I have come back to an event that happened back in college on multiple occasions. I am still not sure if I sold out the Yankees or not, I feel like many fans wouldn’t have given in…
Back when I was a delivery driver in college, it may have even been Cortica weekend (A big football game for our little school), I had my fandom challenged. I brought a delivery to a house, and there was a slightly drunk (buzzed) guy at the door and his friend. Which, he saw I was wearing a Yankees hat, I think he was a Boston fan if I remember correctly. But, then here comes the dilemma…
He says, for 2 or 3 bucks tip or whatever would you say that the Yankees suck? Which I said no, then he raised it to $5, I said no again, then he raised it again, same response and then again… Eventually we got to at least $10 which he showed me, which was also a lot of money for a broke college kid, I was delivering for a reason, I also delivered because it was a sweet job, with a sweet boss and coworkers, but that is beside the point…
Either way, we got to $10 bucks or whatever and I thought, what the heck, I don’t have to mean what I say… So, I just kind of smiled and said the Yankees suck, and he gave me the $10 bucks. His friend right away told him he was an idiot, which I felt validated my choice a bit. I got to my car thinking, chalk one up for the Yankees baby! I thought it was a successful deal, I talked him up to a rather reasonable tip for like a $5.75 order… It wasn’t like I meant what I said, I could have easily yelled out the Yankees rule after I collected my money (I did not).
But, to this day, when I think about it, I ask myself…. would a real die-hard Yankee fan have made that deal? Is there no price for a true fan to utter those words… I have to imagine everybody has an amount to which they would oblige such a minor request, especially within a particular situation. If I had given in at $5 I think I would have been a sell-out, but I kind of feel it was a very New York thing to keep bartering up the amount until I went through with it. I felt like I took him in a way I guess…
But, it still haunts me to this day… Was I the victor in this situation, or was he? Is this a point for the Yankees or Boston in our historic rivalry? I’m not so sure we could call it flush and move on… maybe. Perhaps Yankees fans will see it as a win for our side, and Boston for their side…
My argument is in the bartering… I didn’t make the deal until double digits, it was at least $10… This is a college $10, we all know a college $10 is like $50 bucks or more in the real world… I might argue as well, that if I had pressed on too far, it would have just turned into a forget it type situation… I felt it was maximum amount given the situation.
But, that inner debate popped up in my head again this morning…
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