Me and Bobby McGee

Bee Gees Song of the Day: One

Like the wind that feeds the fire, two souls become entwined.

I sing in the car.

I am insular enough to not pay attention when I am making a fool of myself. I'm too old to care. I’m enjoying the song, I’m enjoying the singing, I'm enjoying myself. I let ‘er rip. I’ve noticed other people doing this occasionally and they look very silly, no doubt I look equally as silly.

In fact, I know I do.

Many many many years ago, gosh, it may have been over 15 years ago now (how I hate that I can think in decades!) I was driving to work. Earth Wind and Fire was on the radio playing “September”. It’s a warm fuzzy song for me because it brings back a memory of going to a fair in Virginia, riding on a ride with a cute boy, a head resting on my shoulder, ahhhhh. Young love.

I never heard from him again. So much changes; so much stays the same.

I am driving to work and in the car singing my little heart out ~ I thought the words were “On and on and on and on” (google says no) and was not paying attention to the school bus directly in front of me. I looked up. Apparently, I was ALSO not paying attention to the 10 or more teenagers laughing at me from their perch in the back of the bus above my little Escort.

This must have been going on for a while. Their arms were entwined, they were swaying and mouthing “On and on and on an on” pointing at me. Laughing. There was nothing else for it, I smiled, waved and kept singing, but without the abandon of before.

I learned after that. I try to be more aware of my surroundings. However, if I am working on a particularly difficult note from “Phantom of the Opera”, I’ll just sing and not care. But most times, I look around, turn the radio down if I have stopped in traffic, and will sing softly.

That’s what I was doing a month or so ago. I was on hold with my cellular provider; I was having trouble with my phone and wanted to get to the bottom of it. No time like dead traffic during the commute. (This was BEFORE Virginia enacted its no-cell-phone-while-driving-laws thank you very much any dutiful civil servants who read this.) Nice young Andy had put me on hold while he researched the problem.

One of my favorite songs came on – “Me and Bobby McGee” by Janis Joplin. I’ve grown to appreciate that song over the years and Joplin’s charisma. So my windows are up, I’m idling in traffic with the song playing at a polite level while singing and waiting for Nice Young Andy to solve my problem.

“Do you know any CCR?”

F*************************************CK.

He heard me. I wanted to die.

Nice Young Andy hadn’t put me on hold at all! He had muted himself and was listening to me the whole time. He probably had put me on speaker and had the whole office listen to it. Crap. There was only one thing for it, I didn’t miss a beat when I told him I wasn’t a fan. He told me I had a lovely voice and it was a pleasure listening to me.

At least I amused him.