The Other Evening

Posted on July 25, 2005 in Encounters

The other evening — Saturday — we went to buy our groceries at Trader Joe’s. As I broke the seal of my car door, the beat of electric bass and drum assailed me. I ran into the store, grateful when the automatic glass doors closed. We were in the near silence of the bread racks. Lynn and I selected the food for the coming week. Then while she went through the checkout line, I went outside to watch the declining sun yellow the world.

The band played on, mimicking the Eagles. I took deep breaths and almost went back in side. Why was it, I thought, that people clustered to hear a group which could not compose its own songs or front a decent singer with his own style? I gazed over the cars, which despite different manufacturers, mostly fell into one of three styles — compact, SUV, or pickup truck. White or silver were the predominant colors. I shut out the Eagles imitators and went someplace that I don’t remember. Suffice it to say that I got away. I got away long enough to dash with Lynn back to the car with the groceries. As I helped her load the bags into the trunk, I was shaking.

There’s terror in loud music. Terror and electric wires which cause the mind and the limbs to jerk.