In Thy Dark Streets Shineth . . .

A dual topic blog!

Topic #1: Flashing Lights

The other night, when I was driving X-Chromo to religious ed, I had a run in with a fire truck. It was scary at the time, as well as infuriating. I was on a one-way street, driving in the correct direction. I was stopped at a traffic light. There were vehicles behind me and vehicles beside me. I heard sirens. I heard horns blowing. I saw a fire truck racing up the street. He had the green light. All those of us stopped at the light had to do was wait.

Wait!

The fire truck turned. The wrong way. Straight at me. He blared his horn, and I had no where to go. The truck was blocking the intersection. The vehicle next to me finally pulled all the way over to the right; the vehicles behind me backed up, so I could back up and swing right & out of the truck's way.

I had no way of knowing the truck was going to turn the wrong way down a one-way street. I'm not even sure it's legal for an emergency vehicle to do that. But it's not like the fire truck was using a turn signal or anything. There were flashing lights all over that thing!

My dad is going to check with a police officer friend of his: who was wrong? Me, for not "yielding right of way" to an emergency vehicle or the driver of the fire truck for going the wrong way down a one-way street?

Topic #2: O Little Town of Bethlehem

My friend, Queen-a-Athena, likes to joke that I know an awful lot of Christmas songs . . . for a nice Jewish girl. For several years, I played guitar and led the caroling at the CNYRW Holiday party.

The tradition of leading the carolling is being passed down through my family. Y-Chromo's Spanish teacher gave him a CD/cassette of Christmas carols and asked him to lead the class in singing them. That's right. The only Jewish kid in the city's largest school will be leading the carolling.

Last night, he came into my office and asked me how the song, O Little Town of Bethlehem goes. He doesn't know it.

At CNYRW we have a tradition of singing this carol to two other tunes. My friend Amy was the lastest recipient of this little joke. She was pretty funny. I tried it on Y-Chromo last night, and it didn't work.

First, I sang the lyrics using the Theme from Gilligan's Island. Y-Chromo thanked me. I said, "No, no. I'm pulling your chain. That's the Gilligan's Island theme song. It really goes like this." Then I proceeded to sing the carol to the tune of House of the Rising Sun. Again, he thanked me, and I had to confess to stringing him along.

There's no fun trying to tease someone who just doesn't get it. Maybe next year he'll remember.