What are your true colors?
- Sep 9, 2017
- 5 min read
Fall is in the air. The temperature is getting cooler, and football season is among us. Football teams and age old rivalries can tell you a lot about a person. Most obviously, it can tell you right off how obnoxious a person is, but it can tell you much more if you pay attention. So, where do your loyalties lie?
For me and my family it is with Auburn. My grandmother went to Auburn. Both my parents went there and met each other. My aunt and uncle went to Auburn where they met. My sister went to Auburn. Both my cousins on my mother's side went to Auburn, and the youngest met his wife there. The list goes on and on, so clearly we understand that there is more to it than simply a football team. It's a school. It's the promise of a brighter future. It's where friends are made, and friends become family. Auburn is a lot of different things to many people, but quite simply put, it's a legacy.
Fans who don't understand that, at the end of the day, all they have is a game. Webster's defines game as an "activity engaged in for diversion or amusement." It is all for fun; there's no real meaning behind the game itself unless you note the school behind it. The emphasis that a person puts on the school behind their team can show us just how much a person values education. People who haven't taken the time to notice what bonds those young men out there on the field together, probably don't place education too terribly high on their list of priorities.
Then you have flip-floppers. These are the people who's loyalties are flapping in the wind. I have no respect for flip-floppers. I have more respect for a Bama fan who is still a Bama fan after a crushing defeat to Auburn than I do to someone who traded sides when one teem plays better than the other. (That goes back to people who have nothing but a football game at the end of the day.) If you weren't an Auburn fan yesterday, go on. We don't need you, and I'm sure many Bama fans feel the same.
The life lesson in that comes in the form of fair weather friends. I was around the age of 10-12 when my dad had a very important talk with me about fair weather friends. One Sunday after a heartbreaking, and frustrating defeat, I noticed my dad was wearing an Auburn tie. His disappointment the day before had been more than obvious, so being a curious child, I asked him why he wore it. His answer was truly profound. He said, "Beth, it doesn't matter what happens on Saturday. Win or lose, you get up on Sunday morning and put on your Auburn tie, because we aren't fair weather friends." From there he launched into a whole lecture about fair weather friends and what kind of friend you wanted to be in life.
All season long, off weekends excluded, I will wear my Auburn gear the day before, game day of course, and the day after. Come to church in my Auburn gear or pairing my Auburn jewelry with any color I so choose on Sunday, may come across to some as obnoxious, but it was never meant that way. For me, that is an outward show of what kind of friend I am.
That's not to say that there is never a time when your loyalties should change. There are, but they are few and far between. If, for example, your kids go to another rival school, yes, your loyalties to your kids should trump that of a school. Women, think of all the pain you went through to bring that child into this world. Men, think of all the pain you'd go through to keep them safe. In that respect, trading loyalties to your child's school, doesn't seem that big a deal.
If you attend a rival school for whatever reason, your loyalties should change. Let's be clear, however, your reasons for attending a rival school should be few and far between. That being said, I can't stand when people stand in front of me wearing a Bama hat and tell me they got their degree from Auburn University, or vise versa, stand decked out in their Auburn gear and tell me they went to the University of Alabama. Don't worry about respect then. You'll never see it, because I flat out don't trust them. Basically what I heard was, "Why, yes, I am a turncoat." Honestly, people, don't trust people like that.
Is dating a Bama fan completely out of the question? Not necessarily, but he sure would have an easier time getting along with my family if he were. Nevertheless, if he says, "Oh, I'd go Auburn for you, baby," your appropriate response should be, "No thank you." If they can't even be loyal to a school, do you think in your wildest dreams that they could ever be loyal to a person?
I get it. Jumping to marriage is an extreme case scenario, but you can see evidence of it in everyday life. I've had it happen to me that time after time a person has shown me they are no doubt a fair weather friend. Then some time down the road, that very same person traded sides with some utterly ridiculous and unbelievable reason why. At the time, all I could think was, "Well, that makes sense," and it only adds validity to my point.
I'm not saying you must attend Auburn University and be an Auburn fan to be a good person, not at all. I didn't attend Auburn myself. You may ask what that says about my loyalties. I went to Gadsden State Community Collage and Jacksonville State University. One was a community collage, and while I realize that JSU has played Auburn in recent years, they simply are not on the same level. I'm sorry. JSU is more of a down home small time university. It just isn't comparable to places like Auburn University, University of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee. It is a good school just not the same.
In addition, I have so many Bama friends who are wonderful people, but I can tell you that they do notice the school behind the team. They are loyal to their school, as they are in life, and they would never turncoat. So, Whichever school is your school, remember people are watching you to see how much you value education, how loyal a person you are, and if you can be trusted.
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