Saturday 9: Take a Letter, Maria

Crazy Sam’s Saturday 9: Take a Letter, Maria (1969) 

Every Saturday I take time off from written on serious topics to have some fun…
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) In this song, R. B. Greaves gets a shock when he gets home from work. When is the last time you were surprised? Was it a happy or sad surprise?
I haven’t been surprised in a long, long time.

2)  Mr. Greaves sings that he didn't get home until "about a half past ten." That's a very long workday. No wonder his wife felt neglected! Have you ever had trouble maintaining balance between homelife and career?
Since I’m single I don’t have to worry about that.

3) According to the song, "Maria" is a secretary. Have you ever worked in an office?
Yes, for 28 years I worked in a factory with my own little cubical in cubicalville.

4)  In today's office, R.B. Greaves wouldn't ask Maria to "take a letter." Instead, he'd keystroke his own email to his wife and cc his lawyer before hitting, "send." Think of another phrase, like "take a letter," that we seldom hear anymore because of technology.
“Dial” as in “I dialed that number but it was busy.”

5) "Maria" is mentioned in many songs ("Maria" from West Side Story, "Maria, Shut Up and Kiss Me" by Willie Nelson, "How Do Solve a Problem like Maria?" ...) but Crazy Sam discovered  few, if any, "Samantha" songs. Does your first name figure prominently in any lyrics?
I had to research it and found Paul Anka’s “Diana”

6) 1969 was the year that Neil Armstrong first stepped on the moon. Do you believe in life on other planets?
Yes, but I don’t think that they visited us.

7) In 1969, the Beatles performed publicly for the last time as a band, on the roof of Abbey Road studios. When did you last climb up onto your roof?
Wow! It was back in ‘91 when I was young and agile and I was looking for a leak on the roof.

8) Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mysteries sold at a brisk pace at Christmastime in 1969. Were you a fan of these books? If not, tell us about a book you remember enjoying when you were young.
I never read when I was young, it wasn’t until college that a dorm mate let me borrow Robert A. Heinlein’s “Stranger in a Strange Land” that I started to read books besides the ones assigned for homework.

9) Random question: Do you consider yourself old fashioned?
In many ways yes, I am set in my ways and don’t really like to try new things. But on the other hand I like new gadgets.

I am up again at the cottage this weekend and company is coming up so I don’t know when I will be able to answer comments. I was up here also last weekend with company and I couldn’t be on the computer more than a couple of minutes at a time.