Missing Fan

SOURCE: Readers Digest.  January 2003

KEYWORDS: idolatry, obsession, fanatic, absence

While the football fan was thrilled to be at the Super Bowl, he was disappointed with the location of his seat.  Peering across the stadium through his binoculars, he spied an empty seat on the 50-yard line and made his way there.

He asked the man in the next seat over, “May I sit here?”

“Sure,” the man replied.  “This was my wife’s seat.  She was a huge football fan, and we came to the games together all the time until she passed away.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” the fan said.  “But I’m curious.  Why didn’t you give the extra ticket to a friend or relative?”

Replied the widower, “They’re all at the funeral.”