Sho, I was in music theory and we were doing all our little music theory shinanigans and all that hoopla and I was feeling a little vexed by the thought of playing only one song for the parade this year. Mind you, this is a two mile parade and somebody thought that it was a good idea to play one song, and not a very good song at that. And, although, the theme for the parade is Las Vegas or something or another, that really doesn't necessitate us playing Viva Las Vegas over and over again for two miles. Some may say, "Hey I'm quite partial to Viva Las Vegas and wouldn't mind hearing that about a trillion times." Well that's cool, but remember that this is being played by a marching band and it's going to be not all together fun to play or hear as many times as we're playing it. I'm pretty sure Elvis would agree.
But this is not my story. You see, after taking into consideration the events of last year, when we also played only one song, "Mambo," I found the idea very disagreeable. So I believed it to be in the best interest of everyone for me to ask why we would be doing such a horrendous thing. And it went a little like this.

"Sho, Ms. Ireland, why is it that we are only playing one song again this year?" I said without any purpose of wrongdoing, but for the sheer pursuit of knowledge.
The response, "You know us band directors have a hard time as it is without kids wanting to add their own thing... blah... blah ... blah... sob story... so anybody who wants to say anything should just shut up." Something alon the lines of that.

Now there aren't a whole lot of things that people can say that would really get to me. There are a few words though that I find to be extremely perverse. These words are "jerk", "slut", "sangwich", and "ranch sauce" instead of "ranch dressing." But the phrase "shut up" is something that dislpeases me the most. Now saying "shut the hell up" or something of that nature will arouse a giggle every now and then, but simply "shut up" a cannot tolerate. So you can imagine that I was taken aback by this.

I didn't want to press the issue, but I felt it was necessary. "If ya'll say that we are having so much difficulty getting a good performance together then that is understandable, but surely we can add something simple like 'Still Fly' (the charming little chanty by Birdman)?"
"Shut up," there it is again, only this time to my face, "There is a theme that we need to stick to, and since this band has done so poorly in the past, we need to do what we can to make a performace. So, just shut up!" A third time, this is getting rediculous. But that wasn't it. She had the audacity, the effrontery, to make a comment about Mr. Peters and the people of the classes that he directed.

Firstly Mr. Peters is a great director. Second, he was my director for two years so I was insulted by that comment as well. Third, the purpose in the changing of the directors was to improve the band. We still suck and now being in band sucks. Two wrongs don't make a right. Fourth, it's not like Mr. Peters imbedded us with the ideal of being untalented. We just ended up that way.
Who the hell does she think she is?

Then she left with a snappy remark that went something like, "When you have a masters degree, then you can make the decisions." If I had a masters degree I wouldn't be dealing with a highschool band, and there are pletty of people without master degrees that have been very influetial. George Washington, I don't know if you heard of him or not.

I replied, "Will do."
I shall have the last word.
Upon returning my test, she deemed it necessary to take me to the side and explain to me that the time constraints, the lack of resources, and how the parade works.
Yeah, I know how the freakin' parade works, idiot! I live in San Antonio you Arizona dildo or whereever you are from. I've seen it on many occasions. Nobody even follows the theme, because if they did then the crowd would fall asleep. And "Still Fly" is all about living it up so it fits the theme perfectly. Also, it's not like we have to practice because we are marching in straight lines and the song has like only four notes.
Then she explained that she took her band to the parade and got first place. I DO NOT CARE. Why didn't she just stay over there if they were so fantastic.
The parade is about fun, not competing. That's why it is called "fiesta."
I rebuddled with something like, "Yes, I'm from San Antonio so I have seen the parade, and you have to understand that this band really doesn't want to compete. Otherwise, we would be better. And winning something like that isn't really a big deal." She apparently didn't understand because she's not from here.
So the arguement persisted, but didn't go anywhere, and I left angrier than when I entered. Before practice, however, Mr. Snider announced that some have asked why we are only playing, during which time he stared straight at me. Then he said that we would play "Still Fly" if we learned the "Battle of the Bands" routine.
IN YOUR FACE.
I still didn't go to practice though. I felt it proper to write this down.
"Gator boots and a Gucci Suit." punk ass.