That was a bad idea.
Here is a tip from me to my future self: if you are ever the organist and are ill on Sunday, find a sub and skip church altogether.
My organ playing was abysmal. My brain was all jumpy, my eyes were jittery, my hands were shaking, and my feet kept arguing with my left hand about whose turn it was to play.
Blah.
As a classically-trained musician (can I say that without sounding pompous? hm), I know there are moments when I am aware of how terribly I messed up on the organ, but then it turns out most people had no idea I messed up at all.
This was not one of those moments.
How do I know? Because over half a dozen people came up to me afterwards and thanked me for playing the organ**. Some of them even placed their hand on my shoulder to show me how sincere they were. Note that these people were not complimenting me on playing the organ, they were thanking me for playing the organ. What that really translates to is, "Boy, it sounds like playing the organ is really hard. I'm glad you have to do it instead of me. Thanks."
Normally, no one thanks me or compliments me on my organ playing. Ok, maybe one person might compliment me--usually a member of the bishopric. But anyway, to have that many people thank me... I really must have messed up big time. The good news is I can't really remember any of it, because my brain wasn't firing on all cylinders.
The moral here is: if you are sick, stay in bed and let someone else play the organ!
*I also ended up watching the entire first season of Star Trek (the original series) and now I think I would like to marry Spock, except that he is a fictional character and doesn't really exist, so too bad for me. ;o)
**My ward only has about 40-50 people attending each Sunday, so that's almost 20% of the congregation.
3 comments:
Note that these people were not complimenting me on playing the organ, they were thanking me for playing the organ. What that really translates to is, "Boy, it sounds like playing the organ is really hard. I'm glad you have to do it instead of me. Thanks."
Ha! So true.
This is why you should mess up really, REALLY bad every Sunday. It makes people that much more grateful.
(Caveat: it also might make them release you, which makes you a shoo-in for RS president. So be careful.)
PS I'm also in love with Spock. Stand in line.
Haha. Every time the stake president attends our ward, he says to me, "Thank you for your talent," and I'm always confused about what that means. Now I know!
I always feel so guilty calling someone last minute because I assume they need several hours of practice like I do. But I also feel guilty spreading disease around the congregation. It's a lose lose situation.
Post a Comment