YeahWrite Challenge #441 (Nonfiction) "AWESOME" by Amy Irons

Through working in the schools, I was introduced to a blog called “1000 Awesome Things” by Neil Pasricha where he posts daily about an “awesome” thing that has happened to him. These occurrences vary from scoring the winning goal to opening a new jar of peanut butter. According to Pasricha, all of these experiences are relevant. Therefore, he writes short blog posts about them, always ending with “AWESOME!” Today, I’m writing my own “awesome” thing.

#1: Music is a Universal Language

Music is a universal language. The sounds, rhythm, energy. It is an experience that all people, despite their variety of beautiful, spoken languages, share. This shared experience brings people together in the best of times, the worst of times, and everything in between. Music brought me closer to a stranger in Quebec City this summer, even if we couldn’t speak the same tongue.

My friends and I traveled up to Quebec City last month to celebrate ten years of friendship. On our second night in the city, we ate at a local restaurant near our Airbnb. To our surprise, the music that was being played in the restaurant were all songs we recognized, songs we were used to listening to on American radios. Hearing familiar artists and songs was the closest thing we had to home. And in a way, hearing Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” cured some homesickness I was feeling. So as we ate our delicious poutine, we listened to the songs we knew by heart and were reminded that home was not too far away. 

As the night went on, more classic rock songs were playing, and I couldn’t help but sing along to them. Then, the famous rhythm from none other than “Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie came through the restaurant speakers. Being a fan of both Queen, David Bowie, and this classic song, I knew that it was my responsibility to sing along. But of course, like maybe some other musical nerds out there, during those iconic beats at the beginning of the song, I had to whisper “ice, ice, baby” as a joke, emphasizing that Vanilla Ice most definitely ripped off Queen and David Bowie in his rap hit “Ice Ice Baby.” Thinking I was the only person in the room to create an on-the-spot mashup, as I spoke those words, I heard the echo from another table.

My head shot up as another woman’s head whipped around to see me. We both laughed hysterically and she said something in French that I couldn’t quite understand, so I nodded and laughed some more. Good thing she wasn’t asking a question. That may have been awkward. The coolest and most meaningful part of this silly experience was this: even though this woman and myself spoke different languages, the music we listened to, and even the stories behind the music, was shared. Music has an incredible impact on culture, and on that night, it helped me connect with another music-loving stranger. In that moment, I didn’t feel that we were different in that I was American and she was Canadian. We were just two people recognizing the similar rhythms of two popular songs and making a joke out of Vanilla Ice’s infamous musical plagiarism. It was a moment I don’t think will ever happen again in my lifetime, and I’m beyond excited that it did. 

AWESOME!