Crying at “Avenue Q”
March 10, 2010Jon Brooks Comments OffHere’s a post we dug out from late 2008 from a blog called “Life after my Layoff” and sub-titled “The economy stole my journalism job, but not my love of writing.”
I watch “Avenue Q”…and nearly cry in my seat
Last weekend, my boyfriend treated me to a showing of Avenue Q, a raunchy Broadway musical featuring rampant puppet sex and a rainbow of expletives.
Needless to say, I loved it.
The show is plenty edgy – despite the kid-friendly Muppets, I wouldn’t take anyone without a driver’s license — and features songs with titles like “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist.”
But it’s also a riveting tale about being unemployed during your 20s.
“How can I get laid off if I haven’t even started?” a recent college grad wonders.
Nearly all the characters are either fired or quit their jobs. Everyone’s broke and down on their luck – even resorting to homelessness to control costs. Periodically, I glanced at my boyfriend and murmured, “Is this supposed to be so autobiographical?”
In between songs about Internet porn and Gary Coleman, the main character is searching for his life’s purpose. It doesn’t come easy. Instead, he wanders around aimlessly, dating his neighbor and cooking up hare-brained schemes for cash.
During some exchanges, I nearly cried at the honesty.
For me, the most poignant song was “I Wish I Could Go Back to College.” I’ve posted some sample lyrics (the rest had some profanity).
KATE MONSTER:
I wish I could go back to college.
Life was so simple back then.NICKY:
What would I give to go back and live in a dorm with a meal plan again!PRINCETON:
I wish I could go back to college.
In college you know who you are.
You sit in the quad, and think, “Oh my God!
I am totally gonna go far!”ALL:
How do I go back to college?
I don’t know who I am anymore!Immediately after my layoff, I contemplated signing up for GRE courses and going back to grad school. The cozy college womb is still an alluring option, but I think it’s just delaying the inevitable: finding another job in a lousy economic climate.
It doesn’t help that I want to study the least profitable niche since journalism and underwater basket weaving: creative writing.
