“See that guy? The one with the rainbow hat and eye patch? He’’s on your team.”
“The girl singing as she crossed the street? She’’s on your team.”
“The couple skipping without shoes? Your team.”
I have a friend. This friend I shall call The Swallow. When I first moved to Berkeley and became closer with The Swallow, he introduced me to the Team Game. The game basically is that whenever you randomly see a weird/ridiculous/funny looking person, you tell one of your friends that the bizarre person is on their team.
I went along with the Team Game for the past two months. I would laugh and shove the Swallow whenever a “freak” joined my team. I hesitated adding anyone to his team for the first few weeks and when I finally did, I wanted to cry. I felt so ridiculously bad about those simple words. Your team. I wanted to crawl in a hole.
I moved on the from the incident, but I never participated again. I shook my head whenever The Swallow threw someone at me. “Ha ha ha ha. Real nice.” I’d say. But silently, I would think lovely and beautiful thoughts about the person in hopes to undo the pain that The Swallow caused.
Last night I took a stand. As we walked past the long haired girl with an accordion, I stopped.
“I will no longer put up with this travesty of a game!” I announced as I folded my arms.
“Heather, dude.” The Swallow laughed.
I shook my head, the lights of Shattuck Avenue swarming my mind. “It’s cruel, Swallow. This game is just pure evil.”
“They don’t hear us, so therefore it doesn’t hurt!” He shrugged.
“You’re still sending it out into the universe!” I gasped. “No more! I do not want to play this anymore!”
“Hey Heather,” The Swallow smirked. “See that chick screaming? She’s on your team.”
“GOOD! I WANT HER TO BE ON MY TEAM! I HAPPILY ACCEPT THE SCREAMING CHICK ON MY TEAM!”
“Okay, then…”
Because seriously, what is the good in picking on people? Why must we consider any person out of the norm weird? I announce a new game! The My Team Game. Whenever I see a rad, unique person, I’ll proudly put them on my team. ANYONE! EVERYONE! HELLO!
And you are all on my team.
Have a good day.