Right now, I'm sitting in the atrium of the fabouloso Carousel Hotel in Ocean City, MD.
That's an ice skating rink in front of me. There's no actual carousel except a tiny one you put quarters into.
This year we had too many kids to all fit In a bus. Someone had to drive a few in a van, and since unlike most of the people on the trip, I didn't want to do paintball, I got to do it.
In anticipation, I wrote this email to the students I was driving:
Hello fellow vanners,
We've got 2 1/2 hours to sit in the van on the way to Ocean City. Maybe all y'all can listen to music on headphones, but I can't while I'm driving, so I'm going to be playing music on the car stereo. It has one of those AUX plugs and I have a cable.
I'm putting together an Apple Music playlist for the ride. I've been buying and listening to lots of music since I was 10 (which was 1965), so I have plenty of things I like from all the way back then until now. I don't know if you'll love it but doubt you'll hate it. But I'd like to know a couple of things.
First, is there anything any of you would like me to add to the playlist? I'll tell you that my recent taste runs more alt than pop, so I might not know what current stuff you'll want to listen to. Just tell me songs and I'll add them in. I like pretty much anything from Kendrick Lamar to Zydeco to Gilbert and Sullivan, so don't worry about my going parental and turning it down.
Second, is there any artist or song you detest? My daughter has perfect pitch and can't listen to REM because the singer is always flat. And I have a friend who all but breaks into hives if Celine Dion comes on the radio. And no, I won't put any Celine Dion on the list unless we have Titanic fans on board. Anyway, someone will be sitting next to me and can hit the skip button if need be.
I got a couple of suggestions, but mostly put together the playlist with Ronnie. I ended up being a hundred something songs, and it was a an entertaining accompaniment to an easy ride down. I know I occasionally rag about the current state of pop music, but there has to be something to the fact that 18 year-olds know all the music I used to listen to. Old stuff like Sweet Caroline and I'm a Believer (also written by Neil Diamond) and less old stuff like Under Pressure. Because it's better than current pop music, plus nobody plays the really crappy older stuff- it's always the good stuff. In any event, it was fun to hear people singing along.
Once here, I spent several hours sitting in the atrium pictured above, because my room wasn't ready. I can't really complain about not being able to get in before regular check-in, because when I'm staying in a hotel I'm always asking to check out as late as possible.
We had lunch and eventually the other seniors showed up, so I spent part of the afternoon at the beach and pool until they shooed us off because of thunder. We got some rain, but it was more of a sound and light show than anything else.
I think I was conscious the remainder of the afternoon, but for the life of me I can't remember what I did. Maybe nothing; maybe that's why I don't remember. Eventually it was time for dinner, which was pretty decent (I didn't hear anyone complaining anyway) and because the weather was still very unsettled we couldn't go to the boardwalk. So instead some people watched the basketball game and some of us ice skated. I enjoyed skating, as I always do. I went round and round a bunch of times and also tried to help one girl who was able to stand up for the most part, but was unable to propel herself forward. I can't way that I was totally, or even partially successful, but it was fun anyway.
Eventually, the kids started to gather in the hallway, and a few of us chaperones walked across the street for frozen yogurt. That was nice. It's a very different feel from last year. There were only 30 kids instead of this years's 55 or so and only 3 chaperones instead of 6. Plus I'm not the lead chaperone this time; that part being played by a teacher who is far more organized and task-oriented than I am. This works out very well, because at all times of day I have very clear instructions on what I'm supposed to be doing and so I'm just doing it. I've done a bunch of these now and it's a lot easier to not be in charge.
I do like doing these trips. It's hard for me in a good way because it feeds right into my sense of social awkwardness. If I can spend 3 days interacting with people I'm ore than 3 times as old as, and with whom I share very limited common experience, aside from teaching some of them, then I'm successfully continuing to learn to act like human being, which is always my goal.
Tomorrow is a bike ride early, then paddleboarding and kayaking. Then beach. Sounds pretty decent to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment