Friday, November 28, 2008

We're not north of the Mason-Dixon line anymore

So yesterday, on Thanksgiving, I did this Turkey Trot thing--in Florida. How nice, you must be thinking. Running in Florida. Not so much. It was cold. Seriously. People were dressed the way I would dress at home for a run.
Whatever, I was a little chilly during the run and freezing afterwards when I was waiting in an enormous line of other Turkey Trotters at the local Einstein Bagels.
Sometimes I forget Florida is the south. I don't know why--maybe because Disneyworld is here. (Which should actually corroborate things, but you know, childhood memories and all.) But it was hard to forget yesterday when 1) I had to listen to someone sing--live--the national anthem (of the US) as I hopped around trying to stay warm before the gun went off for the 5K. The national anthem before a 5K fun run? Strange. It reminded me of a post by Michael Butterworth at The Agon about the overt patriotism in baseball. I believe some of the sentiments are applicable even though Butterworth is talking about the God Bless America ritual. I swear I saw an editorial once that addressed the national anthem specifically. But I can't find it now.
The national anthem thing wasn't that surprising. I was a little shocked when, waiting at the finish line for others in my party, I saw a woman come across the line wearing a University of Florida sweatshirt complete with offensive logo (again not that surprising given my location). But as she crossed she did the Seminole chop! At a Turkey Trot fun run. Interesting manifestation of school pride.
Today I'm golfing. We'll how that works out.

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