Radiohead Car Ride
So in a stroke of bad luck, my [27, M] car broke down a week before I was supposed to visit family for the holidays. Fortunately, my friend, Steve [25, M] carpools down with one of his friends, Liz [24, F] and some other people. Steve asked if I could come and they said yeah. It's about a four hour drive.
So we're all in the car yesterday, Steve is in the front with Liz and I'm in the back with some girl (I don't remember her name), and this other guy Tyler [26? M]. Liz starts driving and starts playing music, like Post Malone or something. Not a fan, but you do you and stuff.
About an hour in, the girl next to me asks if she can borrow the aux, Liz says sure and passes it to her. Reddit, it was so much worse. SO much worse. Some mumble-crap-auto-tune swill. This goes on for like 30 minutes (of pure agony). I couldn't even believe everyone tolerated it, let alone enjoyed it!
So I'm like, okay, obviously these people have never heard non-mainstream music before and I'm sick of listening to whatever this is. So I ask Liz if I could borrow the aux, too. She asks what kind of music I listened to. I said mostly Radiohead. She said she hasn't heard of them, I said that I'm sure it could be refreshing to listen to something out of the ordinary. I think she gave me a weird look in the mirror? But I wasn't paying too much attention honestly.
Anyway I get the aux and queue up my favorite Radiohead song, Fitter, Happier. And then a bunch of stuff from my fav album Kid A. Everyone is super quiet which I thought was cool because then they were really absorbing the lyrics.
About midway through, the girl next to me giggles and is like "wait, is this a joke?" and I'm like what do you mean? But she didn't say anything after that so I just kind of brushed it off. She was super annoying the whole ride anyway so it didn't bother me too much. It transitions to Everything in its Right Place and everyone is still just absorbing the music.
Then the girl next to me kinda turns towards Liz and I, literally right during the lemon part, and is like "okay, um. Look this is really not the vibes so can we give Liz the aux back or something?" And then Liz looks back at me and says "yeah dude sorry, I don't hate the music or anything but maybe not right now." I thought they were enjoying it? I guess they didn't give a shit.
Now, Reddit, I was bullied in high school for liking anime and Radiohead. And as Bowling for Soup so aptly stated, high school never ends. But this time, I wasn't afraid to stand up for myself.
"No," I say, in a calm tone, my confidence rising, "I had to listen to shitty music the entire way so far so I think it's pretty fair you can 'put up with' some songs you don't like for a little bit. And honestly, Radiohead's sound is so varied (even on the same album!) that you'll probably end up liking at least one anyway."
The girl next to me gets all up in my face, CLEARLY mad she got the same treatment she gave me, and is like "this is not your car, that's not how this works, give the aux back!"
So I smile and say, "If Liz wants it back she can ask me herself," pretty confident she would hear what I had to say. Steve looked at me and was like "Dude... c'mon." I couldn't believe it! He was stabbing me in the back. I'm like fucking Julius Caesar. Or Harrison Ford from Blade Runner.
The girl next to me flips out, basically yelling, and says to me "what the fuck is wrong with you! Don't drag her into this, give the aux back you weird little creep!" She left me the perfect opportunity.
"Creep? So you do listen to Radiohead."
"What?"
"Creep. The Radiohead song. You might have gotten the joke if you weren't so basic." Checkmate.
Tyler (what a stupid fucking name) finally pipes in with this dopey "that doesn't even make sense man, I don't understand why this is such a big deal, just give the aux back it isn't your car."
I fire back with a quick "It's about principles, Tyler. sigh. You would know if you had any." He couldn't even think of a retort. Just a weak "what the hell does that even mean, you don't even know me? Just give the fucking aux back, 'bro.'"
"No," I say with a wistful smile, "I don't think I will." (Like the Captain America meme). Tyler looks like he's about to fight me over this and that girl is screeching something in my ear. Steve hasn't said a word. He's a Radiohead fan, too! He should get it!
Liz raises her voice and cuts in with "okay let's calm down everybody (I was always calm), it's not a big deal, I don't hate it that much, just play your songs and pass the aux when you're done." I. Win.
"Thank you Liz, for being the second most reasonable one here." I pat her on the shoulder. Then I queued Fitter, Happier again to spite that girl. Can't get enough of it and honestly it's only fair considering what they put me through.
Nobody really talked after that. Tyler just mumbled something and looked out the window again and that girl finally shut up. Steve and Liz didn't look at me the rest of the way.
Anyway, we got to listen to like an hour of Kid A and then I played some stuff I don't usually listen to off of TKoL that I was just kinda feelin. I'm pretty sure even that girl liked some of the songs. Not like she'd ever admit it though. I passed it to Tyler after that and it was back to mumble crap.
After the whole car ride Steve pulled me aside and was like "what the fuck was that, man? That was so embarrassing for me! They didn't even want to let you come at first!" When I tried to tell him HE was the one who embarrassed ME and the entire Radiohead FANDOM he just got frustrated and left.
So I'm kind of reflecting on all of this and I'm thinking that maybe it wouldn't have happened if I was playing songs that appeal to first-time listeners. Anyone have any suggestions for the way back?
Credited to izzycc
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