We did our patriotic American duty and watched the Super Bowl. I didn’t particularly care who won; I typically cheer for the underdogs and I hate Robert Kraft and Tom Brady, but the Eagles have a lot of crappy asshole fans. In the end, I cheered for the Eagles, but mainly because I read that the team was supportive of the protests and had worked with players to support their causes.

Here’s the rundown of opinions: the game was fun to watch. Pink did a great job with the National Anthem even though she had the flu. Justin Timberlake was surprisingly fun to watch, but I had really low expectations. It was made more fun by two toddlers dancing along to it. The Prince tribute was done well, I thought, but I can see how people are upset by it. I thought it was tasteful without being exploitative. It felt a little bit like fan service: he *is* in Minneapolis. The end of the game was exciting.

Afterward, I turned on the police scanner in Philadelphia. I’ve only been there once, but it was enough to kind of know the major landmarks and so I can follow some of the events. I don’t understand why people are rioting. Right now, there are people climbing the fire escape to the roof of a building. There are hundreds of people climbing on light poles. There’s a huge fight and someone is unconscious. The police officer reporting it is clearly scared. “THEY’RE BREAKING THE LIGHT POSTS DOWN IT’S GONNA FALL ON THEM!” They have flipped at least one car. There are light posts that have fallen and there are live wires.

Why? How terrible. Seriously. I need to do some research on why fans riot, because I don’t get it. When I run into something I totally don’t get, I research. It’s what I do to make myself feel better. Someone has a tumor or an illness that I don’t know enough about? I’ll research. Hate groups and extremism makes no sense to me. I’ve been reading about them through the Southern Poverty Law Center and other sources since I was able to get on the internet.

Maybe that’s my one way of trying to have some control over my experience in life: I can’t change everything, but if I can understand it, I feel better.

It sounds like some people have gotten really hurt in Philadelphia. I hope no one is killed tonight. I’m hopeful, but it sounds pretty bad. Congratulations, I guess.