Ferris Bueller No More

Drunken parties, packed bars, wet and wild (you fill in the blank). Yep, my weekend had it all. However, it did not include anything noted above. In fact, it was plain and ordinary.

I was 19 (or somewhere in that age range) and on the Philadelphia side of the Delaware River. Cloudless sky, brilliant sun, light breeze, low 80’s –a beautiful Spring day. Some friends of mine and I were lounging on the river bank watching the water flow on. It was as if we were ready to film a beer commercial.
And yet…
“Yo man, I’m bored.”
“What do you want to do,” S asked. He was one of my closest friends during the high school and college years.
“I don’t know. Something.”
“Dude, it’s a beautiful day, and we’re all hanging out. What do you want?”
I looked around at the array of friends and acquaintances lounging around and sighed. “This is boring. I want an adventure.”
“An adventure? Who do you think you are Ferris Bueller?”
“I love that movie. Don’t mess with Ferris!”
“I know you do. How many times have you seen that movie?”
“A lot.” Sticking my hand out in greeting, “Abe Froman, sausage king, Chicago.”
“I know you know the movie by heart.”
“I weep for the future.”
“Okay, Abe I got it.”
“Anyway, what would be so wrong with a Ferris Bueller like adventure?”
“We’re not in the movies.”
I don’t remember how that afternoon ended. It was probably via some chemically induced haze.
So, I had it all and was bored. I wanted more.

Here’s a sampling of the events I experienced this past weekend:
Playdates for both of the boys,
Meaningful conversation with my wife,
Praying at the synagogue on Sabbath,
Tasty meals,
Food Shopping,
Playoff Football,
Vacuuming,
Writers group meeting,
Playing golf on the Wii.

There’s more, and it’s equally mundane. I’ll spare you the details. I’ll bet you had some of these and more on your plate this weekend as well. So you can fill in your own details.

You could say I did not have much going on this weekend. Yet, when Sunday night rolled around, I turned to my wife and said, “I wish it was a three day weekend.”

So, while I still know most of the lines and would be happy to watch Ferris Bueller’s Day off, I don’t need the same adventure. However, there are days. Nah, let me stop there. The plain and ordinary suited me quite nicely, thank you.

30 thoughts on “Ferris Bueller No More

  1. It is the simple things that bring us most joy. I save my Ferris Bueller adventures for when we go on holiday. This fall we are taking a train across Europe and from Italy north to Budapest and back to Amsterdam. It is going to be so much fun!

  2. I love the plain and ordinary. So many good things happen during plain and ordinary. And, there is still room for adventure. Even better is when plains am ordinary turns into an adventure! And, that’s a great movie! I have to watch it every time I run across it on tv!

    • It is one of those kind of stop and watch kind of movies for me too. It’s funny you put it that way as that is what I was thinking. I was even thinking of blogging with that theme in mind – movies you stop and watch. I have a feeling it is different for me and the majority of the readers. Man thing you know.

      • The A-Team is about to hit the FX network, tonight I think, I have my popcorn ready! I’ll DVR the rest of my normal shows, cause I can’t pass up The A-Team movie! I read Brenda’s comment below about partying in front of your kids.. Yeah, T is old enough that he is included. One of our friends works for his school district, and I have to remind him, next time you see her, you can’t tell your friends that we partied together this weekend! No mentioning that you took jello shots – you have to make sure you say non-alcoholic jello shots, well, to be safe, just leave that part out! (Okay, those are only for special occasions, like BD, Halloween and camping.) (okay, you know it’s not near as bad as I make it sound!)

  3. We’re at such a domesticated age, aren’t we? I would never want to try to act like I’m 20 now, but some days, I think it would be lovely to go back to visit.

  4. I love this. I wish a lot of parents could read this who haven’t experiences the “good life” high and are still living their party days in front of their children. Working in a public school, you’d be surprised what kids tell about the weekends that go on at their house. Let’s just say, not all of them are as mundane as yours.

  5. Sounds like a fantastic way to spend a weekend. I’ve definitely been there before – wanting just one more day of relaxing goodness with the family before the hustle and bustle of the week starts up again.

  6. ohhh….One of my ALL TIME FAVOURITES movie!! I still get the feeling of adventure sometimes with my kids but the kind of adventure that I just stepped into unknown territory, not the great-adventure-happy-end kind of thing, you know??

  7. I’m going to be sacreligious here and admit that I really don’t like Ferris Bueller very much. But aside from our mutually differing tastes I am absolutely with you. I had the same sort of weekend – hanging out at the children’s centre, a trip to the optician with all three boys and then the barber with one of them, red wine and Singin’ in the Rain, a cold January afternoon in the park with a Thermos flask, a little reading, and a Kinect session on Sunday night. We did nothing that might be classified as adventurous, but I didn’t want it to end.

  8. My weekend sounds just about the same…playdate, made a turkey, watched football….yep..and given a choice I wouldn’t have had it any other way! It was peaceful and relaxing…I even got a short nap in! Perfect!

  9. Most of the time our normal life feels just fine. But every once in a while my husband or I just get those crazy eyes and the sane one has to talk the crazy one out of doing something rash. Like getting in the car and driving to the Florida Keys. Or buying a speed boat. Something exciting but not very smart.

    • Something to share – I do the Bueller, Bueller, Bueller, in the Ben Stein voice as well (at times). My students have no clue what I am talking about.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *