June 13, 2013

• Overachieving

  You know, I try to be nice.  I always try to be diplomatic, especially when talking to Leafs fans.  I don't hate the Leafs.  I'm completely indifferent.  I don't care whether they win or lose.  The only teams I hate in the league are the Bruins and the Flyers.  It's not a personal disdain for the cities...I have no issues with the cities.  I just hate the teams.

  But Leafs, well...everyone talks about the big Habs-Leafs rivalry...but to be honest, in my lifetime, the Leafs have never performed at a level that made them a significant rival.  I'm not the kind of Habs fan that yammers on about how many cups the Habs have won, but I do point out that in my lifetime, the Habs have won 4 Stanley Cups.  And the Leafs?  Yeah...I didn't think you'd want to talk about that.  The only reason people even still talk about a Habs-Leafs rivalry is because both fanbases are mildly *cough*ridiculously*cough* insane, and they're physically close enough to have large quantities of rival fans in their own barns.

  As an ex-pat Montrealer who has spent almost 80% of her life in Toronto, I've become quite the diplomat when talking to the crazies (not all Torontonians are crazy Leafs fans...and not all Leafs fans are crazy, THANK GAWD!).  I've never been into trash talk...in any sport.  I've played competitive sports.  I watch sports.  I don't engage in trash talk, because quite frankly, I don't think that's good sportsmanship.  If *you* like trash talk, that's fine.  Go to town.  I don't care.  Just be respectful and understand that I won't participate.  HOWEVER, if you piss me off, I have no problem decimating your ego with the hand of my rage.  You brought it onto yourself.  Consider yourself warned.

  This isn't the first time I've dealt with idiot co-workers.  The last guy, slammed my team *and* hometown.  This guy was just over-the-top arrogant even though there wasn't a good reason to be.

  Jerk co-worker (JC):*eyeing my Habs lanyard* Oh, so you're a Habs fan.

  Me: I'm from Montreal.

  JC: So they're just the default.

  Me: No, it means it's in my blood.

  JC: Habs overachieved this year.

  Me: Well, we didn't have any big ticket superstars, if that's what you mean.

  JC: I watched them play at the beginning of the season and said to myself, 'This team isn't even going to win 5 games.'

  Me: The lockout messed up most teams. No one was really putting up spectacular hockey at the beginning of this season.

  JC: But the Habs were exceptionally bad.

  Me: I think that's just your Leafs' fan bias.

  JC: You know what your team needs?

  Me: *starting to get annoyed* No, but I'm sure you're gonna tell me.

  JC: *mocking tone* Your team needs more French players. Your team was better when you had more Frenchies. Because everyone knows that's what makes for better hockey.

  Me: I don't subscribe to that philosophy.

  JC: But isn't that what you think your team needs? More hometowners?

  Me: That's not what I think.

  JC: But look at the decisions your team makes. "French French French." It all sounds like "blah blah blah" to me.

  Me: *getting really annoyed* I don't make decisions for the Habs. And I have yet to receive the memo that tells me I have a say.

  JC: So you agree that French isn't an asset, right?

  Me: Well, in life, I guess there are some people who think being unilingual is awesome. But having been trilingual all my life, it'd be pretty hypocritical for me to think only being able to grunt in one language was superior.

  JC: *confused* Uhm, right. So you don't think your team overachieved?

  Me: I don't care if they over- or under- achieved. They're my team and I love them no matter what. Being on top for a large part of the season is just icing on the cake.

  JC: *smug* The only thing that counts is that they didn't get as far as the Leafs in the playoffs.

  Me: Uhm, you know both teams were eliminated first round, right? The Leafs didn't get farther.

  JC: Yeah, but we got to game 7.

  Me: *pissed* And in typical Leafs fashion, they gave it all up to the Bruins in the last 35s after being up 3 points for most of it. And they did it with all their key players uninjured and intact. *That* was a HUGE achievement. I'm pretty sure, even the Habs couldn't be that stellar...at shitting the bed.

  JC:   *mouth gaping* *no audible, coherent sound*

  Me:   *sweet smile* *cutesy voice*  Have a great day! *walks away*

  Asshole.

  • 9:03 am
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