Manners Matter: Friendly Bets Between Friends Turn Sour

Dear Mary Pat,

I’m a Packers fan and my buddy has been a lifelong Cowboys fan. We had a friendly bet for Sunday’s playoff game. If the Cowboys won, I’d have to wear a Dallas jersey to work one day this week and if the Packers won, he would have to wear a Green Bay jersey to work. Well, you know how the game ended up. Even with Dallas being favored, the Pack won the game in a nail-biting finish. I was sweating it till the end and was so excited! I called my friend right Sunday night and told him that it was a great game and asked him when I should drop the jersey off. He hung up on me. I was really stunned. I didn’t even gloat. We’ve had other bets over the years and he’s never reacted like this. I really don’t care about him wearing the jersey but I do care that he’s being such a baby about his team losing.

Signed,

Pack Attack

Sturgeon Bay, Wis.

Dear Pack Attack,

Your friend was immature to hang up on you. I suspect the wound was too fresh and he really thought Dallas was going to win. Maybe if you had waited an hour or till Monday morning to call he hopefully would have had a more gracious response. It’s hard not to be disappointed when your team loses but we all really just have to remember that it’s one game…and one season. The sun will still rise the next morning.

If the athletes on the field can accept the outcome of the game and shake their opponents’ hands win or lose, so can the average armchair quarterback.

If your friend can’t handle a friendly bet, maybe it’s better to skip it next time. Unless you can make him walk around with a bottle and a pacifier in addition to the jersey.

Good luck,

Mary Pat