How difficult is to watch a game

Scene 1: Amsterdam, September 2005

We are watching the final of the "European Basketball Cup" at the big-screen of a luxurious sports cafe in Amsterdam. The place is full of people (mainly Greeks) who consume several beers during the game. A big-guy, probably the bar-manager, was walking nervously around, checking that everything runs smoothly with all those crazy Greeks. At a certain time my beer is over, he immediately spots my empty glass and asks for a new order. I kindly explain him that I don´t want to drink more and he "kindly" kicks-me out of the bar. You could only stay in the bar if you would consume...
I did order another beer, which I drunk as slowly as possible (only to see the end of the game) and never went back...

Scene 2: Salvador de Bahia, June 2006

This morning we are walking with Bessy at the waterfront of Barra (a sea-side suburb of Salvador) looking for a nice place to watch the game of Brasil against Ghana. In a very narrow alley we spot 2 guys setting some plastic chairs in front of a window, where a small TV was standing on top of a box of beers. Before we ask, they offered us the best seats right in front of the TV. In less than 5 minutes the place was full of old and young people, men and women, all dressed up in green and yellow and equiped with all necessary tools: whistles, fireworks, guns etc. The game started and the beers too. They offered us at once. We couldn´t help but accept and return the offer. As Brasil was scoring goals, more beers were coming on the table (it was only 12:00), fishrmen coming out of the water, were offering fresh fish and sea-food for everyone. The cafe-owner was happy to prepare them, to serve everyone, he was even happy when we ordered lunch from a nearby reastaurant and had it served at his restaurant! Even in the end, when we asked for fresh juice -since he didn´t have any- he was happy to go to a nearby cafe, order and bring 2 juices for us.
Brasil won the game, but probably most of the people around us, only realised it when the game was over. The reason is that simply noone cared about the goals of Ronaldo, or the passes of Ronaldinho. Everybody was happy to be there, tease their friends, shout, lough, invite the passers-by to sit with them, celebrate and escape for 90 minutes from the reality.

How simple things can be...