Meeting a Chicago White Sox Fan in Kent

It's holiday time again. The weather is nice and it is the perfect time for DIY. The project for this half term break is a deck in the back garden. I have had the space cleared for a while just not the money to do it. My wife and I took some extra classes after school to save the money for 'a project'. Usually my wife decides on the 'project' I undertake, bathroom, children's bedrooms, living room. Not this time, I decided and I went for a Deck!
This is roughly where the deck will be just outside my shed.

So today I went to to lumber yard with the sizes all written down. I sat down and was asked by the sales lady, Ruth, how she could help me? There was the unmissable American Twang. Before I had even ordered a nail, we were discussing baseball. Ruth was from Missouri.

I must stop here and thank all those who have sent baseball cards. My knowledge of where American states are and which team is in each state is pretty good. So I asked to her surprise if she was a Cardinals fan. She answered no, but said she could have also been a Royals fan. Damn I missed that one. In fact before coming to the UK with her English husband they lived in Maryland, so she informed me the Orioles could also be her team. However she didn't support any particular team but her husband was a Yankees fan. When you talk to English people about baseball, if they don't run away, most will say they like the Yankees.

We talked for a while about why she was here, while I ordered the wood I needed. In walks another guy who works in the yard and hears our conversation about baseball and pipes in that he really likes baseball and supports the Chicago White Sox. I shall call him Rupert because that is his name, is in fact not joking or taking the piss. He is in fact very knowledgeable.

I spend the next three quarters of an hour discussing Dice-K's gyroball, the recent doping scandal, Manny's suspension, the misconception of Abner Doubleday's invention of baseball, our favourite players, etc, etc. I left pretty happy, arrived home and realised I hadn't ordered the decking boards so I went back. This time armed with some White Sox and Yankees cards. I ordered the boards and discussed card collecting and the whole baseball card blog phenomenon. I told him to check out Steve's White Sox blog and a number of others, including my own. This may not be an unusual occurrence in the States but here in Kent its a first.

Who knows I may have a convert closer to home.