Last week, walking in front of Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome (where four cardinals were held as
prisoners in Angels & Demons), I passed a man wearing a classic Cal baseball cap with the script

Naturally, I said "Go Bears." The man and his apparent wife looked at me with obvious confusion. I pointed to his hat and explained that "Cal" is the University of California and its teams are Golden Bears. The couple (who appeared to be Southeast Asian with little if any understanding of English) had no clue. As we parted I added, "it's the University of California at Berkeley." The man responded: "Berkeley?"

Having done my duty, I walked with my wife back to our hotel overlooking the Pantheon (where Tom Hanks began his search for the cardinals, passing the fountain where he later saved the future pope from drowning).

(Edited after watching As & Ds again)

I've done that a few too many times where the people also look at me like, what?

Your story also reminds me of the time I was flying somewhere and a man was in line wearing an expensive jacket with the BBB logo. So I asked if he worked for the company or something.

He had a hard time understanding me, so I had to ask a couple of times what his affiliation was. He was Asian and didn't speak much English. Eventually, I discovered he was merely a fan, or something.

I felt bad. Who the hell would buy OR wear that crap?

But anyways, my point is, sometimes people wear stuff they know nothing about.
It appears you and I have each found a couple of people in that category.

I once did the "Go Bears" greeting to two young day hikers wearing Cal sweatshirts on a remote trail in Central Turkey and got a raised hand and a "Go Bears!" greeting in return. It turns out that both hikers were Turkish and Cal undergrads home for the summer.

Keep going . . . Go Bears!

Cal alums have a remarkable footprint around the globe, plus the esteem of our alma mater carries it's weight, as when I traveled internationally, I would hear the same chorus of "GO BEARS"!

Now, living in Colorado, I am amazed at how large the Cal alum community is here, as I frequently run into Cal grads, in fact half of the homes in our neighborhood are owned by "California transplants", but I am the only Cal grad here. There is a house down the street which raises a USC flag on football weekends, I have gotten to know the owner and expressed my condolences that he could not get admitted into Cal and had to attend his 2nd choice of colleges!

GO BEARS!

Outside of the Pac-12 footprint, I'd say that the majority of the time when I say "Go Bears" to someone donning Cal wear, I am met with a blank stare, whether in Belgium or New York City or elsewhere.

Last time I was outside the Bay Area this past April, I was on top of the Vessel in Manhattan and said "Go Bears" to a boy whose family was clearly playing tourist like I was, so I figured there was a shot it was a Cal family. He turned to his mother with a puzzled look on his face, she took his cap off, showed it to him, and she said to me, "He forgot what cap he was wearing."

Yeah, people wear stuff they know nothing about. But I'll keep trying, because I do get the occasional positive response.

Idiots.