7 Quick Takes Friday Part XXIV

7 Observations After a Mets Game Edition

1. Boy, the Mets kind of suck.

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2. Even at a brand-new stadium, it really hits you that stadiums are all the same, and always have been. Sure, some have more amenities and cleaner bathrooms than others, but turn Citi Field into stone, and you've got the Coliseum! The basic design hasn't changed since Ancient Rome.

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3. Rhett's response to the above observation: "Oh my God, only you would think of ancient civilization at a Mets game!"

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4. According to my dad: "Only your mother's relatives would bring lentil salad and leftover macaroni to a baseball game." (Yes, my mother's relatives brought lentil salad and leftover macaroni to the baseball game.)

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5. It was my 9-year-old cousin's first major league game. His excitement was obvious and contagious. I love seeing someone revel in something I take for granted; it really makes you look at the world with fresher eyes, and appreciate what you have. It's not like baseball games are an everyday occurrence for me, but the past couple years I've gone to a game or two (generally with Rhett, and generally to Nats' games - and it's not like people get particularly excited about Nats games, as a rule. The last one we went to was the worst team in the AL vs. the worst team in the NL, and it was like a game to see who would lose instead of a game to see who would win). People can be so bored and jaded sometimes - it was refreshing to see something that should be exciting actually excite someone.

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6. One of the things that excited him very much was the wave. I couldn't help but wonder who invented the wave - were they sending waves around the Coliseum in Ancient Rome? When a wave had never been tried before, who had the foresight to see that it would look really cool? And how on earth did he get people to try it that first time? "Okay, first, everyone in this section stand up and then sit down again! Now, right after that, everyone in this section stand up and sit down again! Won't that be fun? Why are you looking at me funny?"

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7. I realized I can't go to a Mets game without missing my grandfather a lot. He died a little over a year ago, and was a huge baseball fan. (As well as a really good player. He once pitched to Willie Mays while they were in the Army together, and he had a chance to go pro that he turned down.) My dad told us tonight how he and my grandfather used to go to numerous Mets games every season. I'd never been to a baseball game with him, but the two are inextricably linked in my mind, to the point that I was tearing up during the 6th inning because I missed him so. RIP.

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