The A-Bomb or the Hammond B?

Today on my answering machine I had the strangest call. It was obviously a misdial but I couldn't help but listen to the whole message even though it went on for quite some time. After a minute or so I realized that the call was made by someone in a car full of senior citizens. They kept laughing and pointing out different things on the route. At one point, an older gentleman shouted, "Hold the phone! Hold the phone!" and I thought he had discovered the misdial and my voyeurism was about to end. It turned out that this was only his way of telling someone else in the car to wait.

Towards the end of the conversation, I heard an elderly lady's voice chime in with, "Oh my! You'd be surprised at the number of old people who are taking organ lessons!!" and then the whole car was full of laughter. Just uproarious laughter and then nothing.

That was the end of the phone call.

I couldn't help but imagine that I had for a moment been privy to an underground group of senior citizens who were about to take over the world with weighty organ tunes. Where were they headed and how many were there? How many old people really are taking organ lessons and to what end?

I pray that we never know.