I live in Massachusetts, and The Tartan Army Is The Best Thing To Hit My News Feed

Until a few weeks ago, I had never heard of the Tartan Army (despite being one quarter Scottish and having an actual family tartan of my own!). But now that World Cup it has started and the Scottish fans known as the Tartan Army have descended on our country in Massachusetts, they cannot escape. And that’s not a bad thing.

Full disclosure: I live outside of Boston, so I’ve never had a chance to see any of these fallen soldiers, but I’ve been following their good deeds on the news and on social media, and I’m so glad they’re here. (If I was in the house next door visiting tourists (who played bagpipes all day, I might have felt differently.)

The Tartan Army has been at the forefront for the past week or so, partly because of its sheer numbers — an estimated 40,000 Scotland fans traveled to Massachusetts for the group stage of the tournament — and partly because of the euphoric atmosphere it brought to places like Fenway Park. More than 10,000 fans attended a Red Sox game last weekend, and on the streets, they marched in their signature instruments and played the bagpipes. And do their research as tourists, too.

They know that the original Boston tourist attractions Dunkin’ and the Cop Slide, a playground slide in Boston’s City Hall Plaza known to cause injuries because some people go too fast. This slide went viral when a police officer tried to use the slide and…it didn’t go well. (We can laugh now because you’re right.) But that’s why we now have a video of a man playing the pipes while going down the Cop Slide.

I don’t know if anyone thought of it that could be one of the consequences of hosting the World Cup, but this world cup has given us many unexpected and exciting moments. The goalkeeper of Cape Verde, Vozinha, who went from an unknown place in the world when his team played 90 minutes against Spain, is another story that arouses joy, and another video of a police officer, this time the Boston police dancing happily with fans after the game of Cape Verde against Spain. All these little hits of dopamine really add up.

Bostonians and many New Englanders have a reputation for lack of warmth. It’s a remnant of the Puritanical and stoic values ​​imported by our early settlers and which have remained for centuries — this can make us seem aloof and lonely at times, when in fact it’s an innate aloofness that some of us can’t shake, no matter how hard we try. But the Scots cracked our tough outer shell, at least temporarily.

Scrolling through TikTok will reveal dozens of thank-you videos, both from Scots, thanking Boston for the warmth shown, and locals drawn to happy and excited visitors. Fans and pundits alike have been talking about how the World Cup has become the great unifying factor we need right now, and the influx of Scottish visitors to our region seems to have lifted the local spirit.

But alas, we won’t be able to call the Tartan Army our own for much longer. The team and their fans will be stuck with one more game on June 19 against Morocco before heading down to Miami for their final group stage game against Brazil on June 24. Sure, Miami has some great beaches, and we’ll probably get a dangerous video of a bagpiper on a jet ski this time, but we’ll miss the Tartan Army when it’s gone. At least we’ll always have Cop Slide.