Bold Moves Are the Best Moves

When I resigned last year, I promised myself I’d take pleasure in the “little things” that I didn’t have time for while working – a more active role in my son’s activities, cooking dinner, writing, and giving back. These last two weeks also meant partaking in pre-Super Bowl festivities in KC, even standing in line for over an hour to get the city’s most sought-after Super Bowl cookies.

We started at Union Station on Thursday, participating in the entertaining Chiefs’ photo ops, followed with lunch at our favorite BBQ spot while enjoying an amusing conversation with our son. The only thing that could make the day better was snagging the delicious-looking Chiefs’ cookies I saw on the news.

I figured it was a long shot, but we stopped at the bakery to see if the infamous cookies were still available. Pre-sale orders sold out within 2 hours, but there were daily offerings starting at 8am. I was too late. “Get here early tomorrow,” said the friendly woman behind the counter. “The line started at 6:30 this morning.”

It was no longer about enjoying the “little things.” It was now a challenge. I had to have those cookies. My inner alarm woke me up at 7:15 the next morning. I shot out of bed, put on my red attire, and headed to the line.

There were at least fifty people in front of me, more behind me, and a familiar Kelce sign that said, “Love is in the Air.” I know the sign was inspired by that famous couple we’ve heard about all season, but I couldn’t help but feel it was about something much bigger. We can feel it everywhere in the sea of red happening not just on Red Fridays. It’s in the friendly smiles, the small talk in passing, the support of small businesses, and the signage on store fronts noting shortened hours for employees to watch the game. Everyone is nicer when we’re all rooting for the same team, and we can feel it in KC.

I spent the next hour chatting with other fans in line, hearing about their families, game day superstitions, and reviews of the cookies we were all waiting for patiently. The owner came out 30 minutes after the doors opened to announce there were no more Mahomes cookies, and we had to choose between Travis or Andy. We couldn’t have both. No one complained. We just plotted the choices for our allotted dozen, so we could help move the line along more quickly when it was our turn.

The woman in front of me was specifically waiting for just two cookies – one Mahomes and a KC helmet. Her family had been buying these cookies for every post-season game for the last two years. They’d had their fill by now, but it would be bad luck if they didn’t have these two cookies for the biggest game of the year. Mahomes was their favorite because his hair required the most frosting. The group around us started to get anxious about this first sign of bad luck.

When we got inside, the woman at the counter asked if she wanted Patrick, Travis, or Andy. There was hesitation and a bit of surprise when she glanced back at the rest of us and asked, “I thought you were sold out of Patrick?” “We have one left,” she replied with a huge smile. There was a sigh of relief from all nearby. The luck had not been broken.

By 9am I had my perfect dozen and headed home even more excited about the big game and proud of my city. I know we were all reminded this week how music can bring us together after the amazing performance of Tracy Chapman & Luke Combs at the Grammys. Sports can do that too. The rest of the country may no longer be rooting for the Chiefs as they were 4 years ago, but love is in the air in KC.

#chiefskingdom #bestregardsbakery #superbowlXVIII