Saturday, December 13, 2014

My "If I Had A Hammer" moment

Years ago, I was asked, on short notice, to work on a night close to Christmas.  As I listened to a Boston Pops Christmas tape while driving, I grumbled, "Why did no one take care of this?  Now, I have to go in on a night I don't want to and fix what should have been done correctly in the first place.  Why did this happen?  Why was this left until the last minute?  What were people thinking?"  Then, I burst out laughing.  I realized I'd been complaining as "Waltz Of The Flowers" played.  I thought, "Even though I'm justified in being irked, it's kind of funny to sound this irate against a background of 'Waltz Of The Flowers.'"  The juxtaposition of the music and the way I'd acted reminded me of a Mike Royko column in which Royko had been grousing on his way into work and then realized he'd been listening to "If I Had A Hammer."