On our way to take care of an assisted living task I sometimes resort to silly rhymes to keep Cindy engaged. Through her smiles I can see she is paying attention to me. Most often my rhymes center around “pee,” or “seat;” you can guess the cause. The other day, for whatever reason, the word “track” initiated the rhyming session, which proceeded with something like this:
“We need to get on track.”
“I’ve got your back.” (smiles)
“Don’t give me no flack.” (smiles)
“Or I’ll get you in the sack.” (laughs out loud, um, lol)
There is a history behind why Cindy laughs out loud to “get you in the sack,” and only to that silly rhyme. We met as part of a college group hiking the Appalachian Trail in 1980. Cindy caught my eye early, as she did with all the other males in the group (you’ve seen her pictures). The male/female ratio was heavily in her favor, but as a “big fish” already graduated from college, and having hiked the AT once before, I had an inside track (though Cindy always maintained my inside track was due to my humor, go figure).
Contrast that with another member of the group, the only one to just come out of high school for the journey. If anything, his social skills lagged behind his grade level. He had ardent desires for Cindy and resented my inside track. In particular, he cautioned Cindy that I was a “snake in the grass” that only wanted to “get her in the sack.”
In reality, he had no shot with Cindy even if I were not in the picture. Thus, his preoccupation with me being the obstacle to his dreams became the fuel for jokes. Jim, Brian and Jerry were three guys in the group who were prone to pulling pranks. One day, I think in Shenandoah National Park, they found a burlap sack along the trail. When Cindy and I came by they encouraged me to fulfill my dubious ambition of getting Cindy in the sack … which I did … with photographic evidence.
Proclaiming that “I just want to get you in the sack,” has induced laughter in Cindy ever since. This leads me to wonder. When she laughs at that rhyme, while merely smiling at the others, how much of that is conditioning and how much is comprehension? There is abundant evidence for either case.
I’ve seen Cindy laugh at things that I know is because other people are laughing. She senses a good time and the essence of her being is to join in. In the case of a running joke, she is likely to laugh because of conditioning, even by singling the joke out from a bunch of silly rhymes. Yet, as I’ve mentioned on here several times, I know that what Cindy perceives and comprehends far surpasses her ability to function. I suspect “get in the sack” is both a trigger and still a treasured memory of an awkward high school boy who once thought he had a chance with a beautiful, older woman.
For that matter, as events have unfolded since, I always smile, even chuckle, at the accusation that my intentions towards Cindy amounted to being a “snake in the grass.”
