Sounds In The City

I work on the 54th floor of a big city skyscraper. At this altitude, the sirens below are just a faint echo. For the most part, it's quiet and serene up here. Out my window I watch storms roll in and planes fly out. I see all kinds of traffic on the highway (it's a blessing not to be able to hear it) and laugh at sight-seeing boats heading down the Chicago River in the pouring rain (I've never seen so many ponchos outside of Disney World).

Today, was a different story. I'm minding my own business, typing away on my computer, when all of sudden - I hear music, loud and clear. I turn around to look out my window and very quickly I realize the music is coming from a neighboring condominium building. The building is presently under construction, and the construction crew is blasting their boom box. Do they still make boom boxes? I sure hope so, those things were so dorktastic.

What shocked me the most were the song choices.

I heard...

"My Guy" by Mary Wells

"Under The Boardwalk" by The Drifters

"Cruisin" by Huey Lewis and Gwenyth Paltrow

"At Last" by Etta James

"Lady Marmalade" by Patti Labelle

Oh, and I swear I heard a song by Barbara Streisand.

Okay, maybe it was Boy George.

I couldn't tell.

Sorry, I'm listening through glass here!

Who would have thought that "At Last" would be heard on a construction site? I work for a construction company and I've never heard it! Denim button-downs (while wearing jeans), Timberland boots, and canteens are the things that make up a construction site. Not Huey Lewis and Gwenyth Paltrow. I would have expected Def Leppard, AC/DC, or Guns N' Roses. Maybe even a little Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, or Jimmy Buffett. But Etta James? Nah. Never. Maybe tomorrow they'll play some Celine Dion. She sounds right up their alley.

Fondly,
Optimistic

Photo Credit: Lawrence Sinclair