One does not have to look far in order to find the view of the Super Bowl, as seen by the average football fan. Even the view of the many wives forsaken on Super Bowl Sunday has not been overlooked. Yet little attention has been given to the character of a household on Super Bowl Sunday when that household contains permanent residents of the United States, residents who are still on the path to citizenship.

I can not speak with precision about the character of every such household. I can, however, provide a glimpse of life in one home, a home where one of the two young boys, both Americans, had become an avid football fan, while the father had taken no interest in American football. The character of that home on a Super Bowl Sunday seems to be encapsulated in one story.

One year when the Buffalo Bills were in the Super Bowl the young football fan watched every minute of the game. He felt privileged to watch that game, since it was an important game, and his mother and father seemed to have other concerns. He knew that his mother liked football, and so he wanted to keep her informed of the score.

At one point he ran into the kitchen to deliver an update on the game. That young man did not realize how amused his mother became by his appearance. That young man had not seen what had taken place before his arrival in the kitchen. It had involved an unexpected guest, but not the sort of guest one normally associates with Super Bowl Sunday.

The young man's mother had not expected any adult guests for Super Bowl Sunday. She had not prepared to any food that could be used to feed a guest on Super Bowl Sunday.  Her husband had decided to use the family's grill and to prepare some kebab. He had asked his wife to prepare some white rice.

When this woman's son arrived in the kitchen to tell his mother the score, he caught her in the act of heating water for the rice. That was why she became so amused by his arrival. His eager fascination with the Super Bowl contrasted so sharply with his father's disinterest in any aspect of Super Bowl Sunday. This mother found herself pleased to see that she could actively participate in the lives of both her husband and her son. 
Now in 2006 that same mother finds herself looking forward to a different Sunday. It is not Super Bowl Sunday. It is a Sunday in June. It is Sunday, June 11, 2006, the day after a particular soccer game.

She has made no preparations for that Sunday, just as she has never made preparations for Super Bowl Sunday. She is going to sit back and watch what happens on that day. She knows that her sons will interact with the two boys down the street, but she does not know how that interaction will proceed.

During that June weekend Iran will play Mexico in the World Cup. Since the above-mentioned kebab-lover is from Iran, and since his neighbor is from Mexico, their sons are all looking forward to that game. The woman who once prepared kebab on Super Bowl Sunday is also looking forward to that game. In addition, she awaits eagerly the interactions that will take place after that game.