When my brother-in-law was growing up, he had seven brothers and sisters. As they grew, they formed a family band - literally. My brother-in-law, like his father, played the saxophone. I wish I'd known them then. I would have loved to have danced to their jazzy beat.
B-I-L still owns his sax from those days gone by, and he also has his father's. #1 has been fortunate this year to have borrowed one of them in order to try his toot in the school band.
#1 has fallen under the spell of the sax. He's one of the few kids I know who never needs to be reminded to practice. In fact, he'll practice his required time, then he'll often spend 15 - 30 minutes playing for the sake of playing - picking out rock tunes and tv themes to share with his friends.
And he just looks so cool.
Everywhere #1 has taken the sax with him, people in the know exclaim about the quality of his instrument. "What a beautiful old instrument!" "It's practically an antique, but it's in such good condition!"
Well, something (small, luckily) went wrong with his sax last week. He doesn't remember banging it or anything, but one of the valves suddenly wasn't closing properly. His band teacher said he would have to take it for repair.
Main Man and #1 took it to a local repair shop Monday, and we will never take it there again. They did fix it, so I guess that's positive, but everything else about the trip was beyond negative apparently. "Whew, this is such a beat up old instrument! Have you ever thought of renting a new one? The sound is so much better. We can rent you one for a very reasonable price."
Yeah, I'm sure you can.
And then, when they went to pick it up yesterday, "Oh, and this carrying case is so old and musty. It smells so bad. We can sell you a new one for a very reasonable price. "
Yeah, I'm sure you can.
Anyway, we dodged the greasy salestalk bullet, and we now have a saxophone that works as it should, and I have my Sax Man back, and all is well with the world once again.
And all that jazz.
About Me
- Library Mama
- I am a mom, a wife, and a teacher-librarian. I have four boys at home: Main Man (44), #1 (14), #2 (11), and #3 (7). Although they keep me very busy, I also look after a library for an elementary student population of 500 (give or take). I love my family; I love my job.
3 comments:
Yeah, that guy was such a prick. The worst part is that he had that condescending attitude I'm finding so common in professional musicians.
Whilst telling me what a piece of crap he thinks the instrument is, he says "I'm a musician as well, you know. On top of this job, I play in the symphony."
He must have sensed that I'm not a musician and thought he could intimidate me with this line.
Well, big you, buddy. Thing is, I've got a half-dozen other musical types who say the instrument is just fine and just this guy telling me it's not.
What a jerk.
Jazz is for those without a urethra.
Amen. Propane Style. Talkin' bout ching ching dang ol' I tell you whot'.
Not exactly sure what your meaning is here, Hippo, but I gotta tell you, the girls love the sax! (And the guys who can do it well. ;)
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