One of the strangest school assemblies I ever attended was in fifth grade. Although I'm sure the theater troupe's performance was well-intentioned, its closing number was a bit odd. As I recall, all of the cast members wore a brown tarp during the finale and sang a rather repetitive song. My recollection of it is somewhat hazy after all these years, but as I recall, it went like this:
"Mud. Mud. Mud, mud, mud, mud, mud, mud, mud, mud, mud."
Around the middle of this avant-garde demo, the dismissal bell rang. Those of us who had to catch a bus started to fidget, knowing that we'd have to make a mad dash for the parking lot soon or risk being stuck at school. We stayed put, however, because as any etiquette columnist will tell you, it's impolite to get up and leave before your guests have finished singing about mud.
