Songs of Innocence
Saturday, November 12, 2011 at 3:53AM Previously on Tales From the Endzone Flagpole:
- They call it "ramp."
- Sometimes ushers are helpful
- I can be very, very still when there's a marching band about to run me over
Neutron seemed... not himself late last week. He is no bringer of The Drama, Neutron, and so as we walked together from the indoor rehearsal room to the practice field, I shifted the box of cookies I was carrying and placed a hand on his back. Although he probably would have preferred closer contact with the cookies.
"I was reading about the Penn State allegations..." he said. And... he'd been thinking, about what he does and what it means and what's really important about Saturday afternoons.
Well, yeah. The disgusting details of the Penn State situation would nauseate a SEAL instructor. And the fallout rains down upon trumpet players an entire state away: Suddenly a band which serves a scandal-embroiled football team is preparing for a game against another, even more scandal-embroiled football team, to the point where its entire program is in serious jeopardy. Ohio State may have lost a bowl game bid; Penn State has lost its very soul.
That is the way of evil. It pervades, it corrupts, it sickens everyone even remotely connected to its work.
A few days later I sat in the balcony of Veterans Memorial Auditorium in downtown Columbus as schoolbus after schoolbus poured hundreds of children through the doors. They were here for a concert by The Ohio State University Marching Band.
Josh from D Row stood in the lobby discussing baton catching technique; his gaze kept straying over my shoulder and through the wide windows until he saw the name of his old school district on the side of a bus. He rushed off to greet a middle school mentor. Tiggles of S Row carried her flugelhorn off the stage and down the aisle to show off to one of her former teachers and his current students. The rookies danced to "Thriller" and JI Row instituted a screaming contest and trombonists wanted to know if anybody here was a Justin Bieber fan.
And what I saw from that balcony were eight-year-olds vicariously conducting, shooting to their feet to dance at their seats, gasping with anticipation when they heard that selections from "Phantom of the Opera" were in the offering, and stretching out their hands for high fives from these organic chemistry major rock stars. They didn't care about how they looked or who was watching.
They did not hear that music. They experienced it.
They were wide, dry lakebeds; the first music to reach their ears was probably a congolmeration of synthetic beats and Autotune, and these brass horns and shaking drums flooded them with human sounds produced by human hands. What I was watching--this jumping up and down, these arms flailing in the air, these shrill screeches-- was purity, purity that can't be bought or restored once lost.
Oh, the parents and friends of the Band will cheer at tomorrow's concert, which will have much the same playlist-- they will chant "O-H-I-O" at the proper time to "Hang On Sloopy" and perhaps sway a little bit when it's time for "Rock Around The Clock." But for the most part we're all far too cool for the Chicken Dance produced on four sousaphones-- we with our empty liquor bottles and our automatic billpay and our knowledge of How Things Work.
And that is a pity.
And it's necessary. But-- what a world this would be if there were no Penn State allegations to read about, and all Neutron had to think on was notes on a staff and whether or not he was going to get a cookie.
Reader Comments (17)
Quite a stark contrast. Very nicely done.
In other news, FRANK!
Well?
Did Frank get a cookie?
That whole Penn State situation is terrible. But you have found a way to write about it in a hopeful way MB.
"Ohio State may have lost a bowl game bid; Penn State has lost its very soul."
Yeah in retrospect those tats aren't such a big deal now.
That is the way of evil. It pervades, it corrupts, it sickens everyone even remotely connected to its work.
Truer words have never been spoken. God bless you, Mary Beth. From the backdrop of the horror of Penn State, you reminded us that there is hope. Teachers can still be mentors and heros.....and children can still be innocent and curious and all the things children should be. Ohio State may have lost its bowl bid, but to all those schoolchildren and their teachers, it's a source of pride and a place young school-age students should aspire to. I think that's far more impressive.
Did Frank get a cookie?
Frank did not get a cookie because I f'ed up and typed and posted at 3 AM. It was Neutron with whom I had that conversation. I also superimposed crossbelts on Josh when he was in a blazer. Post changed accordingly. Sorry guys. #InsertBlondeJokeHere
TBDBITL overload syndrome.
"From the backdrop of the horror of Penn State, you reminded us that there is hope. Teachers can still be mentors and heros.....and children can still be innocent and curious and all the things children should be. Ohio State may have lost its bowl bid, but to all those schoolchildren and their teachers, it's a source of pride and a place young school-age students should aspire to. I think that's far more impressive."
Agreed, and very well said.
Post changed accordingly.
LOL, I knew when that thing went up in the middle of the night that you were bound to have f'ed something up.
Wiserlemming
Very well put. +1 to it all, and God bless YOU.
Tough loss today Bucks but we'll get 'em next week. Miss Tink, I like what you had to say here :)
There are parallels here. The biggest problem with both OSU and Penn State was that people in authority to stop wrongdoing did not. Look at all the mess and heartache that could have been avoided.
Interesting thoughts Mary Beth.
Teachers can still be mentors and heros.....and children can still be innocent and curious and all the things children should be.
yes my thoughts exactly wiser
Miss Belle, once again you take a small moment and make a big statement.
"The biggest problem with both OSU and Penn State was that people in authority to stop wrongdoing did not."
Evil only triumphs when good people do nothing.
Really lovely images of kids just being kids, in this modern world that's not seen too much anymore.
They did not hear that music. They experienced it.
Great job TBDBITL!
Great seeing S Row again.