Dinner and a Show

My husband is AWOL for the weekend. Actually, he is AWL (absent with leave), so I took my daughter to her favorite (and her father's least favorite) restaurant in town. It's a pizza place that is a gi-normous leap up from the kid's place with the irritating mouse, but it also has a game area where the kids can play and win tickets to redeem for prizes. It's not my first choice for a dining experience, but there was a little extra tonight.

The place was packed, so every chair was taken. While we were eating, an older gentleman and his wife along with the man's daughter and son-in-law sat down next to us. I could tell from their conversation that the older couple was visiting from out of town. After awhile, the man stood up, went to the middle of the crowded and very noisy restaurant and asked for everyone's attention. He was standing with his back to me, so I only got snippets of what he said. The gist of it was that he was glad to be in Arkansas and that he was proud to live in the greatest country on earth. And then, he broke into song. He sang it well and with gusto. While I couldn't hear all the words, it was basically about how great America and Jesus are. When he was finished, everyone in the restaurant applauded, and he sat back down.

Now the best part was that the three other people he was with acted like this was not in the least bit out of the ordinary. They didn't look embarrassed at all. There were no shrugs or eye rolling as if to say "Dad's at it again." No, they just went on eating their dinner as if this was a perfectly normal thing to do.

I kind of hope this behavior takes off. It might be kind of nice (for awhile anyway) if people got up in public places and announced that they were so happy/proud/grateful about something that they just had to share a song with us all. That could really take the monotony out of waiting in line at the DMV. It could add some excitement to an otherwise uneventful elevator ride. It could break the tension of the next town hall meeting on healthcare reform. I see some really positive possibilities here.