Everybody Polka!

Yesterday, Roger and I celebrated 17 years of wedded mess (er...I mean bliss.) Actually our life together has been nothing short of chaotic. We have been on top of the mountain and to the bottom of the abyss in those 17 years. **Ahem...I have to confess that I sure enjoy the view from the mountaintop a whole lot more.** But, I just know that being down means we have to tie on our hiking shoes, take a lot of Ibuprofen and start climbing.
Since we are not blessed with an overabundance of cash at present, we were very fortunate to be in possession of a gift card to a local German restaurant. Now of all the ethnic foods out there, German is my least favorite. But, having someone else pay for the lion's portion of my anniversary dinner.....I'm totally on board with that.
I managed to wrestle Roger into attire other than T shirt and jeans, I put on my best bib and tucker and off we went. Heck, we were even on time! **For us, that is huge. If your last name is Beshears chances are your picture is beside the word TARDY in the dictionary**
I really wish I would have been able to capture the moment when we entered the restaurant and heard Polka music. Roger is not big on "entertaining" dinners. He loves the "show" at Japanese steakhouses and to make it better they don't sing. Karaoke is in his opinion the 9th level of hell (and I have to say I pretty much agree with him on this one.) And in all of our 17 years together I've never known him to willingly seek out a Polka Band. He will sit and have a beer and listen to live entertainment **that expression has always puzzled me - live entertainment....as opposed to dead entertainment?** But I digress.
Polka was a'playin' as we entered and lucky us...they seated us right in front of the stage! This was a husband and wife team, she was wearing Pippi Longstockings tights with Mary Jane shoes and a plaid skirt and sweater combo. Her hair had been sprayed the most unusual shade of red and her hubs was also suitably attired. The woman played the accordion (which I've always been fascinated with - they look very complicated to play) and the husband played what Roger kept referring to as a Flueglehorn? The husband would occasionally sing and when I inquired of my husband who has traveled more extensively than I, if that was the way German's sang, was informed that no, that was Louie Armstrong that sang like that. The "band" had 2 preschool age children that spent the evening running through the restaurant laughing and screaming at the top of their lungs until time for them to perform as well. I have to confess that I thought those 2 little vunder kinder doing The Chicken Dance was very charming. They did it well as opposed to when they were supposed to Polka. The Polka caused them to have obvious artistic differences in their delivery. Umm, can you smell the romance in our evening?
Our prime spot right in front made it impossible to avoid the Polka Band. Since we could be seen, applause was necessary after each number and they engaged us in conversation which I assume was part of their act. In short, they would not be ignored. We did not come prepared to tip the Polka People so I had to enter into some serious negotiations with our charming ex-New Yorker waiter to come up with a cash appreciation for their entertainment. Upon tipping, we were instructed to please take one of their postcards. I picked one up, expecting to see info on their band. Instead, I found only a website referenced. www.polkayoureyeout.com hmmmmmm......after Roger and I tried to make this say everything we finally tumbled to the fact that it said Polka Your Eye Out. Honestly, I only had 3 teensy little glasses of wine.
In spite of everything, we had a great time.
I'm sure you are waiting to know what the point to this Blog post is. Well, here you go. What did Polka Night teach me? It taught me that all it takes to enjoy something is to let yourself be open to it. There were at least 3 big negatives about the night that could have ruined an evening, but instead turned it into a great fun evening for both of us. It is all about your attitude. If you decide something is going to be crappy, chances are the stench will be overwhelming. But, if you decide to just let yourself go, give yourself over, join in the craziness, you will find out that joy has jumped on the wagon with you. While we may never choose that particular event again, for now....Everybody POLKA!