Football games & open house

So today was a busy day (as opposed to all of my other days?). Tennis, work, rehearsal, middle school football game, high school open house. Somewhere in there I think I was supposed to eat.
So I experienced a strange phenomenon -- and it had nothing to do with my kids! (Now THAT'S strange!) Well, it was at son #3's football game, so it kind of involved him, but not really.
OK, I live in a fairly small community. We have 3 middle schools in our area (more a bit further away, but only 3 actually in my town). This football game was against one of the other 2. (I'm starting to realize that there's quite a bit of competition between these schools.) The middle school football games are held at the high school stadium. The stadium seats face east on one side and west on the other. At 5:00 p.m. the sun is starting to go behind the east-facing (home side) seats. Last week this is where I sat with all of the other parents. Today I got there about 20 minutes early, took a seat in the shade and watched my baby's------dang! ------ son's team warm up. Slowly my side started filling up.... with people who were wearing red shirts. My team does not wear red shirts. No problem, I thought. This is a rather large stadium and both sides' parents can sit here, in the shade. Seems logical, no? No! I looked across to the other side and there were a few parents from my team sitting over there. In the hot, glaring, horrifically sunny sun! (I feel compelled to add here that it was about 90 degrees at the time.)! "Gee," I thought, "why are they going all the way over there and sitting in the sun when it's so nice and shady and breezy here. Surely most of the parents will join me in the shade. I'm staying here." That was all well and good for about 15 minutes or so, right about the time the game was starting. There was not one single non-red-wearing soul sitting on my side. The other side was filling up! Unbelievable! Is our competition with each other so fierce that we can't sit in the shade together? I should have taken a stand, grabbed the microphone from the lady in the booth and yelled, "C'mom people!!! Can't we all be friends?! In the breezy shade?! PLEASE!". I should've done that. Should have been a light in my community, a beacon in this dark, competitive world. Should have. What did I do? I grudgingly grabbed my seat cushion and lumbered down the steps and around the track over to the HOT seats. I caved. I'm sure I was probably glowering, which would explain why I sat by myself (until my good friend Denise came to sit by me and watch my son play. Really. She just came to watch and support him. In the sun (I don't think she knew she'd be sitting in the sun, but she didn't leave when she found out!). What a buddy! Thanks, Denise!). I wanted to stand in front of these "hot seat people" and ask them if they were nuts! But I didn't. I caved when I should've made a point for peace ... well, ......and shade. sigh
And as for son #1's open house: his teachers are all great. Most have had our children before (hey, with six kids you're bound to hit the same teachers over and over!). They all seem to like him a lot. Even his criminal justice teacher. He likes him even though son #1 told him in class today, "This textbook has the wrong definition of 'federalism'". Then they discussed it and my son gave him the "correct" definition and where it's found and not found. For those of you who know son #1 pretty well this comes as no great shock. The shock is that this teacher still likes him! He told us that son #1 is VERY intelligent. I advised him to keep an eye on son #1 and not let him pull one over on him. That's just the kind of mom I am ..... always rooting for the underdog. :)