Hit the Road Jack

Well, today is a good day. My granddaugher and I have reached the thinning out stage of our relationship. She said, "Mema you know when I am nasty, you are nastier, and when I am nice, you are nicer." "I really like it when you are nicer." Yesterday, I asked her, "How does your dad wake you up in the mornings?" "Mmm..." she mused, "he tickles me and promises me blueberry pancakes, especially, on the weekends when he has to work." I told her that I couldn't do pancakes in the morning, and she wouldn't eat them any ways. She agreed, so this morning I tickled her even more than usual.

And so, this morning we left for the bus stop earlier than usual because she got up and got ready without much prompting. Because Dunkin Donuts is in front of the bus stop, I decided to get a cup of coffee to share with her. I asked her if she would like a "sip" of my coffee. She got really excited because she has been craving for a "sip" of coffee. "Daddy always gives me a sip of his coffee."

Before we left, we made sure that the condo was secured, and I made sure that I had the keys and my sunglasses; then, I said "Let's Hit the Road... Jack." "Why do you keep calling me Jack and telling me to hit the road?" she vehmently exclaimed. I told her it's just a song, so I started to sing.

"Hit the Road Jack and don't you come back no more, no more, no more, no more. Hit the road Jack and don't you come back no more."

She gave me one of those you are really weird looks. I, of course, shrugged it off.

Flashback, when I was a little girl, my aunts use to sing "Sweet Georgia Brown" at me. You know the theme song for the basketball team the Harlem Globetrotters. Well, every time I heard that song I would cry. I thought the song and my aunts were talking about me and calling me skinny. One day, my grandmother sat me on her lap and asked me, "why do you cry so hard every time that song comes on the radio or the family starts to sing it." I told her how my aunts teased and laughed at me. As Gram and I were talking the song came on the radio, so she asked me to listen to the words. She quietly enunciated the words of the song as she sang along with it. After the song was over, she asked me if I heard my name mentioned at any time. Of course, I whimpered, "No." She said that song is not about "Little Karean Brown it's about Sweet Georgia Brown." And so, this morning I got a flashback of how a youngster can and will misinterpret a song.

After our Dunkin Donut breakfast, we went to the bus stop. We were there before one of our bus stop friends, "Ms. Carmen." I asked Carmen if she knew the song "Hit the road Jack." Carmen started to sing the song, and I joined in; we had a little giggle; then, my Grand started to sing the song with us. I noticed the you are really wierd look disappeared from her face as she joined in and enjoyed the antics of the two old ladies giggling and doing a little boogie woogie as they sang "Hit the road Jack."