About Entertainment …
Like Pavlov’s dog responding to a bell, we react to a screen lighting up to entertain us. Our thoughts turn to food, as does our palate, with a strong preference for savory and comforting munchies.
Let’s back up.
“Elizabeth, would you like to go see Annie on Broadway?” I asked. The answer was a resounding ‘yes.’
“I’m stuffed,” she announced when encouraged to finish her dinner before we left.
We parked far away as a stampede of people was heading to see Billy Idol, and all the nearby parking lots were full. Our first adventure was to hire a pedicab. It flew like a bat out of hell, our skirts performing a famous iconic Marilyn Monroe white dress—The Seven Year Itch (1955). Aren’t we in Texas vs. Manila? Don’t we drive big trucks on the slower side and wait for cows to pass? Well, whatever the answer is, we got there alive, if not a little winded.
We settled on our balcony, so ridiculously high that I could never get rid of that feeling in my stomach as if I were leaning over a precipice.
A few minutes into Act 1, I see Elizabeth trying to curl up on a seat and pulling her feet under … to get comfortable. She was only millimeters away from fishing the girl’s (who sat a row below) hair with her shoe.
I glared at her. “We are not watching a movie, and you are not home on the couch.”
Halfway through the act: “Are they going to be singing the entire time? I mean, it’s kind of annoying.” The words got stuck somewhere in my throat (probably good). I just gave her a stare.
A few minutes later, she was pointing at a girl sitting in a row below, or more precisely, the bag of chips she was holding.
“I’m starving,” she announced, “can we have snacks?”
“You said you were stuffed,” I protested.
“Yep, that was then, and now I’m starving.”
“You have to wait until the end of this act.” I couldn’t believe it, and yet I could. Even though the dishes may still be on the table, something happens when everyone gathers to watch something. It may even have been a course meal! It doesn’t matter. Within minutes, our children look expectantly at my husband and me. “Do we have snacks?” comes next. And then? Out come the plush pillows, blankets, and bargains for the most comfortable chair or spot on the couch. Ever since technology brought television into our homes, where we no longer have to sit on hard theatre chairs, our entertainment preferences and expectations have changed tremendously.
I loved the show. For my daughter, it was more comfortable once she fortified herself with a Snickers bar and a bag of chips.
“So, Elizabeth, what was your favorite thing about going to see Annie?” I asked curiously.
“The ride from the parking garage to the concert hall,” she said with alarming decisiveness.
“Oh, and the show itself, have a favorite part?” I asked gingerly.
“The break between two acts,” again she answered without batting an eye.
Well, this was the most I ever paid for a bathroom break, a bar of chocolate, a bag of chips, and a bottle of water.
