Don't bring me down, BRUCE!

So, let me introduce one of my best friends to you. He and I used to work together at my previous job and after he quit and I got laid off we just didn't have the good sense to stop hanging out with each other. We'll call him by his nickname, Ted. Actually his nickname is Aquaman, but that's a different story all together. Ted is a very good friend.

And this post is not really about him at all.

Ted and I hang out together on Friday nights (at the very least.) We're both single guys and desperately in need of a clue when it comes to thinking of fun things to do. On a good Friday night we only spend 2 hours having the following conversation:

Ted: "So man, what do you wanna do tonight?"
Me: "Hmm... I dunno. What do you want to do?"
Ted: "Eh, I don't know. What do you want to do?"
Me: "You don't know what to do?"
Ted: "No, but you don't know what you want to do either."
Me: "Yeah..."
<10 second pause>
Ted: "So what do you want to do tonight?"
Me: "I dunno, what do you want to do?"

and so on, and so on.

I know what you're thinking. We're just two wild and crazy guys!!

So to try and remedy our semi-social deficiency we've gotten in the habit of going on Friday and/or Saturday nights to the Chili's near my house and sitting at the bar. Its usually not overly crowded, the girl bartenders are just smoking hot (not to mention cute waitresses) and the whole crew is starting to get to know us and they'll stop and talk with us and its just been a lot of fun getting to know them all. So we'll go and have supper and have a few beers... chat it up with everyone and hang out. Its a good time.

Of course, there is a downside to this. Ted and I are, in some cases, significantly older than most of the people we're spending time with at Chili's. Its made for some interesting generation gap stories.

One night one of the waitresses came to the bar to pick up an order of drinks for the table she was serving. She's a cute little thing, maybe 20 years old, with blond, tightly curled hair and it jostled back and forth on her head as she walked to the bar. It was rocking to and fro not from the effort of her walking but from the peculiar bobbing and bopping gyrations she was doing with her head as she walked. She was humming a song to herself and, I suppose, doing some sort of little dance to the music in her head. The whole effect was a cute picture indeed. When she got to the bar, her drinks weren't ready yet, so she waited and, coming out of her fog, noticed that Ted and Andy were at the bar again!

Her eyes lit up and she smiled. "Hey guys! I hadn't seen you come in. How's it going?!"

We answered with the requisite "Not bad, how about you?" small talk BS that we usually do and then she plugged us for the real reason that she was glad to see us.

"Hey! I've got this realllllly oollld song stuck in my head and I don't know what it is, but you two should know it!"

Ted and I both laughed and looked at each other. I think that was probably the first time, for either of us, that someone had dared to accuse us of being knowledgeable about "really old" things. Of course, she didn't mean a thing by it. I'm sure she thinks that me and Ted are perfectly cognisant of and comfortable with our rapidly progressing age.

"Reaalllllly?" I asked inquizitively with half a smirk on my face. "Well sing part of it and we'll see if we know it or not."

"OK!"

So she prepares herself for the aria to come. Hands extended to quiet those nearby, and a reappearance of the aforementioned head bobbing as she gets the beat down. And then, with all the dynamic resonance of a tone deaf parrot, she squeals out the following:

"Stop bringin' meee doooowwnnnn....................... *booof*!"

Everyone sat in stunned silence for a moment and then we all roared with laughter.

"Booof? Did you just say 'Booof'?! What the hell does that mean??!"

She was laughing too. "I think that's what they say. I'm not sure. Like I said. Its this really old song. I mean, like, I think its from the 80s or something! Do you know it??!??!?!?!"

Ted and I traded a bewildered glance and both said. "I have no idea what song that is." and I added, "But, I will find out for you."

So, armed with one line and the broad generalization that it came from that ancient epoch of time known as "the 80s" I hit Google and the Apple Music store and my quest was not in vain. In a few minutes I had determined that the song in question is "Don't Bring Me Down" by Electric Light Orchestra, released in 1979. What a great song. LOL :-)

The line of the song that she sang is the title of this post. Obviously she had it a little mixed up. Bonus points to whoever can tell me why the title of the post isn't quite right either.

Ted and I decided we had to go back the next night and let Blondie know what the name of the song was that was plaguing her brain. She was ecstatic. She scrawled the name of the song and artist down in her order book. Her boyfriend came in and she told him all about it. He was thrilled too, but only because now she'd stop running around the house squealing "Booof!" It was quite the ice breaker.

A few minutes later, Blondie brought our order of boneless buffalo wings out to us laughing as she sat down the bowl.

"*giggle* That's funny. You guys don't work for INS do you??"

"Do WHAT?! Do we look like federal agents to you??"

"Well I don't know, but the cooks just asked me if you worked for Immigration. Isn't that weird? *giggle*"

That's when I realized that all the cooking staff in Chili's (all Hispanic) were not cooking at all, but rather looking at me and Ted... very... very... closely.

Conclusion later today. Yeah, I know. I only got two posts in, and didn't even finish the last one before it was Wednesday. So sue me! :-)