A&M takes pride in being hospitable. This Clemson guy gets it.

quote:

---

I am a Widower as my wife of 20 years passed away a few years back at 44 years of age from Lung Cancer having never smoked a day in her life. That experience and raising my two kids solo these last few years, has really given me some perspective on what is important and not so important at least as far as my life is concerned. It also makes the concept of building memories very valuable to me, so when my 18 year old son approached me last week and suggested a memorable trip for his Senior Year in High School would be an A&M trip, I was all about it.

---

quote:

---

Finally and most important the Aggie People.... There was an announcement before the game reminding the A&M fans about class and respect for your opponent. I was blown away at how universal this sentiment was taken to heart by everyone we encountered all day - I mean EVERYONE. We sat in the middle of an Aggie section. We had been elbow to elbow with folks decked out in Maroon all day. Even making our way down the crowded walkways from the upper deck after a tightly contested game with controversial calls that frustrated the home team, I did not hear a single derogatory word. Not one - literally all day. Closest we even came was a car that drove by us walking to the stadium and the students yelled something like "Gig-em Aggies" or something like that. I was stunned to be honest. Much more often we heard "Welcome to Aggie-land" or "Hope you have a safe drive home" and never a murmur of anything condescending or hostile. We all love college football and want our team to win. We all get fired up and heated up when things don't go our way. These folks get it though. Maybe it is just my personal history with tragedy these last few years, but these Aggie folks see things the right way with the right perspective. They fought hard and that stadium was as raucous as you can imagine, but when the game was over we had nothing but pats on the backs, handshakes and well wishes. I just had to write this post to tip my cap Aggie fans, students and Alumni. You may have come up a few points short on the scoreboard Saturday night, but you sure won me over.

---