MR. BASS MAN

Dear Mr. Bass Man,

I know you think that when you drive by with your car stereo thumpin' and people turn their heads to look at you, that it somehow means that they are very galvanized with you and your bitchin' stereo system. You seem to feel that we are all in awe of the fact that you can make our windows rattle from 100 feet away with your woofers or tweeters or flippers or waffles or whatever those impressive stereo components are called. It also seems that the louder your music is turned up, the lower you slide in your seat in the car. Sometimes I can barely see you over the dash because you have the seat tilted so far down. Perhaps all the vibration from the bass is weakening your muscular system and causing you to have the inability to remain upright. The same thing happened to my great aunt, but I think hers was caused by calcium deprivation. She could hardly see over the steering wheel in her car either.

I want to let you in on a little secret though, Mr. Bass Man. There is a reason that you never see any women driving a loud, bass booming car and sitting all tilted back in the seat. It is because we think you are ridiculous. We have no desire for our ears to bleed simply by taking a ride in the car. In fact, we find it kind of amusing that your stereo system obviously cost more than the car you are driving. Were you that kid in school that the teacher always wrote on your report card, "seeks attention in inappropriate ways."? I'll be willing to bet you were.

I know, I know....you are working hard to forge a certain image for yourself so that others will see you as a rulebreaker or a badass. You are just trying to carve out your niche and prove you are worthy of notice. But, when you are thirty years old and struggling with hearing loss and realize that you already need a hearing aid, just recall your glory days of cruising around in your rusty Cavalier with the bass a thump-thump-thumpin' and think about how cool you looked all tilted back in the seat with your hand draped over the steering wheel. I am sure you will think that it was all worth it.

Havin' a Goodtime

My seven-year old daughter Maggie has always been drawn to country music. We listen to a wide variety of music, and she has latched on to some of my non-country favorites, like Ray Charles, Jim Croce, and Aretha Franklin, but given her choice, she goes back to country. Chris and I have joked that we likely have one of the very few black children in Macon County who prefers to get down to a country tune.

I had to laugh this morning as we were on our way to work. I had the radio on, but wasn't really paying much attention to it until I heard Maggie singing. I started listening and realized it is a very catchy new Alan Jackson song that is currently getting a lot of airplay. At the point I noticed she was singing, the song was about halfway through. Imagine my sweet little seven year singing the following:

(from the song "Goodtime" by Alan Jackson)

I cashed my check, cleaned my truck
Put on my hat, forgot about work
Sun goin' down, head across town
Pick up my baby and turn it around
Good time, Aahh, I need a good time

I've been workin' all week
And I'm tired and I don't wanna sleep I wanna have fun
Time for a good time


If you would like to hear this song, you can see its video in its entirety through this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFzkzsCQhdw