Quick Recovery

I was listening to an oldies radio station last night, when the old favorite, "Take a Letter Maria" was played. In the song, the singer comes home, sees his wife in the arms of another man, is crushed, packs his bag and leaves. He then has Maria, his secretary take dication. The resulting letter says he won't be coming home and is sent to his wife and attorney.

The good part is at the end where he sings that Maria has been a good secretary and asks her out to dinner. I had to chuckle when it occured to me that this has to be the quickest recovery on record (now on CD). In two minutes, the song records tragedy and rebound. I wonder if Maria turned our hero down because he was on the rebound. Did we even recognize what rebound was when this song was recorded? Probably not, and probably most of our listeners thought that Maria did go out with him, and they became an item, and eventually got married. Of course, only after his divorce and a very short waiting period.

If the song were written today, our singer would be subject to a charge of sexual harassment, or at the very least warned of its potential. More than likely, he would not even have a secretary. Perhaps she would be an administrative assistant, and would remind him that he had his own computer, so he could write it himself and email it instantly to the intended recipients.