Erin and I stopped by the market on the way home from her piano lesson tonight. We made our way through the aisles quickly. I was tired, Erin was hungry, and we both still had work--an office action and a fourth grade math worksheet, respectively--waiting for us at home.
After backtracking a few times through the store, the two of us had managed to find enough groceries to cover dinner for the night--including two single serve Table Talk pies for good measure--and made our way to the registers.
"Dad, wait!" Erin called out from behind me as I moved to get in line.
I turned to find her running over to one of the displays in the front main aisle. She turned back to me, waving a DVD triumphantly.
"A Muppet Christmas!" She was beaming with pride at spotting the hidden gem.
She dropped the DVD into our basket and turned back to the registers with renewed purpose.
"Hang on," I said, taking the DVD back out of the basket and reading it over. I didn't recognize the title at first (which is weird for me), but after scanning down the screenshots on the back, it all came back.
"Yeah, wait...this is terrible," I said. "Let's put it back."
"What? But it's the Muppets!"
"I know, but this movie...it was just a TV thing they did, and it's really dumb. Kermit dies or something and goes up to heaven. And Whoopi Goldberg is god. It's just a mess."
Erin shot me an incredulous look and took the DVD back. She read the back cover text and started to shake her head.
"Ew...you're right, this looks terrible."
She put the movie back, and we finally made it to a register.
"So Kermit dies?" Erin asked as the cashier wordlessly rang us up, "Does someone shoot him in the head or something?"
I laughed out loud. Only my kid would be dark enough to consider Kermit taking a fatal gunshot to the head a viable plot for a Muppet movie. A Muppet Christmas movie at that.
"What? No, he just like hits his head...or...wait, I think he might just wish he was never born so it's kind of like he's dead...I don't know. It's really terrible, so I've only seen it once."
"Is there a good Muppet Christmas movie?"
"Oh, of course. The Muppet Christmas Carol is awesome. We'll get that one off of iTunes soon."
Erin smiled back happily, and by this point the cashier had finished with us and was wordlessly passing me our two bags of groceries.
I suddenly felt a little awkward as it dawned on me that the woman had just listened to us have an in-depth discussion about the Muppets. But I just pushed it aside. Maybe it seemed silly to her--and perhaps also to the three other customers behind us--but that is only because most people don't get the Muppets.
Erin gets the Muppets.
We made it to the parking lot, and as Erin climbed into the truck, she tossed a stack of sheet music from her lesson onto the dashboard. The image struck me for a moment. Half a dozen sheets of loose sheet music, just tossed onto the dash of my truck, lit up by the streetlamps. The image flooded me with memories, and for a moment I felt myself back in the mid-nineties.
Back to a time when it was my sheet music tossed everywhere. A time when I always had at least three guitar picks in my jeans pocket at all times, just in case. A time when more often then not, you'd find my old Peavey guitar tucked safely on the floor in the backseat of my Oldsmobile Firenza.
"Is that a new song?" I asked.
Erin shrugged.
"Yeah, something the teacher has me working on. It's pretty cool."
I smiled at her as I started the truck. It had been a really long time since I'd seen sheet music on the dashboard of a car...and to be honest, I hadn't expected I'd ever see it again.
"You know, Erin, you're a lot of fun to hang out with," I said as we drove away.
She just smiled as if that should have been exceedingly obvious from the get go. And I guess it was.
After backtracking a few times through the store, the two of us had managed to find enough groceries to cover dinner for the night--including two single serve Table Talk pies for good measure--and made our way to the registers.
"Dad, wait!" Erin called out from behind me as I moved to get in line.
I turned to find her running over to one of the displays in the front main aisle. She turned back to me, waving a DVD triumphantly.
"A Muppet Christmas!" She was beaming with pride at spotting the hidden gem.
She dropped the DVD into our basket and turned back to the registers with renewed purpose.
"Hang on," I said, taking the DVD back out of the basket and reading it over. I didn't recognize the title at first (which is weird for me), but after scanning down the screenshots on the back, it all came back.
"Yeah, wait...this is terrible," I said. "Let's put it back."
"What? But it's the Muppets!"
"I know, but this movie...it was just a TV thing they did, and it's really dumb. Kermit dies or something and goes up to heaven. And Whoopi Goldberg is god. It's just a mess."
Erin shot me an incredulous look and took the DVD back. She read the back cover text and started to shake her head.
"Ew...you're right, this looks terrible."
She put the movie back, and we finally made it to a register.
"So Kermit dies?" Erin asked as the cashier wordlessly rang us up, "Does someone shoot him in the head or something?"
I laughed out loud. Only my kid would be dark enough to consider Kermit taking a fatal gunshot to the head a viable plot for a Muppet movie. A Muppet Christmas movie at that.
"What? No, he just like hits his head...or...wait, I think he might just wish he was never born so it's kind of like he's dead...I don't know. It's really terrible, so I've only seen it once."
"Is there a good Muppet Christmas movie?"
"Oh, of course. The Muppet Christmas Carol is awesome. We'll get that one off of iTunes soon."
Erin smiled back happily, and by this point the cashier had finished with us and was wordlessly passing me our two bags of groceries.
I suddenly felt a little awkward as it dawned on me that the woman had just listened to us have an in-depth discussion about the Muppets. But I just pushed it aside. Maybe it seemed silly to her--and perhaps also to the three other customers behind us--but that is only because most people don't get the Muppets.
Erin gets the Muppets.
We made it to the parking lot, and as Erin climbed into the truck, she tossed a stack of sheet music from her lesson onto the dashboard. The image struck me for a moment. Half a dozen sheets of loose sheet music, just tossed onto the dash of my truck, lit up by the streetlamps. The image flooded me with memories, and for a moment I felt myself back in the mid-nineties.
Back to a time when it was my sheet music tossed everywhere. A time when I always had at least three guitar picks in my jeans pocket at all times, just in case. A time when more often then not, you'd find my old Peavey guitar tucked safely on the floor in the backseat of my Oldsmobile Firenza.
"Is that a new song?" I asked.
Erin shrugged.
"Yeah, something the teacher has me working on. It's pretty cool."
I smiled at her as I started the truck. It had been a really long time since I'd seen sheet music on the dashboard of a car...and to be honest, I hadn't expected I'd ever see it again.
"You know, Erin, you're a lot of fun to hang out with," I said as we drove away.
She just smiled as if that should have been exceedingly obvious from the get go. And I guess it was.
Love the Muppets!! Those who get them know!!!! Life is funny how it changes but tends to circle back for nostalgia.
Posted by: Shaun Toomey | December 06, 2012 at 07:01 AM
YEAH FOR NEW CONTENT!!!!!!
Posted by: Shaun Toomey | December 06, 2012 at 07:01 AM