Musical Wormhole: "Patience" by Guns & Roses

I had an idea while sitting in traffic this evening, for a recurring* feature here at OEF. The iPod was doing it's thing, playing some straight up hits. "Video" by Ben Folds Five, "Try a Little Tenderness" by Otis Redding, and the inspiration for this feature, "Patience" by Guns n' Roses.

Everyone associates certain songs with certain things. I am not unique in that respect, I understand. But when I heard "Patience", I felt whisked away from crappy traffic through what I'll call a "Musical Wormhole" to my particular memory association for this song, and it made me smile.

It was some perfect spring day---before what resort townies call "the season" and I was at work at the waterpark, which my friend John's family owned, prepping to open for the year.

John and I were taking a break from whatever we were doing, sitting on a picnic table eating circus peanuts, watching his dad about 40 yards away trying his best to get a power-washer going. We weren't talking because the local rock station was pumping through the park's sound system at full blast, and it was an all-request lunch.

So "Patience" comes on. And as we sat there through the song, chewing on our circus peanuts, John's dad's frustration with said power-washer was building. It just wouldn't turn over. When the song was over, and John's dad's cursing and threats could finally be heard, John paused from his circus peanut to shout, "Just need a little Patience, dad" in the most armchair-quarterbacky way possible. And before his dad could unleash unholy verbal hell in his direction (that we could hear anyway), the next semi-classic rock song saved the day.

It's not an especially interesting story, I know. But it was a perfect moment, and sometimes it's nice to just revel in the good stuff. The waterpark was good stuff. It's still the best job I've ever had.

Even on the crappiest day at work there---when it was 97 degrees and 100% humidity and I had a dreaded summer cold, with mucus coming OUT OF MY EYES and no voice, and I was stuck in the locker booth for 6 hours because it was a casino picnic day and we ran out of lockers and I had to run a side "baggage claim" operation---explaining it all over again to every single person that came up to the counter (still with no voice), and getting yelled at for yelling at them (cos I had no voice)---it was still better than my best day at any other job.

Ok, maybe except that time I got to meet Peter Frampton. That was kind of awesome.

*Not necessarily recurring. Will probably never revisit this feature. See: Every other "regular feature" I've started here.