I watched the Tony Awards last night and was reminded once again of how much I like Broadway musicals. I wish real life were more like a musical. How much more interesting a trip to Safeway would be if everyone were dancing and singing. In my regular life it is rare for anyone to break into song. Rare, but not unheard of.
In the early 70's the spouse and I were newly married and living, from paycheck to paycheck, in low-rent student housing in Portland, Oregon. Our best friends, Beth and Dan, were attending college in Eugene. When we could scrape up the gas money we would make the drive to Eugene and spend the weekend with our friends. There's a saying that if you can remember 60s and 70s then you weren't there. I have a hazy memory of this event, but I swear it happened...I'm pretty sure.
It was always a party when the spouse and I got together with Beth and Dan. We were at the end of a long evening of revelry when we stopped laughing long enough to realize that we HAD TO HAVE FOOD...NOW! The golden arches beckoned to us. We ordered at the counter and settled into a plastic booth to feast. All four of us were engrossed in our food when we heard music...and the first line of a current McDonald's jingle.
"You deserve a break today! So get up and get away! To McDonald's!"Just as I looked up a guy jumped over the counter with a mop and sang,
"Grab a bucket and mop....scrub from bottom to top..."
The entire work crew was singing the jingle and dancing.
I looked at the spouse and my friends, wordlessly asking "Do you see this too?" The four of us sat in the plastic booth with our mouths hanging open. As suddenly as it started, the performance was over and the employees carried on with their regular duties. Dan was the first to speak.
"Did you see that too?" he asked us.We all nodded.
The next day, no longer under the influence and stone cold sober we once again talked about our trip to McDonald's. We agreed that we didn't experience a group hallucination....well, we're pretty sure we didn't have a group hallucination.
Yep, life would be more interesting if everyone broke into song once in a while.
Here's a YouTube video of the old McDonald's jingle...enjoy!
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What fun!
ReplyDeleteNothin' more entertaining than Happy Worker Bees.
I wonder if the crew did that every night...?
Yes, singing and dancing are contagious, too. I've heard of this happening but I've never seen it myself. Hope you had a great weekend, Jann!
ReplyDeleteI am famous for not only breaking out into song but making up my own little ditties on the spot quite often. Plus I think dancing should be a daily requirement. It totally builds happiness! Can't say anyone has ever joined in with me but I'm hopeful...because you just can't be sad when you're dancing :-)
ReplyDeleteI love Broadway musicals, too. I was raised with the soundtracks. The world could use some breaking into song these days. Maybe a new political party could emerge from this idea... Wouldn't it be fun if the upcoming, unending 2012 presidential race were all done to music?
ReplyDeleteI think that's why I like Glee so much. The singing and dancing.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I would love to break into song and dance at different times and places. I've tried it. My kids frown on it.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you - life would be so much more fun to music. I love that you're still not entirely sure whether the McDonald's performance was real.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on this one, the singing, the dancing, the great story line. Oh yes, I could see how life could be better with a theme song for each stage of life, and a whole bunch of fun characters to share the hard work with.
ReplyDeleteI'm famous (or infamous) for breaking into songs based on what words people use. Sometimes a word or sentence will cause more than one song to take over my brain. Sometimes one of my daughters will blurt out a word and say, give me 4 songs. I can usually do it. I guess this is a clear sign of my massive ADDness
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