To all who celebrate, Merry Christmas!
I’m writing you from the airport where I’m currently waiting to board a plane to a much warmer destination. Hooray! The sun is rising, and it’s a gorgeous view from the large windows at my gate. And overhead, I’m hearing a commonly played song at this time of year: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
When you were a kid, did you sing the echo parts? You probably know what I mean:
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Reindeer!)
Had a very shiny nose (Like a Lightbulb!)
Etc.
Did you know that some of these echo responses are regional? For instance, where you grew up, what kind of reindeer games did they play?
I’ve heard…
(Like Monopoly!) and
(Like Yahtzee!) and
(Like Parcheesi!)
And now, for another portion of the song, I want to tell you about an overly specific response from the place I grew up.
Like whom did you “go down in history”?
You’ll go down in history! (Like ______!)
I’ve heard
(Like George Washington!) and
(Like Columbus!)
But in my hometown elementary school — I have no idea why or how this started — we said,
(Like Elvis! Presley! Junior!!!)
And to clarify how we did this precisely, when we shouted at the end, there were spaces between the names:
(Like Elvis! — pause — Presley! — pause — JUNIOR!)
Not a real person and such a silly answer, but at elementary school morning meetings, we reveled in saying it in unison with joyful abandon. So there’s a fun factoid from my younger years.
How about you? Any overly specific memories for you at this time of year?
—Renee Roederer
Smuggling Grace 