Distaste for the Illogical

I was watching Monday Night Football this evening after wiping down my last table at work, drained from eleven straight hours of waiting on sushi-starved middle-classy types. The commentary sounded like typical football commentary, including the announcers’ playful banter about individual athletes, team history, and the repetition of which yardline was fortunate enough to be the present line of scrimmage.

Then I heard something I didn’t quite believe.

While riding a fairly innocent but coherent train of thought about the Indiannapolis Colt Defense being exhausted, the announcer speaking was coopting a cliched simile about a tired athlete.

“It’s like the Colt Defense is down on its knees, sucking…” He said.

My ears perked up instantly, a suspended moment of disbelief accompanying the pause in the announcer’s speech.

“…wind. Sucking wind.” The announcer finished, not sure if it was the right fit for his conveyed meaning.

I turned to my right, one of my friends from the kitchen staff laughing along. I was laughing as well, but I figured that in our great society, we feel strongly enough to censor what we say intentionally, not realizing that frequently, almost saying something but then not saying it can convey the exact same message. We can’t censor people’s thoughts the way we can censor their words or actions, and only we can decide what it is we’re going to let sink into our fragile psyches.