A Musical Ear Indeed!!!

This past Friday night my daughter had her very first piano recital. She started getting lessons in January and she picked it up really well, so, there we were at St. Thomas the Crusading Apostle of the Holy Redeemer’s Lady of Faith Church, in St. Paul.

My daughter played lovely and I was a very proud Papa. However, this was not the highlight of the evening. Sitting next to me was an elderly gentleman, I’d say somewhere in his upper 70’s, and he was the type of aged person who is hard of hearing, but he hasn’t quite made the big leap to purchasing a hearing aid. Consequently, he would say things that were only intended for his wife to hear—as she was sitting to his immediate right, but everyone within a 10-13 foot radius could readily understand his ramblings.

For example, when some kid would happily finish their piece he would utter something like, “There’s a great big smile,” or “They just keep getting better.” Pretty harmless stuff. BUT, on one particular occasion, a fairly large girl, about the same age as my first-grade daughter, started walking to the piano to play her musical selection, in a dress that was none too flattering, and the elder statesman blurts out: “OH, she’s a chubby one.”

Awesome. I’m pretty sure that everybody sitting around us heard him, but I am hopeful that the girl did not. I only wish I had looked around to see the reaction of the people sitting around us. Understandably, I was too busy putting my chin down, closing my eyes and trying to hold back the laughter.

Lucky for me, I was able to replay this scenario over, and over, and over, and over as the rest of the children, ages 6-14, exhibited their talents, or lack thereof.