You’ve probably seen them hanging from porches on crisp, fall Saturday mornings: flags adorned with the logos of various colleges, hung by proud alumni on college football gameday. This simple gesture of school pride has become the source of serious disagreement in the Beatty household. Husband Bob just wants to hang the flag of his alma mater on Saturday like all the other guys on his block, but his wife will not let him.
“Don’t get me wrong; he’s a smart guy, and got a great education, but they don’t even have a football team!” exclaims Shelli, Bob’s wife of five years. Bob earned his degree online, from the University of Phoenix, which may or may not be headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Unlike the so-called “house divided,” where spouses attended rival universities such as Colorado and Nebraska, or Kansas and Missouri, the difference here is that these two attended schools with rival interfaces: one in reality and the other in the virtual world.
“Yes, I got my degree online, but the U.P. has over 200 campuses, including four in the Denver region,” Bob explains. Shelli shakes her head dismissively. “Those aren’t ‘campuses,’ those are crappy office parks in random suburbs!”
Judging by their tones of voice, this house divided won’t be united anytime soon. Bob sighs reflectively, “She should have seen this coming. She knew about my Phoenix Eagle pride ever since we were first online dating.”]]>