Who remembers record players?
My parents gave me one for my ninth birthday. I was so excited to have one of my very own. It’s sitting next to me in the picture. Like my mother, I love music. But unlike her, I liked to play my records at the wrong speed just for fun.
In case you’ve only seen record players on TV or in old pictures like mine, different sized vinyl records were played at different speeds. Albums were the larger size and they were played at 78 RPM (revolutions per minute.) The smaller single was played at 45 RPM. This is why they were also referred to as 45s. If I played the albums at 45 RPM, the sound was deeper and sluggish. Depending on the song, that could sound kinda creepy. It was more fun to play the 45s at 78 RPM. It was like listening to a chipmunk singing while on a sugar rush. Now that I think about it, maybe I liked it so much because I was such a fast talker myself.
While I didn’t sound like a hyper chipmunk, I literally talked as fast as I could. When I had a thought, I was ready to say it and move on to something else. Going slow was for the birds.
Needless to say, others struggled to understand me. I heard complaints from not only my family, but also from my friends and teachers. They would often ask me to repeat what I just said. Or they would repeat back to me what they heard. Of course, it was nothing like what I thought I had just said. There were some people who even suggested I slow down the RPMs when I talked. I didn’t really get it. After all, I understood everything I was saying, so why didn’t they understand me?
Even though it was very frustrating, I was too stubborn to do anything about my fast talking. That is until I had an embarrassing and rude awakening. It happened in the sixth grade. During language arts, our teacher wanted to do a quick refresh on verbs. He had us take turns putting one in the sentence: “(Verb) the horse.” For example: “Feed the horse.” The same verb couldn’t be used twice and, best of all, we had to say it out loud. When it was my turn, I quickly said: “Shoe the horse.” As soon as I said it, the whole class erupted in laughter. There were even a few loud snorts. The teacher had to walk away for a minute because he was laughing so hard. I sat there in complete confusion. When everybody finally settled down, I asked: “What’s so funny about shoeing a horse?” The teacher informed me that I had spoken so fast that my words had run together. He and everybody else thought I had said: “Shoot the horse.”
“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” James 1:19 (KJV)
Obviously, it’s not wise to go through life at too fast a pace. It’s best to be vigilant on your hearing so you know for sure what is being said. Then slowly and carefully choose your words and stay in control of your emotions.
Are you wondering if I still talk fast. Yes, I still have the tendency to do that, but I try to watch how I speak. This is especially important since I am getting back into speaking and storytelling. I figure as long as somebody doesn’t ask about me “shooting” anything, I’m good.