(493)▪︎[ One Time, On A Band Trip … 6•15•2021 ]

[ This One Time On A Trip With My High School Band ]
[ When We Went To Canada ]
[ To Play In A Parade On Canadian Land ]

[ Our Buses Traveled All Through The Day Until It Was Very Dark ]
[ We Arrived @ Our Hotel ]
[ But Now We Had To Find The Space Where All Of Our Buses
     Could  Park ]

[ As We Walked Through That Hotel Door ]
[ It Hit Me That I Have Never Been To Canada Before ]

[ We Stood In The Lobby In A 2×2 Line ]
[ Some Of Us Weren’t Wearing Any Shoes ]
[ But I Had On Mine ]

[ When We Got Checked In ]
[ I Guess That Was When Everyone Thought That The Fun Would
     Begin ]

[ & Our Band Instructor Would Have Flipped His Lid ]
[ If He Ever Found Out What A Bunch Of Us Did ]

[ When We Went Out To Dinner There Were About 20 Tables All
     In A Row ]
[ When I Looked @ The Menu ]
[ It Was Written In A Language That I Didn’t Know ]

[ The Language Turned Out To Be French ]
[ For Uneducated Students In Different Languages ]
[ That Made As Much Sense ]
[ As When You Need The Use Of A Hammer ]
[ & Then Someone Hands You A Wrench ]

[ So Back To The Subject @ Hand ]
[ They Brought All Of Us Menus ]
[ In The One Language We Could Understand ]

[ A Couple Of Tables Around Me Had The Same Hunch ]
[ That Niether The Band Instructor Or Any Chaperones
     Were Anywhere In The Bunch ]

[ We Ordered Our Dinners & Then The Waiter Asked Us
     ( WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO DRINK … ) ]
[ ( WITH THAT? ) ]
[ That Really Made Me Think ]
[ & Scratch My Head When I Took Off My Hat ]

[ I Felt Put On The Spot ]
[ So I Turned It Around & Asked ( WHAT HAVE YOU GOT? ) ]

[ It Then Became A Huge Problem ]
[ Because He Served Us Several Rounds ]
[ & Them ]
[ & Them & Them ]

[ We Found Out Rather Quickly That Canada Did Not Have
     A Drinking Age Like The United States Does ]
[ This Was Not Any Kind Of Holiday Or Celebration ]
[ We Were Drinking Just Because ]

[ We Did Not Care ]
[ That The Wait Staff Made This Error ]

[ Nobody Could Believe The Size ]
[ Of The Receipt ]
[ Because It Came Out Itemized ]

[ Everyone Hoped & Was Scared ]
[ That Someone Who Did Not Drink ]
[ Would Make The Adults Aware ]

[ When It Came To Be Time To Turn In For The Night ]
[ The Good Part Of That Was … ]
[ There Were No Adults In Sight ]

[ It Seemed That Nobody Talked ]

~ Ka hopena ~

[  Mahalo iā ‘oe  ]
[  A hui hou mākou  ]
[  Aloha  ] ‎ 
  ‎
[  Na  ]
[  Lopaka DeVoe ]