Earlier this week, the wife and I stayed at a Four Seasons Resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
It was a lovely (and luxurious) anniversary present from my excellent mother in law—24 hours of four-star splendor. We spent that time lounging by the beach, lounging by the pool, drinking overpriced Coca Colas (really, $6 for an eight-ounce mini-bottle? Really?) and kicking back in bed eating breakfast. I couldn’t have had a better time.
I digress. Working at the resort was a woman named Michelle. She was in her early 20s; relatively new at the place, having relocated from Orlando. When I told her it was our anniversary, she said, “Don’t move!”—then returned moments later with a plate of chocolates and two pina coladas. We got to chatting, and Michelle told us about her life—born in New York, college grad, employed by Disney World for a spell, wants to go further in her business studies. She also said her boyfriend was returning from Nicaragua, and that she’d be leaving early to greet him at the airport. “What does he do?” I asked.
“Oh, he’s the drummer in a group—The Ethan Parker Band.”
“Are they good?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said. “Really good.”
Granted, what was Michelle supposed to say? “No, they suck. They’re awful.” Regardless, I scribbled down “Ethan Parker Band” on a piece of scrap, forgot about it, forgot about it some more, forgot about it some more, forgot about it some more, then stumbled upon the words, written on the paper jammed between pages 86 and 87 of Elizabeth Strout’s “Olive Kitteridge.” With a few moments to spare yesterday afternoon, I Googled the group, found the website, loved the friggin’ music.
And here we are.
I know this is an old message, usually relayed by old fuckers like me. But, shit, isn’t this amazing? Isn’t this the perfect example of the power of the modern age. A decade and a half ago, had Michelle told me about her boyfriend’s band, I would have written it down, found the paper and, well, tossed it. I mean, what good was knowledge of The Ethan Parker Band, when there was no real way to find The Ethan Parker Band? Now, however, everything has changed.
Now, you’ve heard of them.
Twenty seconds ago, you never had.
