I was told to cheer for the team in the green jerseys, but so far I’ve yet to see one. I’ve lost count of the number of games that have been aired throughout the day, but it seems to me that all I’ve seen has been one team fitted in blue and another in white with red. Maybe there was a solid red as well. Some of the blue fellows had “The Bank of Ireland” written on the front…I felt so awful for them….

The crowd down there in the bar has been steadily growing all day, and now, at 10pm, seems to be taking a breather, though I can’t imagine it’ll last too long…. The first time I came down the stairs that sort of wind into the room, there was absolute silence as everyone stared. I wish I could have thought of something droll to say in that never-ending second’s lapse, but alas, my sense of humour usually fails me at times like these. The last time I came into the room was from outside. Deciding to have something to eat, I sat at a high stool that looked out into the room, equidistant between the large TV screens on either wall and giving me the best view in the house…. Mind you, I realised after I’d sat down that I was also centre stage for the whole room as well…. No one stared directly this time, but the seats along the bar where I was sitting magically emptied as my neighbours got up and moved elsewhere….

The clients were mostly young men, and what I imagine to be a pretty regular mix of jocks and wannabes…. The very few women in the room were gesticulating with over-excitement and exhibiting interesting preening behaviour… I thought it was the males who were supposed to act like that…?

Most women I know are in accord on the subject of European vs. American football: soccer players are much prettier….I confirmed this hypothesis with glances at the screens between bites of my veggie-burger – not the house specialty – and sips of fizzy water. The decibel level was quite remarkable, yet I could see at least half a dozen people on cell phones…sigh… I’m getting old…. I gathered my things to leave and squeezed past the gaggle of youngsters, mesmerized by the action on the screen, blocking the stairs up to the second floor and the room that I am very grateful to be occupying.

It seemed to be half-time, as the image of the soccer field had been replaced by adverts for hallucinatingly violent video games, alternating with a semi-circular line of older men in black suits and ties….No Madonna, here – just serious football….

Peeling off the fifteen layers of clothing I wore for my outdoor excursion (and I was still cold…), I change into the comfort of a sari for the evening – since they’re going to anyway,  I’d might as well give them something to really stare at….

Blessings and Love…

Dawn