April 6, 2008
Silver Charms: Lovely But Treacherous
In high school, I wore a charm bracelet that commemorated my love of music. While I didn’t wear it every day, I did however make sure to wear it for every concert or performance. This habit once nearly proved my undoing. At my junior-year holiday concert, I was wearing this bracelet with a festive sweater and black skirt. One of the band’s pieces did not bring in the clarinets until several minutes into the song. I sat in the approved position, clarinet across my lap, until a few bars before our entrance. When I went to raise the clarinet with the others, I found three different sterling silver charms hooked onto my sweater! I could not raise my left arm. Fortunately, I shared my music stand with a very alert young man who saw my predicament, and between us we untangled me just in time for the first note. After that, I never again paired my favorite bracelet with a sweater for orchestral concerts. I could never forget its betrayal of me at a critical moment.