Wednesday, August 11, 2010

A lot of happiness for five bucks

Man, I was a pill yesterday. Y'all should send Ed a sympathy card. Not only did he have the courage to call me despite my man-hatin' attitude, but also he managed yet again to use his Lisa Whisperer skills to coax me gently out of my horrible mood. Remind me to do something nice for him, will you? That man has the patience of a saint, which is clearly necessary to deal with me.

Until I can figure out what's wrong with my lawnmower, I called We Mow It lawn service (not the company's real name). About 10 minutes later, a truck pulled up in my driveway. I went outside, and Charlie ran out to protect me from The Stranger. Hey, I'm short. I don't need a Doberman for a guard dog; a chihuahua is just about right. The guy was in the neighborhood and stopped by to get an idea of how big the yard is. He said it shouldn't take long and he'd be back tomorrow afternoon. So problem solved--to the tune of $45. Oy. Well, it's just a one-time cost (I hope).

Next, I braved the heat to go to the grocery. I was out of peanut butter, and that just won't do. While I was standing in the checkout line, I looked at the $5 DVDs for sale. To my shock, I saw 1776, one of my favorite musicals. I have an ancient videotape of it, and I thought it wasn't even available on DVD. I've adored this movie since 1976, when I worked on a community theater production of the play. I did old-age makeup for a persnickety little snot who constantly wiped off the makeup I did and ordered me to do it again because he didn't look old enough. He was freakin' 18 years old. What did he want? Miracles?

I suppressed the urge to do a little dance of joy right there in the checkout aisle and put the movie in with my groceries. The cashier picked it up and said "Great movie!" He couldn't have been older than his early 20s, so I was surprised he'd even heard of it. Then, even better, he said, "I'd watch anything with William Daniels in it." I asked whether he'd ever seen St. Elsewhere, and he said, "Could you BELIEVE the ending of that show??" We chattered excitedly about that for a couple of minutes while the bagger looked on in puzzlement.

What happened next made me so happy, so try not to make fun of me. He pointed to the movie and said "GREAT music, huh?" And then, folks, he started to sing. He began with the line "It's ninety degrees," and yes, I joined in with "Have mercy, John, please. It's hot as hell in Philadelphia!" We stood there grinning at each other in delight, and the bagger's mouth dropped open. It was like a scene in a, well... in a musical. I drove home smiling the whole way.