While home on spring break from Arizona State University, my family invited me to accompany them to the Mile High flea market in the Denver area. I excitedly agreed to their invitation. The timing was perfect; at that time I was looking for an item with the old Denver Broncos logo. In the latter half of the 1980s, I had worked for the Broncos guarding the opposing team bench from the rabid fans at Mile High Stadium. What better place to find an older Broncos logo than a flea market / swap meet? The entire city was changing over to the new logo, and not much old logo merchandise existed at the time. How I was treated at the flea market took me by surprise.
As I was searching each table for an item with an old Broncos logo, I could see that the new logo was, by far, more popular than the old one. And believe it or not, I was having a difficult time finding an item with the old logo. Perhaps the fact that the Broncos had recently won back-to-back Super Bowls would explain the overabundance of new Broncos items for sale. Despite the seeming lack of old-school Broncos logoed items, I was determined to search every table in my quest to find one.
After roughly an hour of searching, I finally spotted a bandana with the old logo. It was located on a small table full of used clothing items, which was attended by a solo middle-aged woman. She must have noticed my enthusiasm as I hurried towards her table and display.
Caught up in my excitement of finally spotting an old Broncos item, I begin an animated conversation with the lady working the booth. While I was inspecting the Broncos bandana, the lady decided to engage me in some casual conversation and she asked me, “So, are you a big Broncos fan?”
At the time, I lived in Phoenix, Arizona area. Plus, the area I lived in didn’t have cable TV yet. Thus, I wasn’t able to follow the Broncos as closely as I would have liked to. So I responded, “Well, I’m not so much a huge Broncos fan, but more of a Jake Plummer fan.” And in the normal flow of the conversation, I asked her in an excited voice, “How often is it that one of your ex college students becomes the starting quarterback of your city’s pro football team?”
So, I went on to mention that Jake was a former student of mine, and I further explained to her that I was a fan of his because I was his professor at Arizona State University. In my excitement, I had even told her how Jake had personally given me two tickets to the 1996 Rose Bowl.
As I was talking, I could see that the woman’s demeanor begin to change dramatically. She began to act “distant” and didn’t seem to want to engage in conversation any longer. At first this puzzled me; the whole 180° turn in her vibe. One second this lady was questioning me and actively engaging in a fun conversation. The next second she was giving off a vibe that wanted to send me on my way. I asked myself, had I offended her in some way?
Then it dawned on me; the lady must have thought I was lying. After all, in her eyes, if I was actually a professor, then why was I at a flea market purchasing an old Denver Broncos bandana? Not to mention it was a flea market mostly patronized by low-income Mexican families? My guess is that she didn’t see many customers of hers making such a claim. In her eyes, the “facts” just didn’t add up. The weirdness of the situation began to dawn on me. So, I hurriedly left the area.
Perhaps I should have thought it through more. At the time all I was thinking was that I wanted an item with the old-style logo. Where would second-hand items likely to be sold? My guess is probably at a flea market / swap meet.
I was so narrowly focused on my quest for an old-school Broncos item; I hadn’t considered how I must have looked to anyone unfamiliar with my mission to find one; or with my academic background. I get it now. Most people wouldn’t have believed that a professor would be at a flea market purchasing an old Broncos item; especially a Hispanic one. No wonder that woman’s vibe had changed on a dime. To her I must have been perceived as a fibbing creeper.
*****
pete padilla