Something strange and wonderful is happening. The world showed up for the World Cup, and it turns out the world kind of loves us.
Just ask Freddy. The German soccer fan has been lighting up the internet since he landed in the U.S., documenting his road trip on X with the unabashed joy of a man who has discovered Buc-ee's, Waffle House, and a soda fountain offering more than 100 drink combinations. He found country musician Ella Langley and scored an invite to her June 18 concert. Lives, he reports, "were changed" at a Raising Cane's.
America noticed, and Freddy's earnest gratitude has snowballed into things he never saw coming, including that concert trip and a swanky hotel suite courtesy of the Houston Texans' own J.J. Watt.
He's not alone. Europeans who spent years rolling their eyes at American life are now posting tearful 2 a.m. reviews of Waffle House. A group of Germans reportedly got emotional over free refills. A Spaniard tried sweet tea and, by all accounts, has not shut up about it since.
And the Scots. The Tartan Army descended on Boston for Scotland's first World Cup in nearly 30 years and drank the city dry, to the point that Sam Adams ran out of its own Boston Lager and at least one bar sold out of beer entirely, and then the same fans turned around and belted out "Sweet Caroline" at Fenway, a song they associate with England and had every reason to refuse, agreeing to do it "one night only."
Boston, naturally, adopted them on the spot.
What seems to have made the greatest impact isn't the stuff we'd put on a postcard. It's the free refills. It's the guy at the next table who hears your accent, and now you've got a 20-minute friend and possibly a dinner invitation. It's the diner that'll make you breakfast at 3 a.m. and not ask a single question about it.
As Americans, we walk past all of it and don't think twice.
The soccer's been pretty good too. The U.S. kicks off at 3 p.m. EDT, so consider this your official permission to leave work early, or at least find a TV and turn it on. Nobody's going to judge you. It's every four years, and it's only been here twice, ever. Take the long lunch.
Wouldn't it be something if the rest of us loved this country half as much as a bunch of visiting soccer fans seem to right now?
Questions, comments and letters to the editor are welcome. Email [email protected].