I'm Shireen Marisol Maraji. I'm Jean-Denby and this is Coast Witch. From NPR. So Shireen, I hear you have a story for me.

I have so many stories for you all the time but this is a particularly important story in my life.

They are all important. They're all important. Don't say the other story short.

Okay well true. But this one is like one of the most important. It was the Sunday in 2004 and I was visiting my TT Ida and my Uncle Ryan.

You weren't like all the lower everything. No I wasn't because it was hot. I was definitely wearing a tank top and probably some shorts.

I mean cookie cutter, suburbia, you know, not that many trees. Lots of concrete. Just outside of Los Angeles.

Right. And I had just recently moved here to LA and was trying to reconnect with members of my family who lived in Southern California.

My Puerto Rican side just in case I have to make that clear. My uncle Ralph grew up in Vieques and my TT Ida was a New Yorker weekend all the way.

Had that thick New York accent which I absolutely love.

It's one of the best accents in America. It's such a dope accent. I love it so much.

And Jean, an important part of the story is that there was a basketball game on TV.

Okay. And the United States was playing Puerto Rico in the Summer Olympics.

I remember this game very clearly. I remember three things about the game. Number one, the point guard was really cute.

So it kept me very invested in watching the game. I mean, there are very, there are a number of things that kept me invested in watching the game.

But that was one of them. Number two, the second thing I remember about that game is that my TT Ida was always trying to start shit.

And she started this ridiculous debate over who we should be rooting for.

Whether we should be cheering for the US or Puerto Rico, which is ridiculous because this was the House full of Puerto Ricans.

So it isn't it obvious. But my TT Ida was like, you guys aren't even Puerto Rican. You never lived in Puerto Rico.

You're American. You can barely speak Spanish. And we were like, what? Come on.

We should, but we should talk about the completely just pause a to acknowledge how like the arrangement by which Puerto Rico is party United States, but has a separate Olympic situation happening.

Just just got to acknowledge that that's strange.

Yes, let us acknowledge that.

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