Driving to Freeport today, I heard Footloose on the radio. That song always makes me feel like I can dance, and I enjoyed bopping my hand out the open window, pretending I was keeping up with the rhythm. I can't really dance, but over the years with J, I have progressed to the point where we can look okay and we have fun.
Looks sweet, doesn't he? However sometimes we look as though we are wrestling, as I hiss in his ear to remember that we are out in public and redirect his hand.
Ms M was amazed at our skill and took videos, which thankfully I have not yet seen. She said she had never seen us dancing before, by which she meant dressed up and properly dancing. When I reminded her that we had danced at her wedding reception, her reply was that she was so nervous that she doesn't remember. But I have proof- and she and Shoeshine are there too:
How could she forget it was Mr C's first(and probably only) toilet paper dance?
What's that? You don't know the toilet paper dance? Lucky you, my kids would say. It started out innocently enough- J and his sisters liked to entertain their family and friends with a routine (loosely speaking) created in their teens. Lip synching to songs like The Great Pretender with exaggerated hand motions- "I'm wearing my heart like a crown" with their hands above their heads, etc. This crowd is very Irish and also loved the Irish rebellion songs made popular by Tommy Makem and the Clancy brothers.
One night, the celebrations took a new turn. Singing, alcohol, laughter and the need for decorations combined with a roll of toilet paper being used as ties, hair bows, necklaces and boas. A new tradition was born, one that was guaranteed to embarrass any offspring in the area. Even worse, when the relatives all came for Ms M's high school graduation, they brought a 12 pack of Scott's tissue (the official TP dancer's choice) to initiate her into adulthood. The leftover rolls were put to good use in their original role, and I discovered how much longer the 1000 sheets of one-ply lasted. We changed despite bitter complaints.
I don't know how Ms M's friends knew about the toilet paper dance, but when they came to her reception, they wanted to see it. No problem!
1 comment:
The toilet paper dance! Hilarious!
Thanks for the kind words over at my place. The time period I was (mostly) alluding to, concerning drug usage, would have been from the time I was 28 until 31, so take heart...
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