The morning seemed very calm to you, pleasant, the wind gently brushing against your face as you drove to the soccer field where you had dropped off your husband and daughter earlier. Your daughter was almost nine years old; in a few weeks she would be another year older, and as the cautious parent you always were, you had already planned and started organizing everything so that she could have a perfect birthday — but, since it was a surprise, you would buy and store the party decorations when she wasn't home.

Saturdays were ideal for this; she was at soccer practice, and this time in particular, she was in a friendly match against another girls' team. It was a friendly match, sure, but for Steve it was definitely anything but friendly; for him it was like a championship where the goal was to see his daughter shine from beginning to end — which was completely ruined when she was put on the bench. He had been unhappy for several weeks with the refereeing in these games, which always seemed to favor the opposing team, now it seemed that the coach was also his enemy. You knew very well that your husband probably wasn't the easiest father to deal with and that he must be screaming his head off on the sidelines. It was obvious, he always came home a little hoarse after the matches.

As soon as they both got into the car, you couldn't tell which one had a bigger pout on their lips. They even looked like the same person, with the same sharp facial expressions on their faces. You started the engine silently, not questioning anything until you were on the highway. “Let me guess... Bad game?” You decided to speak up, glancing at your daughter in the back seat through the rearview. You almost wanted to laugh at the adorable way she was crossing her arms, annoyed, and staring out the window.

“I was benched, can you believe it? The coach benched me!” She was visibly furious, her cheeks flushing red with anger as she pointed out that she had been benched. “And you know what else? The team lost after I was benched!”

As she spoke, you glanced at Steve beside you; his arms were crossed just as she had been before, a serious look on his face, a hand under his chin, and you knew he wanted to freak out. “Do you have anything to say about this, Steve?” It was the opening he needed to say everything he needed to say about the enormous cruelty they had inflicted on his beloved daughter.

“I simply can't believe they benched her.” He said it as if it were the end of the world; for him, it probably was. Steve was the typical soccer dad to your daughter; from the second she said she liked soccer and started watching some matches with him, that was enough for him to enroll her in a soccer academy for girls her age. He was at every single game, he knew everything about the team your daughter played for... My God, he literally made signs supporting the girls and almost looked like a cheerleader.

He took a deep breath, which didn't help much in his situation, but give him a chance, he was trying. “Come on, she was a top scorer in the last championship she played in, how did she end up benched? It makes no sense at all, she was doing so well.” Steve was gesturing so much with his hands that you could barely focus on what he was saying; you'd better pay attention to the road or you'd crash the car.

“Of course the team started losing after she left, she's the best center forward on this.” He continued talking rapidly, still as indignant as he had been in his last sentence. “If it ain't broke, don't fix it... Hasn't this coach ever heard that?” In fact, you still wanted to laugh, but you held back because you didn't want to make their indignation seem silly.