2007-01-08
just add music and stir
|Music really can become the soundtrack for life, if you let it.
Yesterday I went out for some Mexican carry out (got to say my taco salad was beyond awesome -- shout out to Mexican Gardens!) and noticed the man driving behind me in my rearview mirror. We both were in the turn lane waiting to turn left at a red light.
I wasn't able to really see his face, just his general outline and his actions. At the same time, I was listening to the song "Change" by Tears for Fears. The volume wasn't blaring, but I had it up loud enough to drown out the sound of my blinker and the extraneous sounds out on the street.
So listening to the song and watching the guy behind me was sort of like watching a snippet from an indie film. You know how, in a movie, all the other sound is gone, just the visual on the screen and then the music is overlaid as the soundtrack. That's what it was like sitting in my car.
The guy behind me was frantically trying to find something on the floor behind him. He had his seatbelt on so he could only lean so far back while holding the steering wheel with his left hand and flailing his right arm, throwing things about in search of what he was looking for. At the same time, he kept looking in front of him, to see if the light had changed and if I had driven forward.
It was sort of like a choreographed dance, him sitting in the driver's seat erratically swinging about. Step one: lean back, throw stuff on the seat behind. Step two: truffle through the unearthed junk. Step three: jerk head forward to check the light. Step four: repeat cycle.
I wondered what it was that was so important. Clearly, it wasn't that necessary to locate, because if it was he would have pulled into a parking lot and given the search his full attention. But it was important enough to find, because he thought he had enough time, waiting at a light, to find it. Also, he must have remembered seeing it lying on the floor previously.
When the light changed and I proceeded ahead there was roughly a three second delay in his acceleration. Perhaps he was on step two (truffle through the unearthed junk) when the light changed and I drove off. Whatever the case, he floored it and caught up behind me.
He was driving a luxury sedan and I would guess he was in his mid-30s based on his vigorous display of vehicular gymnastics. It's funny what kind of conclusions you can come to based on appearances. Because he was in a new car I assumed he was some kind of yuppie, perhaps a salesman who was looking for a scrap of paper that had an important phone number on it.
As we parted ways I wanted to wave goodbye, but I knew he had no idea that I was watching him. My point is that a mundane display became somewhat extraordinary for me, simply because I added music to the soundtrack of life.
It was fun. You should try it sometime.
2007-01-08 at 7:29 a.m.
