The vast majority of the big events in my life have involved waiting in hallways. Waiting to take a test, waiting to play the piano, waiting to receive a set of scores… Last weekend I sat in an uncomfortable plastic chair next to three other girls in similar uncomfortable plastic chairs. One was playing air-piano, another was staring at nothing, and the third sat with her chin in her hand, looking very thoughtful. As I sat there, clutching my books and trying not to hyperventilate, the silence seemed to grow stronger (it usually does in these situations) and every note the first girl tapped on her music book almost seemed to make the atmosphere more awkward and tense. I don’t know if everyone else felt that way, but I know I did. It may be due to the fact that in my household, it’s rarely quiet for more than two minutes. I don’t know.
Anyway I broke the silence. I had to for the sake of my sanity and to take my mind off of the upcoming performance. I’m glad I did! We all talked. We talked about piano and piano teachers and piano practice and piano lessons. We talked about school and New York City and Monterrey Mexico and homeschooling and little brothers and the environment. We talked about the weather, we talked about the city, we talked about the country, we took and gave piano advice and wished each other luck. And then one by one we went to play in front of a couple of harried and hurried adjudicators.
That’s the cool thing about waiting in hallways with people. It’s almost like a mini party or something. That’s why I always force myself to speak up. However..
Although it is good to speak up sometimes, one must always remember the old adage ‘Silence is golden’. Observe:
We were coming back from an orthodontist appointment today, and Mom decided to stop by a local cake bakery to look around for my birthday. When we walked in, I decided to be mature and ask a question. So (without a second thought) I asked the elderly clerk:
“Do you do cakes here?”
He replied with a long drawn smart remark, asking me if birds fly, if there was water in the Pacific ocean, and if there was snow on Mt. Everest.
I’m having brownies this year.
Kelly, Please don’t let a grumpy, rude, sarcastic old man ruin your birthday (although brownies are an awesome option) or influence your usually sunny, out-going, happy self. Sounds like he needs to eat some sugar instead of baking it. 🙂
Bad customer service always gives me a chance to vote with my pocketbook! Speaking of awesome birthday cakes, we had a tradition for Eric’s birthday of going down to Mother’s Bistro in Portland and having a slice of her to die for chocolate cake. Well, the year we moved here, I contacted them with my sob story about being too far away to return on Eric’s birthday, and would they send me a slice or even whole cake? Would you believe they sent me the recipe instead? Yipppeeeee!!!!
Aww thanks Youngin! But nah… it was just kinda embarrassing. 🙂 I think we’re going to go to Baskin Robbins and get one of those yummy ice cream cakes instead. 🙂
Mrs G. : That is an awesome story!!! Good strategy too. 😀
Eric
My absolute favorite thing to do is go into, say, a coffee shop and ask the question, “So, do you know where I can get a good cup of coffee?” Of course, I’m fishing for a reaction, and sometimes I get a good one.
Reminds me of a family story my cousins told. These particular cousins were always making jokes with complete strangers. One day they were walking downtown Cincinnati (with my aunt as witness) and they passed a very old man walking toward them. My cousin said to the old man, “Why hello, Moo, how are you mooing?” To which the quick old man replied, “Very good, thank moo.”
LOL! I should really start doing that on purpose now…
Cute story! I’ll bet they were surprised!