How Leslie Knope Would Feel About the World Cup

As any Parks and Rec fans knows, Leslie Knope cares strongly about a lot of things: Pawnee. Her husband. Ann Perkins. Friday Night Lights. All of these things, though, come second to her one true love: waffles. Over the show's six seasons, Leslie has made her love for the breakfast (and lunch, and dinner, and dessert...) food supremely clear, bingeing on them at JJ's Diner, requesting them in her hospital room, getting distracted from Ann's move to Michigan by a conveniently placed new batch that just happened to appear in front of her face. The only thing Leslie loves nearly as much as waffles is her country, and being one of its proud members. So when we heard the news that Waffle House is boycotting Belgian Waffles to support the U.S. in their upcoming World Cup game, our first reaction, naturally, was how would Leslie Knope feel?

Presumably, not great. Leslie loves her waffles, and would be aghast by the idea of a waffle-serving place refusing to serve her favorite food. But she also loves her country, as well as competition; assuming she's a major World Cup fan, she'd feel awful about not supporting the U.S. as much as she possibly good. For Leslie, Waffle House's boycott would provide the most stress in her life since the time she discovered that she was actually born in Eagleton.

So, we know how Leslie would feel about the World Cup, but what about the rest of her Parks and Rec co-workers? How would Ben, Ron, April and more react to the games, or the competition, or the excuse to dress up in patriotic colors at work? Let's find out:

Ron

Ron loves America. He loves Big Gulps, Meat Tornadoes, and the freedom to say/do/think whatever he wants. He also loves being athletic, regularly going fishing ("for sport only, not for meat") and rooting for his favorite football teams. So in theory, he'd love the World Cup, and rooting for the U.S. In actuality, though? He hates it. The crowds, the cheers, the fair-weather fans — he thinks it's a pathetic display of patriotism, and wishes everyone would go back to their normal, quiet, hard-working American selves.

Tom

Tom has no idea what's actually going on in the World Cup, but he's more than happy to take the opportunity to entertain customers at Tom's Bistro, day-drink, and dress up in trendy, red white and blue outfits. He also attempted to model his hair after Cristiano Ronaldo's, but is not thrilled with the result.

Ben

Ben is not an athletic person, and he's hated large sporting events ever since Ice Town bankrupted Partridge back when he was its child mayor. Still, he tries to get in the spirit of the World Cup, but quickly realizes just how little he cares and goes back to playing a real sport, the Cones of Dunshire.

April

April is the person dressed up as Teddy Roosevelt at the games. She is loving every moment of the World Cup.

Andy

Andy accompanied April to Brazil, but got lost leaving the airport and wandered around Rio de Janeiro for several days. Eventually, he found the games, but because he's in such good shape, he was mistaken for a player and is now a member of the U.S. team. He has no idea what's happening, but he's having a fantastic time.

Donna

Donna loves the World Cup, as it's a) a competitive sport b) an excuse to binge-watch/live-tweet TV and c) an event that features many good-looking athletes. She watches each game religiously, tweets about it to her thousands of followers, and already has plans to meet up with several players once the Cup has ended.

Jerry/Gary/Larry/Terry

Jerry is super into the World Cup, but accidentally he wore the wrong colors to work, called it football instead of soccer, and tripped over the TV wires in the middle of the game. He really does care a lot about the Cup, but no one will let him attend their viewing parties anymore. He's kind of sad, but he'll be okay, and besides, sports aren't about camaraderie, right?