In reflecting on time spent both on and off the dance floor, I realize that I’ve only “Waved my hands in the air like I just don’t care” when encouraged to do so by a DJ or a professional musician of some kind.
It’s a pretty sensible chain of causality: you wave your hands in the air because, well, you just don’t care. Intuitively it makes sense. Emotionally it feels right. On the dance floor it’s unquestionably the correct thing to do. I simply never do it anywhere else.
So I think I’m going to make a change and try to incorporate this activity into other areas of my life. For example, an executive might say at a meeting: “This project is absolutely crucial and it affects all areas of the company. Greg, what do you think about publishing a detailed timeline on the corporate intranet so everyone can review it and take note of our progress?...okay, what the hell are you doing with your arms?”
Genius!
Ladies and Gentlemen, genius at work! Make way, make way!
does that mean you will be shaking your bonbon more often as well?
“howard? HOWARD! jesus! it’s like ... like ... like you just don’t care.”
it works everywhere!!! like on your wedding day…
minister: “do you take this woman to be lawful wedded wife?”
you: “I do!!” (while waving your hands in the air like you just don’t care!)
You can probably get away with that, professionally speaking, if you shake your moneymaker at the same time.
The one man (if you can call him that) I can think of who frequently waved his hands in the air in non-dance floor related situations was Grover on Sesame Street. Grover worked his arms like a madman whenever he had the chance, and where did that get him? Nowhere! His trademark move was, however, stolen by Kermit who used it with great success introducing acts on the Muppet Show. A five-picture deal for the little green copycat and relationship with the hottest pig in town followed soon after. Grover, on the other hand, continues to labor in obscurity on public television.
The moral of this story: If you plan to start keeping it real on and off the dance floor, make sure a frog doesn’t steal your thunder.
i wave my hands in the air quite regularly, as a matter of fact, in both of my jobs. neither scenario has to do with apathy or carefree-ness.
in teaching, the hands-in-the-air factor is a sure sign that somebody hasn’t understood something and that must be remedied by an act of severe gesticulation.
in conducting, well, it just sort of has to be that way. (try getting sopranos to follow your rhythm without waving madly. basses can just about do it. sopranos ... my arms have never been more mandatory or expressive.)
but i can see how in marketing it might be looked at askance ...
What do you make of the alternate calls to action? I hope these don’t come up at the workplace.
To wit:
‘Wave your hands in the air - I wanna see your armpit hair’ spearhead
‘Put a tree in your butt...put me in your butt’ eddie murphy
‘Somebody, anybody, everybody SCREAM!’ too numerous to mention
just so long as you don’t shake it like a poloroid picture, i’m totally ok with this.
What does it look like to wave your hands in the air like you really DO care?
oh hell, ten points for greg and ten points for grover (who, by the way, is worlds funkier than than that annoying elmo thing).
Less aggressive/concise, but apples to my workplace: I feel like dancing on my own, where no one knows me and where I can cause offense just by the way I lo-ok (B&S;)
this image was my screensaver for quite a while. Now I’m sticking with putting my feet right down like I own the town. Less fabulous, but I get better results.
maybe grover did not want the hype but is a true artist dedicated to do his thing
Try to get Kermit and you’ll get something pithy and relevant. Or just find out which Muppet you are.
I suppose shaking your tailfeather would not be appropriate at one of these meetings.
However, how many times have you put your hands on your hip and let your backbone slip?
This made me cry. CRY!