buffalo cafe

A story from way back when…
Turkey was a li’l draining in that we had been going non-stop for eight weeks without breaks. spring break was in like 4 days. Spending all your time with a group of 22 people has its pros and cons… and let’s just say a few peeps were ranting that they needed a li’l alone time. I proudly announced that I didn’t find “alone time” necessary as long as I had George Michael. (At this point I had been listening to “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” on repeat for about two full days… and was still going strong.) I really meant it too – anytime I felt too drained from lack of sleep/ long days of analyzing ancient rocks, I kicked out a li’l JITTERBUG, bopped around for a bit, and it worked magic. I mean it. No more being antsy on the bus. No desire to punch someone’s face. It really worked wonders.

After a morning at Ephesos, I spent much of lunch time quoting this song. As we waited in the buffet line at lunch, I said to Brad Bankos emphatically to “wake me up before you go go, and don't leave me hanging here like a yo-yo.” I told Jeanna Cook that she put the “Boom boom” into my heart. George Michael put me in the best mood ever.

[With no real relation to this story, I would like to note that Wake Me Up Before You Go Go is still cycling on my headphones as I type this story at this very moment. I’m just going through a phase.]

On one specific occasion, most people on the bus had conveniently conked out. I had decided to capitalize on my bus time to read some Herodotus, and jammed to none other than ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go Go’ on my headphones, envisioning that hyped up music video in my head. I turned the volume up higher than normal [mainly to tune out our Turkish tour guide who kept interrupting everyone’s sleep to tap on the mic and say, “I would like to recommend for you to look at the green grass to our right…” during our 6 hour bus ride… it had been a long day, ok?] I was doing my sway-snap dance move, as Chris Vincoli got my attention -- the music from my headphones had apparently gotten his.

Unbeknownst to me, I began talking in an excessively loud voice, probably waking up everyone.
Vincoli [laughing]: Are you listening to George Michael AGAIN?
Me: “WHAT?”
Vincoli [still laughing]: Do you have your music up kinda loud or something?
Me [becoming embarrassed]: WHY? AM I BEIN’ LOUD OR SOMETHING?

I was so confused, and I had no idea I was talking any louder than a whisper. I looked up and soon realized everyone within 7 rows was starting to stare… even Dr. Peter Krentz at the front of the bus (more amused than annoyed). And that’s when I realized… I was bamboozled.

Later that evening I checked my email to find urban dictionary rubbing in the experience by sending me “headphone syndrome” as the word-of-the-day.

Entry: Headphone Syndrome
Definition: When someone has their headphones on and they are too friggin loud so they think they have to yell to talk.
Example sentence:
Ralph: Hey do you wanna go to the movies?
Molly: WHAT?
Ralph: I said do you want to go to the movies?
Molly: I'M SORRY I CAN'T HEAR YOU. WHAT?
Ralph. Forget it man, you have a bad case of headphone syndrome.

This song extends beyond Turkey…
April 1, 2007.
Syracuse, Sicily, Italy
Appropriately, the group decided to April-Fools me today. Following Brad’s orders, everyone on the trip united to pull the “silent treatment” joke on me – thinking I would quickly catch on and wonder why no one was talking to me. (Little did they know that I had the perfect defense in place: Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, cycling through my head, is enough of a distraction to prevent me from noticing ANYTHING.)

Let’s just say no one said a word to me all morning… until around noon – when they completely broke down. Toumazou gave a short lecture at the theatre in ancient Syracuse, and immediately after - a group of people called me over, with embarrassed smiles on their faces. “Have you noticed anything today?” Oblivious to their prank, I shook my head “no,” looking confused as I removed George Michael from my ears.

Then they spilled the beans. And I was completely unconscious of any of it. Everyone in the group couldn’t believe I was unaware that I was receiving the “silent treatment,” and individually went into detail about our interactions that morning, apologizing profusely. They each explained the experience in terms of a psychological complex that had developed in their heads, and they had slowly but surely not been able to take the torture anymore - knowing they were making me “miserable”. Chris Beeston explained that he had silently offered me one of his cookies when I asked him what they tasted like. Katie Eastland told me she had carried on a whole “conversation” with me only by smiling. Others spent the entire morning avoiding any contact, being paranoid that I might say something that needed a response. Stewart couldn’t handle it and almost had an early breakdown. I hadn’t noticed ANY of it. By the end, they each felt as though they had committed some terrible atrocity, and then had to just sit and watch my suffering, the consequence of their own actions. Some felt that part of their souls had died. They explained that they had finally huddled and made the decision to tell me, because they all felt terrible about being so harsh to me. Needless to say they kinda April-Fooled themselves. Unconsciously, with the help of Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, I had performed the best April Fool’s joke of the day.