They came to play; you should come to stay.

Dear Readers, (all four or five of you)
Please help me decide if this is a good idea or a bad one.

Tonight I took my girlfriend (for our six month anniversary) to the first game of the A’s vs. Detroit American League Division Series. It was pretty awesome except for the fact that the A’s lost. They lost in true Athletics fashion, though, and kept the game lively with a mix of tight play, foolish mistakes, blown umpire calls, and last minute chances. Blame Zito, or Jiminez and Bradley, or the Oakland zeitgeist of mixed opportunities… but this is not my point.

My point is: people started leaving in the seventh inning. I was mortified.
We were only 5 runs down! Hell, I don’t care if we’re 20 runs down!
You don’t tug on Superman’s cape, you don’t piss into the wind, AND YOU DON’T LEAVE A BALL GAME EARLY. Sorry for shouting.

Especially, you don’t leave a nationally televised pennant game. That’s just wrong. It’s unpatriotic. It’s heretical, blasphemous, and unamerican. It’s disgraceful.

Would a full stadium crowd at the bottom of the ninth guaranteed a last ditch rally for four runs to win? Maybe not. Would it have weighed on the idiot umpire who called the runner out at first? Probably. Would it have made a small bit of difference in a game measured by small moments? Absolutely.

So I’m thinking that tomorrow night I’m going to stand outside the main exit (I don’t have tickets) with a large sign that says:

WHEN YOU LEAVE THE GAME EARLY,
THE TERRORISTS WIN.

Good idea? Bad idea? I’m open for further advice, better slogan suggestions, and yay/nay votes. I just feel that something must be done.

I am not a good citizen.

1. I don’t know my neighbors’ names.

2. I don’t know my landlords’ kid’s name.

3. I can’t tell you which district I’m in or which school board member is mine.

4. Never been to a neighborhood watch meeting.

5. Haven’t written to a politician in a year or so.

6. Don’t know when the League of Women Voters is having their next meeting.

7. Don’t know the names of my neighborhood beat cops.

8. Couldn’t tell you which community organizations serve my area.

9. Haven’t done a neighborhood clean-up.

10. I’m ruining the curve for car break-ins.

11. I’ve done nothing yet to offset my 7.6 tons of CO2.

12. I don’t go to free theater enough.

13. I don’t volunteer at my local school.

14. I don’t volunteer at my local library.

15. I don’t know where my neighborhood emergency plans are.

16. I don’t push my landlord to keep the apartment up to code.

17. I don’t know anything about tenant organizations.

18. I don’t have most of the insurance I ought.

19. I don’t know who my local homeless are.

20. I’m not contributing to the “spay feral cats” campaign.

21. I often forget to take my garbage out or bring the bins back.

22. I leave the dvd player on.

23. I don’t speak my mind or heart often enough.