My father taught me to drive when I was 8 years old. That first car was a Mercury Cougar. I don't remember the year. What an amazing experience. We then moved to Oklahoma and my father took in on trade a 1973 Ford F100 that did not have a title. So he brought it home and tried to teach me how to drive a manual transmission. It never ran. It ran for seconds and then would die. About 6 months later, he brought home a 1977 Chevy pickup, same deal. However, the Chevy ALWAYS ran. I mean, it wouldn't die. Growing up my parents had a myriad of vehicles. Dodge, Chevy, Ford, Renault, etc. We had everything. However, that memory of that Chevy remained with me.
When I turned 16, my parents gave me a 1978 Chevy Impala. Powder blue. I absolutely hated it. It was the antithesis of cool. It was the suck. So, my mission was to kill this Impala. I did everything I could short of drain the oil. Neutral drops, racing, hard driving, etc. I took a corner hard enough to actually bend and split the stock wheels. I ran tires off of it in less than 10k miles. I did everything to kill it. It didn't die. It cemented my love for Chevy.
Since then I have owned primarily GM cars and trucks. I am what GM is looking for. A brand loyalist. A fan. I follow GM sponsored drivers. I buy GM vehicles (including my last 3 new vehicles). I DESPISE Fords. I abhor Dodges. Don't like foreign brands. DAMMIT, I am a Chevy guy. I have been in altercations defending Chevy's. I've even brainwashed my kids to hate the rest.
I am a Cubs fan. Again, introduced early by my father. That was the team I grew up with. Man, we've been close. I have the same mantra for the last 30 years. "Wait til next year." I've seen the Cubs trade a Hall of Fame team. Maddux, Grace, L. Smith, Sosa, Girardi, etc. I am a fan. And again, I hate certain teams. I hate the Yankees (still love Girardi), despise the Red Sox (to me, the most hated team. I mean, THEY WON A WORLD SERIES.), and I can't stand the Diamondbacks. Been in a few altercations concerning my fanaticism.
I am an Arizona Cardinals fan. This is new. Grew up with the 49ers and the Cowboys. Was a fan of the 49ers. Now that I am a Cardinals fan, I hate 9ers and their fans. Cowboys? They are free to all get syphilishttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif. Then they can give their STD to the Steelers. I mean, I am a fan. Hate the Giants, almost beat up a Giants fan during the Super Bowl.
Get it yet? I have deep loyalties. We all do. We all like something over another. It's the way our brains work. Lee's jeans were the first ones that work for you? Brand loyal. Levi's? Brand loyal. Maybe you've had a bad experience at Wal-Mart. Now you like Target. And if we are real fans, we support our brand/team no matter what.
Then one day we have to come to grips with the facts. GM is dead to me now. I mean, I can live with bankruptcy. I can almost live with the bailout. The last straw is GM deciding not to honor warranties for some vehicles. I actually know people with these cars. If I ever buy another new vehicle, it will probably be a Ford. I can't tell you what that does to my psyche. I'm not kidding. This is like death for me. But, I must come to grips that the GM I know isn't the GM that I grew up with. Cubs? I am almost a zero baseball fan. Why? WTF has Chicago done for me? My father, who was 86 when he died, told me back when I was a kid that he wanted to see the Cubs win the World Series before he died. HE NEVER SAW THAT (Still hate the NYY and the Red Sox though). Cardinals? Jury is still out.
We are taught that if we flip flop, if we change "teams", we are fair weathered friends. We WANT to be loyal. We want to tell someone, "I've been a Cubs fan since 1979". Who gives a crap? Really. I mean, does it matter. Sometimes we are so entrenched in our loyalty we can't look up to see our teams faults. I believe we are the same way in our politics. I have actually caught myself defending HORRIBLE politicians because they were "Republicans". Why? They are my "team".
I've come to the realization though that I need to change. I need to pull my head out of my butt. I was reminded of this when I saw Denver fans chant "Tebow" during the loss to the Raiders. Okay, I admit. I am a Tebow fan. Why? He's just a good guy. Is he a better QB than Orton? Absolutely. Why, when he was a QB for Florida he never lost. He won the Heisman. He...wait. Sorry, the damn fan kicked in again. Hell no he isn't better. He COULD be. But right now, the best QB in Denver is Orton. We are all fans. We all want our team to succeed. Politics is no different. We should all look up and say "Do I really like this policy or am I just following some guy because he's a ____________?".
Will you stand?
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