A little vignette from the Labor (Labour) Day Weekend in the U.S.:
Spending the holiday weekend at the U.S. Open tennis tournament, on Sunday morning I went the Neptune Diner on Astoria Boulevard in Queens, New York City. I was wearing my new Charlton home shirt.
A young American man came in with his girlfriend and sat in the booth next to me.
"A Charlton Athletic shirt. Wow! I'm a fan of Charlton Athletic."
"Really? How did that happen?"
"I used to play soccer on a team coached by one of the Charlton directors. Mike Stevens."
"So you're from Chicago?"
"Yes, how did you know that?"
"I know Mike Stevens!"
It turns out the man named Craig, probably in his early 20s, played on a soccer team with Mike's son, Allan. They made a few overseas trips to SE7, and even got to play at The Valley.
Funny who you might run into in a Greek Diner in Queens ...
Also, I wore the Charlton home jersey to watch Laura Robson and Andy Murray play later that day and night. They weren't too many fans watching Robson, the 2008 Wimbledon junior girls champion, on an outer court. But there were a number of UK news photographers. There were also a few other football shirts represented: Arsenal away, Chelsea home, ManU home and England home. And, of course, Charlton.
One of the photogs took one look at my shirt and sniffed, "Oh, Charlton. Huh?"
"Best record in England, baby!"
A better response than Murray's down-the-line forehand!
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