Worlds apart

As I type this, I have another window open with the Manchester United/City game on. It struck me that it really is a window. Because it's very small, and it's on my lap, it's easy to think that it's makebelieve, but in fact, half a world away, there are 22 men on a football pitch fighting it out to advance in the Carling Cup. They are bitter adversaries, these two teams from the same city. You've got the sky blue mooners (City) who are the lesser sibling of the more successful, more popular big brother, the Red Devil of Manchester United. I'm watching the clock countdown the final minutes alloted in this vital match. The game is currently tied on aggregate goals, and if it remains so, they will go into added time. I'm sitting hunched over my laptop, peering at the tiny images racing back and forth across the field of green, clenching my jaw and wishing I still bit my nails.