The Super Bowl, and Why You Should Relax at Work

For a non-sports fan, the Super Bowl provides a surprising amount of pressure for me.

Not over who wins. Frankly, I couldn’t care less (could care less?).

The pressure actually comes in the act of watching.

Several years ago, as a single woman living in New York City, my friend and I decided to go to a bar to watch the game. It was the year the Giants were playing, and I was told by many people that it would be insane in New York. But, I didn’t want to make a fool of myself.

It’s that time of year again. Yay?

“Just make sure you root for the Giants,” another friend offered.

And, I knew that the Giants wore blue uniforms. (I was actually very proud that I knew that.)

At the bar, I must have looked perplexed. “You seem confused,” a guy said to me.

“I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on,” I said.

“Just cheer whenever the guys in white score.”

“You’re not fooling me. I want to cheer for the Giants! This is New York!”

Of course, I figured out a little later that the Giants were wearing their away uniforms. Their white away uniforms.

This year, my boyfriend and I (and shockingly, he’s not the gentleman who told me who to cheer for that past Super Bowl) are going to watch the game in our apartment.

First, there was the possibility of others coming over. That made me nervous. What if I made another faux pas?

Currently, it’s just going to be us. Which made me even more nervous. Now there’s no one to deflect attention.

But then I started thinking. He knows I know nothing about sports, and he’s probably just happy I’ll be watching with him (even if he knows the real reason is the commercials/half-time show/cute guys in spandex). Plus watching the Super Bowl means I can eat Cheese Doodles all day (the puffy kind, not the far-inferior crunchy), drink beer, and not even think about going to the gym.

Now that I think about it, I’m sort of looking forward to the Super Bowl.

And, maybe this is the attitude we should all take at work. Are you nervous about presenting a report to your boss? Well, maybe it’ll give your career a boost. Do you have to talk to an employee who is perpetually late/doesn’t get his work in on time/etc.? Maybe the employee will clean up his act, or you’ll find out the reason and be able to help the employee work through it. For example, if the employee says he’s late because he has to get his kids on the school bus every morning, you can work out flexible hours for this employee. Then everyone’s life becomes easier.

Like watching the Super Bowl, sometimes what you worry about is far worse than what actually happens.

So anyway, who’s your pick for the big game, Colts or Saints?