Because horses need bathing suits, too
I have this bad habit.
When I get thirsty I drink water.
Before you start of accusing me of hitting my head on the kitchen cabinet one time too many times, hear me out.
And if you read my column enough you have probably realized by now that the whole of this thing will not be about drinking water.
Nor will it be about hitting my head on kitchen cabinets.
Even though I do both quite a lot.
Let’s start with the water.
Do you know what can really make you thirsty?
Being me.
Being me chasing high school football players up and down the sideline on a Friday while I try to get a good photo.
That can make you thirsty.
Yes, I go to the concession stand and get a bottle of water.
Maybe a hot dog.
The “maybe a hot dog” part is another reason being me and chasing young athletes up and down the sidelines of a football game while I try to get a good photo is such a thirst-making chore.
Because the “maybe a hot dog” sometimes (most times) is more like, “maybe two hot dogs.”
So, I get my bottle of water and my hot dog (two hot dogs) and the cost is always something like $3.50.
Or $4.50.
Or $4.
And I always ask, “Who’s got the concession?”
Because that’s how students and sponsors involved in extra curricular activities help pay for all their stuff — trips and uniforms and sheets of music and pom poms and all that neat swag.
I usually hand over a Lincoln and tell them to keep the change.
I mean, my hands are full. I have a camera, a bottle of water, and a hot dog (two hots dogs), and I don’t want to have to juggle — literally — while I put change in my pocket.
That usually draws a crowd and people stare at me and ask where the organ grinder is hiding, and stuff like that.
Just easier to let them keep the change and I don’t have to answer questions about how I became such a good juggler.
Besides, it’s helping out a school thingy, right?
But this isn’t about helping out a school thingy.
It’s about helping.
See the front page story “Family matters” today?
That’s what this is about.
I don’t know about most people but I feel pretty good when I get a bottle of water and a hot dog (two hot dogs) and it costs something like $3.50 or $3.25 and I ask who’s running the concession (because I’m curious) and they tell me the water polo team and I tell them to keep the change from a “fiver” because horses need bathing suits, too, and maybe it’s the band’s night to run the concession, or the volleyball team, or the soccer team, or the chess club, or whatever — and I feel like I’ve contributed something.
Also, the hot dog is pretty good (both of them) because there’s a parent slaving over a grill — in this heat — getting these things ready and they’re not getting paid.
And did I mention the heat?
Sorry, I get sidetracked so easily.
And even if you don’t want to give an extra 50-cents or a dollar to whatever school thingy has the concession, you still have to appreciate the people working the concession, right? I mean, they’re working a concession stand instead of enjoying the game.
And it’s really hot because they have seven fans blowing and all it does is stir up hot air.
Again. Sidetracked.
Just saying, it feels good to be part of a community where something like this can happen.
Where compassion is stronger than rivalry.
Hats off to Anderson County High School.
See, even if you aren’t an Anderson County High School Maverick “fan,” per say, you have to be a fan of a kid getting treatments for leukemia.
You have to be a fan of the parents who are spending every minute they can with their child.
And you have to be a fan of a group of people who’ll stand up and say, “Let us help you out somehow.”
