When I was in grad school my roommate and I rented a house a block off campus. We hadn't even gotten Dave's stereo set up when this guy comes to the door with a drink in his hand and introduces himself as Curt. A short while later, we had a case of beer on the porch and Pink Floyd turned up to 11.
We spent 2 years in that house, with Curt and his buddies 2 doors down. We were always listening to Pink Floyd. My girlfriend would come by with her friends and complain about the music. Couldn't we listen to something ... different?
Tonight, we were driving home from shopping. The kids had their headphones on and were watching a movie. The previously mentioned girlfriend (only 20 years older) was sitting in the passenger side. She had surgery a couple weeks ago, so she was sleeping softly with the help of prescription painkillers. I had the Sirius tuned to channel 15, listening to the music of our high school and college years.
As we got near home, Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb came on. I had the volume up a bit, but not too high. I pulled into the garage as the song was coming up to David Gilmour's gnarly guitar finale. I left the car running and let the final refrains of the song just roll over me. The kids kept listening to their movie and my wife just kept her eyes closed. The song ended, I killed the engine, woke my wife, and we all went into the house.
A little while later, as we were putting up the groceries, I caught my wife singing Comfortably Numb in a low voice.
"Hey! You hate Pink Floyd." I complained.
"I hated it when you guys always played Pink Floyd. Especially when there were girls around. We didn't want to listen Pink Floyd--we wanted something to dance to. But... I think I figured out why you guys were always listening to that stuff."
"Because it sounded really good coming out of Dave's Infinity speakers."
"No, because it sounds really cool when you are in an altered state of consciousness."
"Well, I was just drinking beer."
"I know, but it sounded really good tonight after I had a Lortab."
"You want me to put Pink Floyd on your iPod?"
"Nah. I'll come out to your office when I want to listen to it. I'm sure it will sound really cool on your Bose speakers."
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