A Mommy Story

Am I the only person who uses her iPod as a Magic 8 Ball far too often?

Think about it: thousands of songs with meaningful titles loaded onto that little device. And a great shuffle feature.

How often have you pressed shuffle and had a song come on that you really, really needed to hear? Or one that so perfectly fit your mood, it’s like it was hand selected for you? Same principle, just applied a little more directly.

More than once I’ve had it with me while on my way to some important function, or been driving while anxious about some topic or another. Think about a question, hit the Shuffle button, and all is revealed:

Will Aaron get over this fight?

Shuffle – Won’t Go Home Without You (Maroon 5)

Whew.
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Will these kids stop fighting with each other today, or should I abandon them in a cornfield? (Hush, you know I’d never do something like that!)

Shuffle – Keep Holding On (Avril Lavigne)

They should be happy it didn’t play Thnks Fr Th Mmrs (Fall Out Boy).
—

How should I spend the evening?

Shuffle – Drink the Night Away (Gaelic Storm)

I knew I loved you, iPod!
—

Will I get this job?

Shuffle – Pray (Once On This Island, musical)

Hmmm…is that good or bad?
—

Please, please, please let me pass this exam!

Shuffle – Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Green Day)

Oh shit.
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It doesn’t always work out so smoothly. Today I asked if the car would keep running, and it replied with Legal Assassin from the movie Repo! The Genetic Opera. Um…is someone going to assassinate my car? WTF does that mean?

These are the times when interpretation must come into play. No simple “Reply hazy, try again” answers here. That means I often skip to the next song until I get something that matches up with the question at hand a little better. In the question of my car, I got to Daughtry’s Breakdown, then decided that I probably shouldn’t have asked to begin with.

OK, maybe I am a little crazy to look to my iPod for advice. Like a Magic 8 Ball, it’s all random chance, even if my old Magic 8 Ball did have a scary-high percentage of accuracy.
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iPod, will my readers flee after reading this?

Shuffle – The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room – WHA? Hmmm, try again?

Shuffle again – Sympathy-Tenderness (Jekyll & Hyde the musical)

Oh, I hope you’re right…