This morning, I finally got the box fans cleaned up and put away for the winter. While I was washing the dust and yuck from my hands I got to thinking about something that had nothing to do with the fans.
Health care professionals say that when you wash your hands you should sing "Happy Birthday". I know, it sounds like a weird suggestion but they say it takes something like 20-30 seconds to sing the song and that's sufficient time to get your hands good and clean. That's all well and good. What are they basing the timing on? How fast or slow is the song supposed to be sung? Yes, another "dumb" question, which is leading to another one.
"Happy Birthday" is the best-known song around the world. It's supposed to be acknowledging a happy time. Granted, few people are pleased about getting a year older but there are certain milestones that are important to individuals. Teenagers are happy to turn 16 because they can finally get a learner's permit, and their driving license six months later. At eighteen they are now legal adults, and hopefully are ready to take on adult responsibilities. They can vote, sign contracts, apply for charge cards and, unfortunately, go to war without parental permission. When they turn 21, they can legally go into any establishment that serves alcohol.
When we reach our 40's many of us can consider running for political office. Some of them do have minimum age requirements, like running for president of the United States. Whether or not that's a happy milestone to achieve depends on the individual. By the time you get into your mid fifties, you're seriously considering retirement and counting down the years. I remember when my dad turned 65 and retired from his job. His celebratory act was to stomp flat the lunch box he'd used for years. No more lunch box, no more job.
So I digress a little. What does all this have to do with the song "Happy Birthday"? Have you ever noticed how, what is supposed to be a happy occasion, the song is sung, slowly and solemnly, like a funeral dirge? Think about it. Where's the lilting tune, the 'congratulations on achieving another year'? Even at toddlers' parties and grade school kids, it sounds like a sad occasion. Are adults lamenting the fact their children are growing up too fast? The kids are growing up and the adults are getting older.
Maybe that's it. Maybe we resent that little fact, or not so little. It gets to a point when you begin to wonder where the time has gone, from one birthday to the next. I thought I just had a birthday. And you just don't want to think about it. As a person gets up in years, it's sort of a badge of honor to have survived so long. The last thing you want to hear is a slow rendition of "Happy Birthday." Maybe they're reminding you to do a good job washing your hands. Or you might start wondering if they know something you don't.
