Column: Singing in the Land of the Free

Jul. 18—The mangling of the "Star Spangled Banner" by Ingrid Andress at the MLB Home Run Derby quickly spread the social media world under the heading "worst ever."

My first thought was "bless her heart." It's been a recurring nightmare of mine that I get up to sing and the voice just won't do what I want it to do. Still, I persevere to the end of the song thinking it will get better, but it doesn't. When I'm finished I try to slink away, but I feel obligated to stay for the rest of the event all the time thinking folks are looking at me and shaking their heads in disgust.

Well, in the case of Ms. Andress, she tied to explain her disaster away by saying "I was drunk."

Have we come so far in this society that we'd rather be thought of as inebriated than a vocalist having a bad day.

Try that excuse the next time you're pulled over by a DPS trooper for a traffic violation. "Officer, I would have executed the stop at that signal had I not been totally bombed." You might turn a ticket into a trip to the holding cell.