I have a confession to make, and it’s not one that should be taken lightly. I’m probably going to lose some friends over this, and most likely all of my readers. My only hope is that I can gain some replacements of both in the process.
You see, I’m in love with country music. Again.
This hasn’t happened to me since I was in about sixth grade, when I would blast Brad Paisley’s “Mud on the Tires” CD until my family no longer loved me. I’m exaggerating slightly less than you’d expect.
But the truth is, country is always a phase for me. It’s not that I ever recognizably hate it, it’s just that I would much rather be listening to something else at the time. Which I guess means that music in general is just a series of one phase after the other in my mind.
Now that I think about it, though, most of the components of my daily thought run in phases.
Like, when I was a freshman at Gannon, I wanted to be a high school English teacher. I thought that would be awesome.
So, naturally, I started learning how to be a high school English teacher. And I no longer thought it was awesome. So, after a ton of consideration, I changed my major to just plain ol’ English and tagged on a journalism minor for good luck.
I guess that’s why you’re stuck reading my column, instead of the one that would have written if he had declared a journalism minor, like I did. Sorry about that.
So, when I decided against being a teacher, I also decided against following a definite career path. I’m still very glad I made that decision, but it’s also probably the No. 1 most nerve-wracking thing in my life right now.
I could change my mind at any minute. Which, in case you didn’t know, is really scary for me. I like to change my mind a lot.
So now I’m in this phase – similar to the whole country thing, which I promise I will get back to – where I want to be a lawyer. And it’s kind of, but not really, because of that journalism minor that I’m feeling this way.
I’m not one to dwell on fate or any of that crap, but I practically have to say that if I hadn’t declared that minor, I wouldn’t have taken a class that forced me to go into a courtroom, and then I wouldn’t have rediscovered that being a lawyer sounds awesome. Like, more awesome than being a high school English teacher sounded when that was what I wanted to do with my life.
I recently read a book that mentioned the fact – and it is a fact – that law school is where people go when they don’t know what else to do with their lives. Not only is this completely accurate, but it’s also fine by me.
If I were to work in a high school, I would want to chop my kids’ heads off as soon as they became teenagers. If I worked as a lawyer, though, I would be able to argue my point to no end, therefore eliminating the mess. I like that option much better.
Speaking of kids – that’s why I like country music so much. See, I told you I’d come back to it.
With any other genre, the emphasis found in the lyrics clearly points to things like drugs and sex and too much harsh language.
And while those things can be found in country, a proportionate amount of the genre’s songs speak of family values. I think that’s why I keep coming back.
My excuse for coming back to a career in law isn’t nearly as good. Maybe I can come up with a better argument after spring break.
