People make a lot of mistakes in life. Don’t take offense, you know you do.
I’ll be honest. I’ve made my fair share of bad decisions, but I don’t think this precludes me from making judgments of others. When I see problems, I try to correct them. Sort of like a real-time Scot Bakula keeping the world on track so I can move on to my next destination and hopefully, someday, maybe make it home.
I digress.
The other night, some friends and I were celebrating at a karaoke bar in the back of a bowling alley. It was your typical American Idol wannabe showcase, with plenty of terrible singing and poor song choices taking center stage.
Nothing was so bad that it compelled me to take action, until a duo took the stage reeking of tequila and nachos, holding onto each other to stay standing, mouthing their microphones like they were long lost lovers, back from a horrible ordeal across the ocean.
The music started and my mind began to churn. What could I do to prevent this tragedy from happening? Should I pull the plug of the karaoke machine? Maybe I could tackle the two lovebirds before they could butcher the melody? Where was Sam when I needed him?
I hesitated. And then, something amazing happened. They started to belt out the lyrics and I was mesmerized.
Make no mistake, they were not good. Far from it. It may have been the most terrible rendition of this particular song ever performed, but that’s what made it so magical.
You see, bad to awesome isn’t a scale, as many commonly believe. It’s actually a circle. Something can actually be so bad that it becomes awesome.
My favorite example is the movie 3000 Miles to Graceland, but if you don’t have three hours to kill, a poorly performed duet of the Starship classic “We Built This City” will accomplish the same thing.
The trick — and these two drunks nailed it — is to skip over the verses and just belt out the chorus with wild abandon.
Too quickly, they were gone from my life, stumbling off the stage and into some dark corner to do things that would horrify most sensitive souls.
I was left humming a tune and knowing that this night was definitely no mistake.
