A track on the first album I ever bought (the Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band) was called A Day in the Life. It was actually a few short songs that Lennon and McCartney threw together to make into one song. I had a ‘Day in the Life’ last week.
Song 1: As I approached the West Gate Bridge while driving home from a voiceover job, a truck came up on my right in the outside lane and BANG, a super-loud explosion in my right ear. I had no idea what had happened but knew something was wrong (sharp as a tack, as always). The options that sped through my mind in a nanosecond were many and varied. Had the truck clipped me? Had a bomb gone off? Did someone shoot me? Hang on, I’m still driving my car, no blood, no sideways movement, no damage I could see. Then I noticed the truck had bits of rubber spewing out from beneath the 10 wheels at the back on its left side. One of its tyres had exploded! No guns, bombs, accident reports, bent panels or twisted wreckage. And the truckie just kept on trucking. No damage.
Song 2: Last week my wife encountered the door knocker from Hell. On opening the door she was greeted with: “Hi there, did anyone ever tell you, you have the most beautiful smile?” Then he lunged into the house. When my wife politely declined to donate, he brought out this gem: “OK, but can I please get a glass of water?” As the door sailed to its resting place, he went on his way. No problem.
Song 3: You haven’t lived until you’ve lost or misplaced your credit card. After the initial panic, you cancel the card and get on with your life. Then the card turns up in a pocket of your coat, or on the front seat of the car or in the shop you were last at. I lost my card at one of our shopping centres, and it was picked up in the carpark by Tony O’Grady, from the Palm Lake over 50s Resort. He tried to find the card owner at the shopping centre but when that failed, he looked me up in the White Pages online, phoned my home and told his story. After exploding tyres and sleazy door knockers it helped retain my faith in the human race. No worries.
■ Post a comment below
■ If you have any news or events, let me know at kevin@howdypartnersmedia.com.au
