Monday Night Football

I met some football players last week.  Real football players, whose names would impress you if you were even a casual fan, especially of the Washington Redskins.  My small company's CEO is a huge fan, and a member of the Redskins Charitable Foundation's board. Knowing that my husband is also a huge fan, he offered me tickets to the annual luncheon.  We ate lunch with Josh Norman (look him up) and my husband took selfies with some of his favorite players.

The players were, surprisingly, rather nice, normal people.  Mr. Norman was a delight, and Kirk Cousins, Ryan Kerrigan, and Chris Baker were also very nice.  I used to think that professional athletes in general, and football players in particular, must all be arrogant, standoffish, and conceited.  The Redskins players, however, were very approachable and friendly.  They chatted with fans, patiently posed for selfies, and signed memorabilia and programs for everyone who asked.

(True story: My 11-year-old son, looking at the program, asked me "Why does it say 'lunch-ee-awn'?" "It's 'luncheon'," I said. "And you need to read more."
"What?" he said scornfully.  "That's not a word."
"It is a word," I said. "And not a 50-cent word, either.  Not an SAT word.  Just a common, frequently used word."
"Oh," he said.  "Hmm.")

*****

A few days ago, Lena Dunham sparked a huge controversy (by "huge controversy" I mean a bunch of people spluttering in outrage on Twitter) when she complained to Amy Schumer that Odell Beckham had ignored her at the Met Gala.  (And I really can't believe that I just wrote that sentence. What is this, Gawker?  Sheesh.) Apparently, Ms. Dunham felt that Mr. Beckham had looked at her, deemed her unattractive, and then dismissed her accordingly.

There's a lot going on here.  Mr. Beckham was, according to the many reports, scrolling through his phone during dinner, which on its own is just simple bad manners.  But Ms. Dunham also claimed that the phone preoccupation was the result of Mr. Beckham's lack of sexual interest in a woman who isn't conventionally attractive. (Note: I think she's rather pretty, but I'm in the minority on this, I suppose.)

If the complaint is actually that this man wasn't attracted to this woman, then that would mean that men who prefer conventionally beautiful women (like most men) are somehow to be faulted for that.  According to SJWs who are all over this case, however, the real issue is that Lena Dunham, being a white woman, feels somehow entitled to sexual attention from black men, no matter who they are.

What if neither interpretation is correct?  What if one particular person, Odell Beckham, just didn't feel like talking to one other particular person, Lena Dunham, at a particular moment?  OR, what if  one particular person, Lena Dunham, misinterpreted polite indifference from another particular person, Odell Beckham (phone-scrolling at the dinner table notwithstanding) as a negative judgement regarding her appearance, because she was feeling unattractive on that particular day?

*****
It's Monday night, and I'm watching the Redskins play the Steelers.   I've actually met some of the players, and now I feel invested.  I'm rooting for Josh Norman, Kirk Cousins, Ryan Kerrigan, and Chris Baker in particular. They wouldn't remember me, of course, but I remember them, and now I can't see them as White Men or Black Men or NFL Players or representatives of any other identity group.  They're people who I met and smiled at and shook hands with and ate lunch with. No two are alike. HTTR.