In the Ted Lasso TV series — about an American surprisingly hired to coach a British soccer team — all sorts of things come into play, so to speak.
There’s a messy divorce settlement, with the team owner’s wife taking possession of the team. To ruffle her husband’s feathers, because he really liked owning the team, she hires an apparently inexperienced American as her coach, believing the team will fail miserably, and cause her ex-husband much misery and angst.
But things don’t quite work out according to plan, when the fictional coach, Ted Lasso, inspires team spirit, and the team far exceeds expectations.
It’s an interesting plot.
Among a cast of unique characters in the TV series, is a particularly tough member of the team, Roy Kent, who’s crusty as all get-out.
His favorite word begins with the letter ‘f,’ and it’s not the word ‘fun.’ It’s the other f-word, and his speaking style is growls and grunts, mostly.
I’m mentioning this because of the resentment folks have against other folks, because of differing political or religious beliefs, different ethnicities, and so on.
When I was in school, I recall kids with differences being the victims of abuse, because of how they looked, or acted.
And right now, various politicians, here in America, are grousing about folks with differences.
I’m trying to imagine how the Roy Kent character — who acts crusty, but deep down, seems to be a pretty decent guy — might be reacting to such current, and past, events. Would he be growling and grunting, and saying… ‘What the ef?’
Or ‘What effing nonsense?’
Having known folks with differences, I keep wondering; What’s the difference, really? Especially, with interracial marriages in mind, a growing number of people, despite their differences, sure seem to be getting along quite well.
And, according to studies over a number of years, a majority of people — generally more than 70 percent — support diversity. That’s been in the news.
Now… if the Roy Kent character really wants to growl about something… there’s the name for the new Department of Defense unit, tasked with investigating UFOs and various other phenomena. It’s being called the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office.
No kidding!
As Roy might say…
What the ef?
Harvey Radin is former senior vice president in charge of corporate communications and media relations, Bank of America Western Region. He makes his home in Redwood City, CA.