11 Nov An off-day

Today I had an off-day. That’s fine, you don’t always feel fantastic in a fantastic city. My off-day coincided with the event of the century: the Giants played the final game for the World Series. And they won.
While I was being apathetic, sitting inside, doing nothing, the city exploded. An outrageous noise bursted out that flooded the whole city. Cheering, hooting, pops and fireworks.
I didn’t know what to do. Should I stay inside and engulf myself in self-pity? Or should I go outside, to get a peek of my fellow drunk brothers and sisters out on the streets?
From different people I had heard that ‘this was a unique moment in history’, this never happened, I better not miss this, etcetera. Online I read that the Giants won for the 3rd time in five years. Stupid game. Fat guys chasing a ball. No, I was going to stay inside.
I plumped down on my bed and hid my head under a pillow, but I could still hear the screaming and cheering from outside. It tormented me.
Wasn’t I missing out on something, a historical moment, a collective memory?
Restless I finally left the house, wearing lipstick, though.
Everywhere cars raged by, people hanging out the windows screaming ‘GO GIANTS, GO GIANTS’.
The street was a mess. Cars raced by, ignoring all traffic lights, and people ran across. Glass shattered on the ground and drunk people wandered about.

They are so weird, I thought by myself.
And ugly.
I was so sober, and they were so drunk.

All of a sudden a flashback popped up. It was last summer and Oranje had won an important soccer game. Afterwards, I ran outside and started screaming at passengers in the street, while holding a purple inflatable crocodile. (god knows why). It must’ve looked charming, my drunk, screaming head.

I still felt an alien amongst these shouting hooligans, but at least I understood them a little bit better.

I decided it was time to go home.
I started walking back. Halfway home, I suddenly stopped. There, in the gutter, lay a dead cat. Hit by one of those overenthusiastic cars that raced through the street. Someone had put three little flowers on his dead body. They were orange. The color of the Giants. I almost had to cry. I was done with this day. The day the Giants won. And the day someone lost his cat.