Hello, and happy gloomy slash sunny Friday to all!
Today, I have a question that I'd like to pose to the loyal "Inside MENC" readership. Let me ask: do any of you ever have those moments when you just start to randomly pontificate on some minute life detail for no apparent reason at all? Like perhaps one of those strange instances when you simply choose a word in the English language and proceed to say it over and over and over again aloud until it begins to sound like nothing more than garbled gibberish?
The.
The.
The.
The.
T. h. e.
The.
The.
The.
THE.
The.
Ahhhhhhh!!! What does that word even MEEEAN?!?!
Weird.
Well, anyways, that exact thing happened to me this morning as I was exiting MENC's closest Reston Starbucks location with my daily hit of morning euphoria in hand (aka: a Grande Raspberry Mocha Latte--yum!). In order to better set the scene, let me try to elaborate on the series of events that preceded said meaningless philosophical moment:
So I had just received my hot, delicious, steamy, caffeinated beverage from a kindly, yet waaaaaaay too cheery barista, and was headed for the door, when out of the corner of my eye what did I see, but a kindly, middle-aged gentleman holding a delicious bev. of his very own (Tall Cinnamon Dolce Latte with Sugar Free Syrup--I heard him order) quickly approaching the vicinity of the exit himself, from the opposite side of the restaurant.
This, is when all of the hullabaloo began.
"Uh oh," I thought. "We're both going to reach the door at the exact. same. time!" Instantly, a minor bout of panic came over me. I hate scenarios in which two people are forced to realize that they're both going to arrive at a precise location at literally the same moment, and hence, someone will need to take the lead while the other falls behind.
You just can't both go through the door at the exact same time. It's a matter of simple physics. It just won't work.
So there we were.
Face to face.
Decision time for me and Mr. Tall Cinnamon Dolce Latte with Sugar Free Syrup.
Two early bird coffee addicts starring down the barrel of life's cruel sociological fun house-shotgun.
What to do... What to do...
I fell behind.
It's no big deal or anything, so whatever.
But that, is not the end of this sorted tale...
On to phase two!
The door holding.
Sigh.
As I mentioned earlier, Mr. Tall Cinnamon Dolce Latte with Sugar Free Syrup is nothing if not a gentleman (see, I don't just loosely throw that word around without having a good reason for using it), and so, he politely offered to hold the door for me. "Thank you," I said, and quickly walked through it. Now here's where the real fun began:
A SECOND DOOR.
Ooooooooooohh how I loathe the implied double door holding Starbucks exiting second "thank you--have a nice day!"-follow-up remark.
At this point, you all probably know where the story is headed: Mr. Tall Cinnamon Dolce Latte with Sugar Free Syrup proceeds to hold the door for me... again, and I, in turn, proceed to thank him... again (actually, to be fair, I offered a, "thanks--have a nice day!", the second time, but same diff.).
Ugh.
Awwwwwwwwkward! I'd already thanked him!!
He knew it.
I knew it.
All of the baristas knew it.
Painful.
Society shouldn't have to function like this.
So I got to thinking... (enter my previously mentioned moment of philosophical nonsense...)
I believe that a person should have several response options from which to choose under such circumstances:
(1.) "Thank you--have a nice day!" (The dreaded implied double door holding Starbucks exiting follow-up to your previous "thank you"-remark, largely considered to be standard practice in most areas of the world--unpleasant, yet effective)
(2.) "I can see that you're about to hold the door for me twice and I'd like to thank you beforehand for both of those actions prior to your actual performing of them." (A novel approach--courteous, yet efficient)
And now... for my own personal favorite...
(3.) The double head-bob. Risky business, yes (it's possible that the door holder won't actually catch on to the fact that you're thanking them without using any spoken words), but when properly executed, I truly believe that this third, considerably unheralded alternative may be the best remaining solution to humankind's implied double door holding Starbucks exiting second "thank you--have a nice day!"-follow-up remarking troubles.
Food for thought.
In other news, all remains well here at MENC. The August edition of the legislative memo will be e-mailed to subscribers next week (if you haven't done so already, subscribe!!) with some interesting new features; we continue to work with our partners in the arts community to prepare for the upcoming reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act (we have some really exciting potential changes in store for the legislation!), and the Government Relations & Outreach Department anticipates many new and exciting music education advocacy opportunities for our members over the weeks and months to come, so stay tuned!
That's all from the Commonwealth for this week!
And now... here are the Friday...
"Government Relations & Outreach Department Album Picks of the Week!!!"
SKJ: Tim McGraw - Let It Go
HLS: Jamie Cullum - Catching Tales
CBLW: The Format - Dog Problems (going to the concert this weekend for my birthday! WOOHOO!!)
