On Monday, Jodie Foster spoke at UPenn's graduation ceremonies. Spoke about the condition of the world since today's graduates entered school (in 2001/2). Spoke about the future.
And ended her commencement address with the chorus from Eminem's "Lose Yourself".
Look, if you had one shot, or one opportuntity / To seize everything you ever wanted -- One moment / Would you caputre it or just let it slip?
Eminem. Jodie Foster. Ivy League. All in one fell swoop.
Just two days before, my wife and I were quoting the same song. Funny. Timely. Ironic.
Karla and I took a breather while running errands on Saturday afternoon. Came upon a car wash. Came up upon a bunch of middle school girls running a car wash at a Dairy Queen in a socio-economically challenged part of town a few miles from our house. A place where cheerleading is one of the few elements they share with the kids behind the big walled neighborhoods not too far away.
I'm not a big fan of the need to wash the car each week. Seems foolish when you grew up in Maine which had an official 'mud season' after winter. But the second we pass kids throwing a car wash, our blinker comes on. Especially when the kids on this side of town can't take for granted the car wash = ski trip sort of gig. Just trying to raise money for cheerleader uniforms. Just trying to be a normal American kid. Like the ones in those movies. Like cheerleaders. Cheerleading. Nearly 'sacred' territory here in Texas.
In case anyone has a temptation to offer up a 'critique' of cheerleading (whether in Texas or not), these girls weren't the typical blond-haired, blue-eyed goddesses so prone to stand out as American icons in an activity that often ranks well down on the intellectually-hip and politically correct scale...while still being at the center of everything Americana. No. These were inner-city kids, kids who were going to cheerlead whether there were formal uniforms or not, students like my own a few years ago who rarely saw the city beyond a few square blocks outside of their house, kids who had few opportunities that the all-American kid so often has in spades, kids who for a quick moment on a hot Saturday afternoon didn't seem to be a step or two down on the ladder. Almost on an even par. And these kids were wonderful. Joyful. Hands full of wet sponges and suds. Laughing.
And just looking forward to their season, their cheerleading season, their cheerleading uniforms...like any kid, in any town, in any state, would on a beautiful Saturday afternoon..
In any event, Karla and I sat in the Dairy Queen talking about the kid who looked like she was in charge (little 8th grader with a great look-ya-in-the-eyes kind of smile), the younger sister that so wanted to be involved but was really only able to hold her 'car wash' sign and wave at traffic, and all the other girls that seemed to be having so much fun. We ate a chili dog. A dilly bar. Some fries. Laughed together. Talked about being kids ourselves. Even about Karla being a cheerleader in 9th grade (before she went on to be the captain of the Pom Squad, a fact that allowed no-end-to-fun for her Smith College classmates years later!). And loving these kids.
And then over the loud speaker heard both in the restaurant and in the parking lot came Eminem's "Lose Yourself".
You better lose yourself in the music, the moment / You own it, you better never let it go / You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow / This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo / You better lose yourself in the music, the moment / You own it, you better never let it go / You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow / This opportunity comes once in a lifetiem you better, / You can do anything you set your mind to, man.
Karla and I both adore this song. We don't own it. We don't request it on the radio. And it might even be a few months between hearing it. But we both love it. She's a middle school teacher and principal. A well-respected one of each. Beloved, actually. And not the 'typical Eminem' fan. Not by a long-shot.
But there is something about that song. About the passion in his voice. About the pulse. About the underlying reminder to push forward in spite of whatever odds lay before you. Whether anyone stands there with you or not.
Like Karla reminds her students daily.
Like the young girls in the parking lot running the car wash to raise funds for cheerleading uniforms to blance the socio-economic scale a bit, like all the rest of us who push day after day for something that sometimes comes only in a 'whisper' in our guts. A guy who is often derided for his politics. For his lyrics. For his social influence.
But for one afternoon in a hot Dairy Queen parking lot in Texas, Eminem was the right maestro, these girls working for their uniforms were the right performers, and Karla and I were lucky to be able to take a pause...be in their audience. A pause of reflection. A pause of appreciation. A pause to look forward to the future. Not too unlike what Jodie Foster offered her own audience at UPenn on Monday afternoon.
Eminem. Jodie Foster. Ivy League. A parking lot full of girls fighting for their shot. Something in that just feels right somehow.
I *do* own it... it was the first song on the mixed CD we used to get fired up before big games, both on our girls basketball team and on the boys Ultimate team a few years ago.
It's an incredibly powerful song... I'm not an Eminem fan myself, but I could never deny that he tapped into something so very real with that song.
Posted by: Chris Lehmann | May 16, 2006 at 05:20 AM
Christian, music can define many things that words or actions alone cannot. Maybe a cool thing in the future would be a certain track to kick in when you read a post on someone's blog - something that matches what the author is trying to convey! Maybe that's why the best digital stories always have the perfect music chosen to go with their images and text. It's probably a right brain thing (reading Dan Pink at present.) Maybe it's your impending fatherhood but your posts of late have reached an even higher standard. Excellent - but maybe having a baby in the house might slow your blogging output down to something the rest of us can keep up with!
Posted by: Graham Wegner | May 16, 2006 at 06:12 AM
Ooooh, goosebumply good writing today...both this one and the school tribute to Karla. Awesome!
Posted by: Jeremy | May 16, 2006 at 11:41 AM
What a wonderful story! And a life lesson to boot. Those kids, as you say, will cheerlead whether or not they have uniforms. Meanwhile across town, perhaps that blonde, blue-eyed girl dressed in her perfect taken-for-granted outfit is agonising over the fact that she has a zit.
Perspective. Appreciation.
Finally holding in your hands something you worked for, sacrificed Saturday afternoons for - now that is a feeling worth having.
Posted by: Karyn Romeis | May 17, 2006 at 04:23 AM