The Zidane Dilemma (Or: God, You Did Good)
Posted by Laurie at 9:36 PM
Thursday, September 21, 2006
http://quilts-soccer-chess-etc.blogspot.com/2006/09/zidane-dilemma-or-god-you-did-good.html
When I began to follow the World Cup run of my beloved French soccer team, Les Bleus, I joined the rest of the world in being fascinated with the soccer skills and life story of Zinedine Zidane, aka Zizou, the graceful, aging, bullet-headed Algerian Frenchman with the dancing feet. And I (along with the rest of the world) watched the headbutt with the same shock and horror I used to feel when my perfect children would do something like bite a playmate. How in the world could this happen?
A French quilting acquaintance told me that Zidane would be on TV offering explanations. Since US TV wouldn't carry it, I turned to that wonderful public service site, YouTube. Sure enough, videos appeared online within a day. (The link is subtitled.) They were all in French, but I'd had five years of French, so I knew that with effort I could figure this out.
I hit Play with my entire brain focused on determining what had brought about The Event. But then something happened. Zidane was still obviously, touchingly uncomfortable in the spotlight, but he had been worked over to prep him for TV.
His head was freshly shaved, which put the focus on his face's impossible bone structure. His skin was luminous. His teeth were startlingly white. And somebody had put him in a T-shirt and jacket that precisely matched the color of his eyes. In less than a minute I had entirely lost my train of thought. What language was he speaking again?
I've come to think of it as The Zidane Dilemma. As a happily married, middle-aged Christian mom, I know it's not right for me to notice when a man has eyelashes approximately three miles long and a smile that could melt granite. But occasionally... Well, oops. Darn it. I notice.
It's at these times that I take my cue from a sweet, fifty-something pastor's wife I know. She once told me, "I don't think it's a horrible thing sometimes to let your eyes fall on someone for a moment and then just think, 'God, you did good.'"
I like her approach. (And it definitely beats the alternative -- "If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out.") She wasn't talking about infidelity, or leering with intent. Just about a quick, honest, visual appreciation, like you'd give a Monet or a Renoir. And after that you turn away, back towards your spouse-and-best-friend. I don't think that's such a horrible thing.
And God? About Zizou?
Well, I just want you to know: You did good.