I took my niece out to eat a couple of days ago and just as we were about to leave, she put her forefinger in the air to signify that she wanted me to wait for a minute. She said she wanted to hear the end of the song that was playing on the jukebox. She and I are in different solar systems when it comes to music, so I have no idea what the song was, but the incident instantly reminded me of when I used to do to the same thing.
I’d park in the drive way or the parking lot of the store I was going into and listen to every word and every note before turning the car off and going inside. I had my share of cassette tapes when I started driving, but I didn’t own every album I liked, and certainly not every single. So, I couldn’t let the opportunity pass when some of my favorite tunes came on the radio—even if I had to wait a minute or two.
I’ve always been the type who likes to experience the complete story. I hate to stop reading a book part way through, even if it is poorly written. I like to listen to entire albums, including the filler songs, because if I don’t, I somehow feel like I didn’t get the complete context of the artist’s message. And I refuse to just catch bits and pieces of a television show or movie because I will have missed too much to understand what’s really going on.
A little compulsive? Yeah, maybe. But, I like to think of it as, “living life in context.”
