Smile and Wave

Saturday, June 25th. It was the day after the Supreme Court sucker-punched women and reversed Roe v. Wade and my mind was still reeling. I had flown into Phoenix the night before to visit my adult son Brennan, and being with him helped take my mind off the craziness. I realize that someone who willfully goes to the desert in late June might not be right in the head, but that’s beside the point.

Brennan took me to tons of cool places and he was a great host. Since the temps were triple-digity, being anywhere indoors was the goal. We ate. We drank. We ate and drank some more. We went to a cool Irish pub, Seamus McCaffrey’s, and it was all part of the plan – we were pregaming before watching the Diamondbacks and the Detroit Tigers square off at the beautiful (domed) Chase Field. Brennan had gotten us some sick tickets with a great view and I had never been to Chase before. I was impressed!

As ballgames go, there’s always a lot going on when tens of thousands of people cohabitate for a few hours. Like so many other ballparks, there’s no shortage of bars / lounge areas at Chase, and some people just watch the entire game from them rather than from their seats that they purchased. Others tend to stay in their seats the entire time. I always enjoy the art of people-watching when in large crowds, there are usually people from all walks of life at any major sporting event and this night was no exception.

It was about midway thru the game, the top of the 5th inning had just ended. Brennan got up to use the restroom and my thoughts returned to the overturning of Roe v Wade. I was still trying to wrap my head around it all, how the highest court in the land could make such a politically and religiously motivated move by stripping virtually half the US population of some of their basic federal rights. There had already been major protests and clashes across the country since the news broke. I couldn’t help but think of the people around me, the 37,000+ fans in attendance. In a crowd that large I knew there were people on both sides of the issue. Not to mention, all of the other issues plaguing and dividing us in 2022. I had just started contemplating this when the ”wave” broke out.

Like all of us, I’ve been in waves many times before. They’re usually a fun way to pass the time and a good crowd-pleaser, especially with the youth. As the wave came around to my section and it was our turn to stand up and flap our arms in the air, I found myself almost giddy to participate in such a simple act. After dutifully standing, arm-flapping and sitting back down, I was almost 12-year-old boy happy, I was smiling big time. I looked at everyone around me and it was the same – virtually everyone was smiling and laughing.

If there’s anything remotely close to a real magic wand being waved and a spell being put on people, it’s moments like this. Something as simple as moving in sync with thousands of others has a way of making some brain chemicals spring into happy mode. And when you’re in a large crowd that’s doing the wave, inevitably you look from afar to see the human wave….waving back at you.

It’s simple.

It’s fun.

It’s unity.

If only for a fleeting moment in time.

Surely there’s a way to replicate unity like this more often, right?

Surely there’s a way to be 12-year-old happy on more of a regular basis?

I’d like to think so.

And I’ll stop calling you Shirley.