"This isn't real, is it?"
There is much that divides us, seemingly more all the time. Language, left/right positioning, opinion regarding transgendered athletes and their participation in sport which makes the just-wrapped MEO Rip Curl Portugal Pro that much more endearing. Oh, the third event on the World Surf League Championship Tour schedule was not without alienation. Absurd crowd size was viciously argued over as well as the commentary value of Jesse Mendes.
One moment, though, united everyone.
Portugal’s President Marcelo Nuno Duarte Rebelo de Sousa taking in the action, live, from the stands.
While his politics certainly cause some to frown, his face was the universal visage of “person watching competitive professional surfing for the very first time.”
The same face made by grandmas in Chicago, co-workers in London, nieces in Timbuktu and nephews in Shangai.
Squinty eyes, mouth lightly agape, utter confusion spreading from ear to ear.
One silent thought repeating in a mind quickly draining.
“This isn’t real, is it?”
Yes, for one brief and glorious moment, President Rebelo de Sousa was all of our mothers.
Viva Portugal.