The Five O’Clock Track Team
Posted by Chris on May 30, 2008 @ 10:15amWhat is a “five o’clock track team”? Who are they? Does it have something to do with Carl Lewis?
Well, I’d be glad to answer the question, since, well, this is my blog.
The Five O’Clock Track Team is for those of us who are counting down the clock of our workday to when we really start living. We work to live, not live to work, and that’s what this is about. It’s a movement, a revolution of sorts, for all of us youngish professionals who need to know that there is life beyond the off-grey of a government cubicle, the water cooler, the stock and standard office furniture, and the reception area or cafeteria of where we might work.
It’s about life outside of the health claim, the paperwork you needed to organize last Tuesday, or the mundane lunch you had with your office co-workers: two of whom you think are gay, one who is very obviously a consistent weekend alcoholic, and the other less than 5 feet tall.
The Five O’Clock Track Team is about life outside of that. It’s about whatever I want it to be about, and whatever you want it to be about. We need to unite as a people who are not defined simply by what we do to bring home a paycheck but by our interests, ideals, and affinity for all things exciting, interesting, and funny. We need to unite under the banner of maybe having to not forget our work entry swipe cards, but to telling the security guard in our company lobby about the awesome movie we saw on the weekend.
God knows that will probably brighten his day.
We need to come together as a people about the newest book we’re reading, and then go and tell the Barista at our local Starbucks to halt it on the Americano they’re making for the suit waiting impatiently for his caffeine fix — who is probably thinking about the renegotiation of his mortgage term. We need to then tap that suit on the shoulder and give him a dusted VHS copy of John Carpenter’s “Big Trouble In Little China“, and tell him to maybe take 1 or 2 of the designated sick days he knows he has, and to watch that movie, in Chinatown, while enjoying a Vietnamese sub or Dim Sung.
We need to organize ourselves and march onto each and every jock bar in our respective cities. We need to stand outside and yell at the top of our lungs the question that is begging to be asked, “Why do you still play the same songs here as when we came to your bar 12 years ago?”. We need to become a band of brothers and sisters in our belief that there’s nothing that beats Chicken’n'Ribs from Swiss Chalet, a bag of Smartfood and 12 episodes of “The Sopranos” downed with a cold Fresca as our collective choice of carbonated beverage.
The Five O’Clock Track Team abides by these simple principles. If you can agree with any of these then you should be reading this blog,
- Anyone still doing the “I like yeu…” Borat impression needs to be deprogrammed.
- Judd Apatow is brilliant.
- Piano pop like Five For Fighting and Snow Patrol, while romantic, is progressively losing it’s appeal.
- Big gigantic cat-in-the-hat hats are not cool. Sombreros are.
- People who think that Aquafina and Dasani are water brands not owned by Pepsi and Coke are completely hopeless. (A recent reader felt compelled to tell me that “Aquafina” means “water excellence” in Latin).
- David Archuleta is a member of a covert race of entertainment beings. Other members of this race are Canadian idol’s Kalan Porter, actress Dakota Fanning, and Shirley Temple. They will destroy us with their ability to endear humanity to them.
C’est tout.
