There is a price to be paid for being a Yankees fan in the heart of Red Sox Nation, a lesson that City Councilor Ed Symbol learned last week.
Back in April, Symbol made a bet with Fire Chief Gary Littlefield that the Yankees would sweep the first series of the year with the Red Sox. If Symbol lost the bet, he would wash a fire truck and if Littlefield lost, he would be forced to wash Symbol’s (much smaller) truck.
There was a sweep in the series played from April 20-22 at Fenway Park, but, unfortunately for Symbol, it was the Red Sox sweeping the Yankees, a team that continues to swoon, and as of this week, were buried in last place, 13 1?2 games behind the Red Sox.
So, on Friday, Symbol, dressed in a vintage Reggie Jackson Yankees shirt, showed up to do his duty. “I’m a man of my word,” Symbol said while eyeing the fire engine parked in the driveway of the Public Safety Building.
Littlefield, who dressed for the occasion in a Red Sox hat, said he took pity on the city councilor, saying he didn’t roll out the department’s largest truck for Symbol to scrub. “We found a mediocre one,” Littlefield said. “We didn’t want to give him the biggest one, we’re trying to be fair. But we wanted him to earn his keep.”
In this truck’s-eye-view, City Councilor Ed Symbol lathers up a fire truck while washing it on Friday. Symbol wasn’t washing the truck in response to budget cuts, he was forced to wash the truck after losing a bet with Fire Chief Gary Littlefield on the results of a Red Sox/Yankees series in April.Send questions/comments to the editors.
