Honest, I'm Not Ben's Keeper

One of the things that I really enjoy on cruises is the opportunity to meet people from all over the world.  Any time you run into other people, whether it's in the hot tub or at dinner, the first mandatory question is, "So, uh, where are you from?"

People on cruises ask this question first for a couple reasons.  The main reason is that it's an obvious ice-breaker.  It would probably be weird to come right out and ask them what the deal is with a giant mole coming out of their neck, or something, right out of the gate.  Emily Post suggests that one should wait at least a few minutes before making that inquiry.

It is genuinely interesting to find out where people are from.  I often make my own mental game of trying to guess a person's home state/country before asking.  I can usually come pretty close based on a person's accent and personal hygiene practices, or lack thereof ("Hi!  Judging from the smell, I'm betting you're from Indonesia!").

I found it interesting on this trip that every time I introduced myself as being from Pittsburgh, every single person had the same reaction.  They'd pause for just a moment, let out a small sigh, and then say, "So.  What are you going to do about Ben Roethlisberger?"

Since when am I personally in charge of Ben Roethlisberger, and why do I have to do something about him?  I'm quite sure that I have very little to do with his fate.  Maybe this picture of me and Ben was circulated around the web much more than I would have ever anticipated, and people assume that because we occasionally dress up in nice clothes together, I obviously have a say in his punishment for being an idiot.

Maybe people make the easy mistake of identifying me as Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner?  We do look quite a bit alike.

Anyway, let it be known that I really don't have a hotline number that I can use to call the Rooney family and demand specific punishments for our quarterback.  Maybe that could be my next life goal, however, now that I have completed the peeing-in-all-50-states thing.

As a side note, the photo at the top of this page was taken on the Big Island of Hawaii at a business.  This place had over a dozen Steelers banners hanging all over the place, making it known that the Steelers Nation definitely extended well into the Pacific!  It was amazing how few Cleveland Browns banners we saw along the way...