Being a fan is the toughest job in the world

I am an Arsenal fan.

I have been since 2005, a year after infamous Invincibles. The strange part is I didn't know about the 2004 ingenuity until sometime in 2010. On days like today, when I try to become numb to Arsenal, I always get a flashback to my parent's compound 14 years ago.

It was a few feet away from the usual black gate that adorn a 3-flat compound—one for the landlord, and two for the other tenants. Vertically arranged, the first two flats were conjoined, and the last one—a boys quarters.

As a kid, I was fascinated with talking with the grown ups, and that day was no different. Mayowa, Fisayo and Tayo—3 out of 5 children of our landlord—were talking about football.

Mayowa was an Arsenal fan. We were about 4 years into our trophy-less run and expect the other two Man Utd fans to pile on the misery. It was banter-galore.

"What club do you support?", someone asked.

Instinctively, "I said Arsenal".

That they were bantering Arsenal that day wasn't clear until few years later. I still do not know why I chose Arsenal as a club, but one is for sure. Every day after that, I spent it supporting the one club.

No, I'm not a football fan like everyone else. I don't know so much about the history of the club. I don't the players of every season. Actively, I wasn't involved in the club's news until sometime in 2013.

Yet, I have grown a dislike for Chelsea, wished Liverpool no success, become indifferent about Man Utd, looked down on Barcelona and Real Madrid—usually like the average Arsenal fan would.

"Just quit", they said, "free yourself from this heartache".

Yet, every football fan knows it's almost impossible to just switch it off.

Before I started Neptunn, one of my biggest dreams was to run a company like a football club—not the business but its operational capacity, especially its PR end.

I am in awe of it.

Every club has hacked community building. Lol.

So, yes, I can't leave Arsenal and I don't know why. I'll just have to accept that they'll continue to suck—until they get good again.

I hope you have people who root for you like fans root for football clubs.

Ciao.

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