The Happy Wanderer Special Super Bowl Edition

In Praise of Ordinary Workers

I am a lifelong football fan, even though my beloved Minnesota Vikings share with only one other team (the Buffalo Bills) the dubious distinction of having lost the most Super Bowls (four) without a single win. There are two kinds of Vikings fans, those who switch to being Packers fans after the Vikes are knocked out of the playoffs, and those who will never support the Packers under any circumstances whatsoever. I am in the former group,¹ so I had brief hopes of a vicarious Super Bowl win—hopes that were dashed a couple of weeks ago when the Packers lost. Ah well. At least there’s this consolation from last month:

Apologies to readers who are Patriots fans, but I couldn’t resist.

One reason I enjoy football is because the game is so easy to follow. There’s no need, as in baseball, to memorize complicated statistics whose acronyms sound like the names of space aliens (BABIP, GIDPO, UZR, VORP, and similar preposterous acronyms can be found here). The networks help us spectators out by showing the first-down line in yellow, so we don’t even need to watch constantly to know what’s happening—we can just listen and occasionally glance up as we, for example, knit a sweater. Here is a sweater I worked on while watching a LOT of football this season. I was able to easily follow the games and the intricate pattern at the same time. (And yes, I know that it is unusual for a discussion of football to somehow devolve into one about knitting. But you are reading a newsletter written by a middle-aged lady—what did you expect?)

Football, the Military, and Hidden Ideology

Perhaps because in football, teams make forceful incursions into the opponent’s territory, an association has arisen between football and the military. The team formerly known by the amusingly generic moniker “The Washington Football Team” is now the Washington Commanders. Games are referred to as battles, an attempt to break through the other team’s line is a blitz, and passes are long bombs. Many NFL games include pregame or half-time tributes to the military; the NFL co-sponsors a charity, Salute to Service, which “honor[s], empower[s], and connect[s] our nation’s service members, veterans, and their families”; and many professional and even college games feature flyovers by military jets. I enjoy flyovers as much as the next person, but—as Troy Aikman and Joe Buck were caught saying on a hot mike a couple of years ago—“That’s a lot of jet fuel just to do a little flyover,” and “That’s your hard-earned money and your tax dollars at work” (see this article for an interesting history of why flyovers are so common at sporting events).

While it is laudable that the NFL supports our troops, this support does raise questions beyond the waste of taxpayer money. (This waste isn’t limited to the cost of flyovers, incidentally. In 2015, as a result of an investigation prompted by then-Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake, the NFL agreed to refund taxpayer dollars that the military had been paying them to run tributes to the troops.) I would argue that this intense connection between America’s favorite sport² and the military is an example of hidden ideology.

First, there is no obvious logical connection between sports—which are, after all, games intended for entertainment and profit—and war. It actually would be more logical to associate football with, say, professional poker, than with the military. This connection, which so many people accept unquestioningly,³ is actually kind of weird.

You will be relieved to learn that this is from the Onion.

In addition, when we see tributes to the military week after week, but not to other kinds of workers who protect American interests overseas, we get the implicit message that force is the only way to keep us safe and to solve world problems. But this isn’t true! I know several hardworking, courageous, and highly accomplished diplomats who advance our interests around the world by negotiating treaties, forging alliances, and putting pressure on enemy nations. Their accomplishments deserve recognition and praise too.

In fact, you could argue that football shares more with diplomacy than with war: think of the sportsmanship that players routinely exhibit after games, shaking hands and even hugging members of the opposing team. (Here is a particularly touching recent example: after a thrilling playoff game between the Bills and the Chiefs, in which the teams set an NFL record for the most points scored in the final two minutes of a game—25!—the Chiefs won in overtime. The Chiefs’ quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, interrupted his celebration to run the length of the field to hug Bills’ quarterback Josh Allen.) Football players demonstrate that even though the teams are on opposing sides, the players still play by the rules and respect each other.

In addition to diplomats, workers such as international reporters, citizen investigators like those at Bellingcat, and people in charitable organizations like Doctors Without Borders expose and respond to human-rights abuses and thus contribute to a peaceful and secure world for everyone, including Americans. I’m sure readers can think of many other examples of worthy groups working for international peace.

Finally, this nearly exclusive praise of the military leaves the impression that the military is the most important contributor to our lives at home in the US. I am heartened to see that since the start of the pandemic, the NFL has occasionally recognized healthcare workers, including a tribute to “Frontline Heroes” at last year’s Super Bowl. This is a terrific development! I, for one, would love to see different groups of hardworking Americans honored at every single football game. Yes, we ought to support our troops, but there are many other people who serve our country, and it would be wonderful for them to be recognized too. The NFL has already started with healthcare workers. Next, let’s salute teachers, first responders, truck drivers, grocery store workers, and other people who have kept us going during the pandemic. And then maybe we can go on to some other, less obvious, but equally important workers whose jobs are crucial to our economy and our lives.

NFL Tributes I’d Like to See

Sanitation workers. As anyone who has ever spent time with a small child knows, sanitation workers are like superheroes. They trundle up in their noisy trucks, hoist immense bins on their broad shoulders, and crunch the garbage into smithereens. When my kids were little, we waited for the twice-weekly 7am visits of the sanitation men with great anticipation. Our sanitation man would give us a cheery wave every time he picked up our barrel, and if we were lucky enough to see him on the street later, we’d be rewarded with another wave. As an extremely orderly and tidy person, I particularly appreciate workers who whisk away the junk.

Sanitation workers also help the environment by making it easier for us to recycle items instead of depositing them in landfills or in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The sanitation workers in our town have even set up a cute little library at our recycling center with books they’ve rescued from the trash.

You thought I was joking, didn’t you? But no! And sometimes they even serve drinks!

This is the recycling truck for our neighborhood. Isn’t it adorable? The slogan translates as “For our future, 100 percent electric from renewable energy.”

Switzerland has special trash bins for dog poop, and this cute little truck tootles around twice a week to empty them. It is nice not having to worry about stepping in dog poop, thanks to these workers.

During the pandemic, we’ve learned that sanitation workers not only make life more pleasant and less stinky, but they also, and at risk to their own health, help to keep us safe and healthy as we hunker down at home.

Cleaning staff in hospitals, highway rest stops, and other public places. The pandemic has also made it clear that hospital cleaning staff are crucial to keeping patients healthy and preventing the spread of infection. Other cleaning and janitorial workers deserve our gratitude too. Have you ever needed to interrupt a long drive for a bathroom break? Think of how important it is to your mood and to undistracted driving to have a clean bathroom waiting for you. As a veteran of more schleps along the NJ Turnpike than I care to count, I can attest that there is no harder worker than someone scrubbing out rest-stop bathrooms. I mean, the pace is relentless.

And just as hospital cleaners support healthcare workers, so too do school janitors support the work of teachers, by keeping classrooms hygienic and orderly and by being buddies to the kids. In my kids’ elementary school, the head custodian, Mr. S., was beloved by students, teachers, and parents alike. Mr. S. and his team took great pride in keeping the school sparkling clean, and even though he retired a few years ago, Mr. S. still attends school shows and ceremonies to cheer on the kids. Every spring the first graders take a field trip down the block to tour his gardens and learn about how to grow vegetables. We ought to thank janitorial workers in person of course, but wouldn’t it be great to have an NFL tribute to them too?

Childcare workers and home health aides. We also learned during the pandemic that childcare workers are crucial to our nation’s happiness and prosperity. Most families, even those with young children, depend on both parents’ incomes to make ends meet. But even when families could get by on one income, they may still need childcare because both parents enjoy their careers. Too often it has been the case that, in the words of sociologist Jessica Calarco, “Other countries have social safety nets. The U.S. has women.” But after two years of the pandemic and of parents trying to work over Zoom with kids at home, we are realizing that this situation is not tenable and that childcare workers are a necessity. Honoring childcare workers at football games would be a great way to show that we acknowledge their important role in our economy.

At the other end of the lifecycle, the vast majority of older Americans (77 percent, according to a recent poll) would prefer to remain in their own homes as they age. That makes sense, doesn’t it? Who wouldn’t prefer to have control over their own diet, schedule, activities, and community? But as old people become frail, they need help with basic tasks of daily living, some of which (including bathing and using the toilet) can be psychologically difficult for parents to ask of their children. Other tasks, such as being lifted and moved from the bed to a chair or helped into and out of the car, may be too difficult physically for family caregivers who haven’t been trained or are themselves seniors with their own mobility issues. Home health aides make it possible for seniors to age in place, to have more pleasant interactions with family, to avoid dangerous infections in nursing homes, and to maintain their independence. I would love to see these workers recognized for their importance to our country.

How about you, readers? Which workers would you like to see honored at the next NFL game? And which team are you rooting for in the Super Bowl? Please share your thoughts in the comments!

The Tidbit

Speaking of poker:

1. My dad is a Packers-switcher too, but my brother is a Never Packers guy. This makes for some good-natured ribbing.

2. Sorry, baseball fans. A recent Google search reveals that not only is baseball no longer our top sport, but basketball has outstripped baseball for second place.

3. A full discussion of Colin Kaepernick is beyond the scope of this post, but I have always found it odd that he has been accused of “disrespecting our troops” because he knelt during the National Anthem to protest police brutality. The National Anthem doesn’t belong only to the troops—it is for all Americans! And, in any case, don’t people kneel at church to show humility and respect?