Sports travel is long gone, along with the anxiety of late-night travels and of sometimes arriving home after midnight or much later, piecing together a few hours of sleep before hitting work. Friday we have to deal with some mean girls (who aren't even good at it, which it makes them even more irritating) at work and a long meeting. It has basically been the week from Hell.
My coworker, who is also my friend, invites me to an OAR concert in Boston. I'll admit it: I know very few OAR songs, but I went with her last year and we had a blast. The band puts on a fabulous show, plays for a few hours, and seems to truly enjoy Bostonians. After a surly, snippy, mean-girl day, it's exactly what we need. This could very well be one of those "best time ever" moments.
Yes, indeed: I am going to this concert.
Even better, though, is the surprise I get when we arrive for the concert. The opening band is ... drum roll, please ... American Authors. Damn! Only about half the people are in their seats at this point, with many others milling around the booths of merchandise, food, treats, and alcohol. Three-quarters of the way through their set, the familiar riff starts, and American Authors grab everyone's attention.
It's my travel song and, for today anyway, it's my theme song.
Suddenly in the audience people start with the familiar "Woo, wooooo, woooo..." From the concourse and from the booths, we hear the echoing of this followed by, "This is gonna be the best day of my liiiiife..." Just like that, with the simple infusion of five notes, the world is one giant sing-along, and I no longer care about anything except this moment. I remember my sports travel days and forget all about mean girls and meetings and useless wastes of my gray matter.All is right with the world (for the next three minutes, anyway).
Later, as I struggle to stay awake on my ride home because it has been a long and stressful week followed by a long and relaxing evening, I realize that it really is one of the best says of my life. Woo, wooooo, wooo.
