag it #AlexSmith. It remins to be seen if anyone else does this, the day is still long, and the only reason I'm really mentioning it is because of the attention it drew while I was out and about, doing some shopping for the get together we're having at my house.


We were at the second to the last stop, Walmart. Now, I know many of you will think "lady, you're asking for it" and in a sense, I agree. Yeah, I'm strutting my homer self in public, the day before the Super Bowl, wearing 49ers garb, carrying my 49ers purse, and holding my 9 year-old daughter's hand. As she and I walk down the aisle of the parking lot, tightly hugging one side to keep the middle clear, out comes an older man from between two cars, shouting at me "The 49ers are going to lose tomorrow!" He sneered.

"Really? You think?" I asked, his most striking feature was not his voice, not the fact that he's probably in his 60s, or maybe a 50-something who has thus far lived a hard life, but his really horrible teeth. It looked like he lost every other tooth, a testament to poor hygiene.

"They will lose!" he yelled.

I chuckled, kept walking, but turned around to toss over my shoulder "Kaepernick is going to run all over your Ravens!"

"When the 49ers lose, I'll be dancing and thinking of you," he again shouted while wagging his finger at me.

The finger-wagging actually annoyed me for a short bit, but then I thought "What kind of fool would trash-talk and finger-wag at a complete stranger in a Walmart parking lot?" I then realized where I was. Walmart. Figures. The last time I was there, I saw a lady get hit by a car backing out of a parking lot and some young punk speeding through the parking lot without yielding to the right of way. Well, without yielding to anything. Good thing the lady that was hit did not cross the path of that young punk.

Onward my daughter and I went into the store, and shortly after we set foot in the store, a young man with Downs Syndrome  approached me and showed me his Ravens hat.

"You a Raven's fan, eh?" I said.

"Yeah!" he proclaimed, wearing a proud grin.

"You watching the game tomorrow?" I asked.

"Yeah!" he answered and replaced the hat on his head.

"Well good luck to your team," I replied and continued on my way to the craft section with my daughter.

I looked at my daughter and told her "I'm glad your father wasn't here. He would not have taken kindly to the old man in the parking lot, mostly because you were right there." (My husband knows I can take care of myself for the most part) We talked a little about stranger danger. And after that, I thought about the young man with Downs and had to give his parenta kudos for teaching the boy some class. If the Ravens win tomorrow, I won't be happy for Ray Lewis, I'll be happy for that kid in Walmart.