Sunday, December 25, 2016
"The Most HORRIFIC Time of the Year"
I have this love/hate relationship with time of the year.
---
Mostly hate.
---
It goes back to when I was a kid.
My Dad worked in retail.
---
From the day after Thanksgiving, until Christmas Eve night, we didn't see him, unless you went to the store, and even then, it was, at the EARLIEST, 10:30 PM before we say him.
---
Once my little brother quit believing in Santa Claus, we, as a family decided that "Christmas" was going to happen when Dad got home, no matter how late that was.
The "big dinner", opening the presents, etc.
... and we were ALL going to sleep in the next day.
---
So, I decided to do something different. I was going to be a musician.
---
Yeah, that made a big difference.
---
Now, instead of listening to the music that reminded me how my Dad couldn't be there for me, two months out of the year, I had to play it, in that time frame. ...
AND, joy of joys, I had to start rehearsing that music as early as September, to ensure the ensemble had it "down" to the conductor's satisfaction,
---
My worst Christmas EVER was 1991.
The commander/conductor of my Army Band decided that we would start working on Christmas music the first week of September, and he DEMANDED that we rehearse, at a minimum, 3 days a week (out of 5), for 8 hours, each day.
(the concert he is preparing for is mid to late December.)
---
Okay, I can get that, IF you have no idea what you want to program, and you are going to spend most of September, and, possibly, parts of October, "sight reading" things you want to try out.
---
Nope, this jerk had a firm plan on what he wanted to program going in, and by the end of the third rehearsal, he KNEW what we were going to play.
---
So, from the second week in September until the middle of December, we spent 24+ hours a week (out of 40) HAMMERING the same 45-50 minutes of music OVER AND OVER again.
---
Back then, the stores didn't start playing "Christmas music" through the store until "Black Friday", or later.
I remember, that year, going into a GROCERY store, where they were doing "elevator music" versions of Christmas music, and I started having PTSD-esque "flashbacks" (at this point, I would not go into a "combat zone" for another 14 years, or so).
We had to leave the store.
I couldn't take it.
... and before you call me a "Wussy", you didn't know this conductor.
---
THEN, there was ...
I won't go into everything that happened when I went to my parents' home.
Let's leave it at things got worse.
---
Mostly hate.
---
It goes back to when I was a kid.
My Dad worked in retail.
---
From the day after Thanksgiving, until Christmas Eve night, we didn't see him, unless you went to the store, and even then, it was, at the EARLIEST, 10:30 PM before we say him.
---
Once my little brother quit believing in Santa Claus, we, as a family decided that "Christmas" was going to happen when Dad got home, no matter how late that was.
The "big dinner", opening the presents, etc.
... and we were ALL going to sleep in the next day.
---
So, I decided to do something different. I was going to be a musician.
---
Yeah, that made a big difference.
---
Now, instead of listening to the music that reminded me how my Dad couldn't be there for me, two months out of the year, I had to play it, in that time frame. ...
AND, joy of joys, I had to start rehearsing that music as early as September, to ensure the ensemble had it "down" to the conductor's satisfaction,
---
My worst Christmas EVER was 1991.
The commander/conductor of my Army Band decided that we would start working on Christmas music the first week of September, and he DEMANDED that we rehearse, at a minimum, 3 days a week (out of 5), for 8 hours, each day.
(the concert he is preparing for is mid to late December.)
---
Okay, I can get that, IF you have no idea what you want to program, and you are going to spend most of September, and, possibly, parts of October, "sight reading" things you want to try out.
---
Nope, this jerk had a firm plan on what he wanted to program going in, and by the end of the third rehearsal, he KNEW what we were going to play.
---
So, from the second week in September until the middle of December, we spent 24+ hours a week (out of 40) HAMMERING the same 45-50 minutes of music OVER AND OVER again.
---
Back then, the stores didn't start playing "Christmas music" through the store until "Black Friday", or later.
I remember, that year, going into a GROCERY store, where they were doing "elevator music" versions of Christmas music, and I started having PTSD-esque "flashbacks" (at this point, I would not go into a "combat zone" for another 14 years, or so).
We had to leave the store.
I couldn't take it.
... and before you call me a "Wussy", you didn't know this conductor.
---
THEN, there was ...
I won't go into everything that happened when I went to my parents' home.
Let's leave it at things got worse.
