What Love Is
When my brother and I were little, we used to watch Snoopy, Come Home all the time. It was his favorite movie and I loved whatever he loved, because he’s my baby brother.
(By the way, I still know all the songs to this movie and if you bribe me with candy or shiny objects, I’ll sing them for you.)
So there was one scene in the movie that I never really got as a kid. I think it’s one of those things that happens in a children’s movie that means nothing to the kids watching it, but might have great insight and poignance to the adults who wrote the movie. I’ve never forgotten it, and periodically, it surfaces.
For some reason it surfaced this weekend. This is how it goes:
Peppermint Patty: What do you think love is, Chuck?
Charlie Brown: Well years ago my dad owned a black 1934 two-door sedan.
Peppermint Patty: What's that got to do with love?
Charlie Brown: Well, this is what he told me. There was this real cute girl, see. She used to go for rides with him in his car. And whenever he'd call for her, he would always hold open the car door for her. After she got in, and he had closed the door, he would walk around the back of the car to the driver's side. But before he could get there, she would reach over and press the button, locking him out. Then she'd just sit there and wrinkle her nose and grin at him. That's what I think love is.
There is a simple sweetness to this. I am still not sure I fully get the message, but something about it resonates with me and I like it. And maybe that’s why I’ve never forgotten it.
(By the way, I still know all the songs to this movie and if you bribe me with candy or shiny objects, I’ll sing them for you.)
So there was one scene in the movie that I never really got as a kid. I think it’s one of those things that happens in a children’s movie that means nothing to the kids watching it, but might have great insight and poignance to the adults who wrote the movie. I’ve never forgotten it, and periodically, it surfaces.
For some reason it surfaced this weekend. This is how it goes:
Peppermint Patty: What do you think love is, Chuck?
Charlie Brown: Well years ago my dad owned a black 1934 two-door sedan.
Peppermint Patty: What's that got to do with love?
Charlie Brown: Well, this is what he told me. There was this real cute girl, see. She used to go for rides with him in his car. And whenever he'd call for her, he would always hold open the car door for her. After she got in, and he had closed the door, he would walk around the back of the car to the driver's side. But before he could get there, she would reach over and press the button, locking him out. Then she'd just sit there and wrinkle her nose and grin at him. That's what I think love is.
There is a simple sweetness to this. I am still not sure I fully get the message, but something about it resonates with me and I like it. And maybe that’s why I’ve never forgotten it.
posted by Follow the Frog at 10:09 AM
3 Comments:
My boyfriend always says that electric locks ruined romance for him, because if he unlocked a girl's car door and walked around, and she had already leaned over and unlocked his door by the time he got there, she was the girl for him.
Yeah...it's the simpleness that really catchs the heart.
I remember that Charlie Brown. He said alot of things that are particulary sweet it seems to me (especially when he talks about the 'little red-headed girl'.)
Thanks for stopping by my blog...I've bookmarked yours!
My boyfriend's truck doesn't have automatic locks. He always unlocks my door first and I try to unlock his before he gets there. It's the little things that matter.
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