This combination of eight pictures created on July 5, 2018 shows Russia and Croatia fans posing during the Russia 2018 World Cup football tournament. Croatia will face Russia during their World Cup quarter final football match in Sochi on July 7, 2018. Pictures: AFP Photo / Johannes Eisele.
Women seem to be natural multitaskers. Well, the women in my life for sure. And none more so than my 2IC.
I suppose it has a lot to do with the fact that she goes by so many titles: mom, wife, journalist, businesswoman, family shopper, pet caregiver, to name but a few. Each of these titles comes with a strict set of expectations and tasks.
Being a mother requires skills the rest of us cannot even fathom while being the family shopper is not a title I will ever aspire to.
In the last month or so, she has had to juggle her many roles with a brand new one: assistant to the fanatical football fan.
No prize for guessing this one: that would be me. Being assistant to the fanatical football fan is a highly complex position and involves much more than just fetching refreshments and arranging for dinners to not clash with the daily dose of action from Russia.
The assistant also had to deal with all the tasks the fanatical fan could not attend to due to the close on 6 000 minutes of World Cup action.
These include everything that happened between kick-off and the final whistle. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. I mean, every 2IC should know how to trim a hedge in the time it takes the braai fire to reach the perfect temperature.
But the biggest challenge no doubt was assisting the fanatical fan through the rollercoaster of emotions during the “month of Russia”.
And what a rollercoaster it was. The tears of joy when Russia won the opening match and the absolute agony when Germany failed to qualify for the knockout stages. That required some serious counselling.
Let’s not forget the early elimination of the African teams. It was a continental weight to carry. And watching the English do a Brexit from Moscow was, as they say in the advertisements, priceless.
I got through it all unscathed. Emotionally exhausted, but not scarred. Thanks to my 2IC.
And now, with a return to normality, I can see she’s glad it’s all over. Until August 10 that is, when Manchester United take on Leicester in the opening match of the English Premier League.
The more things change …
Danie Toerien.
For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.
