Yearlong Song Challenge, Day 174: Allison

Prompt: "A song that you know for sure makes someone else think of you when they hear it"

Selected by Allison

"Scrooge"

The Muppet Cast

The Muppet Christmas Carol: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, 1992

During my first Christmas as a retail manager, I listened to this song after every shift on my walk from the store to the subway. I would leave work (likely an hour or two later than planned) with an aching back and a heavy heart—the grumpiest girl in Center City. I'd step onto the sidewalk, sneering at the hordes of holiday shoppers. Bah, humbug. My collar turned up against the cold; I'd brush past the people on the street with this song blasting in my ears. I put myself in Scrooge's shoes and imagined the absurdity of a bunch of puppets singing about what an asshole I was. By the time I got to "no cheeses for us meeces," I was marginally happier. It's hard to stay mad when there are Muppets. Lighten up, for fucks' sake, it's Christmas. The stakes were higher career-wise during my second Christmas as a retail manager, but I had softened considerably. I made a point to play this song at least once a shift in our little office to remind my rag-tag crew of order pickers that we could lean into the silly, have a little fun, and still get the job done. I hope they think of me when they hear this song, not as their miserly boss, but as a warm, fuzzy, occasionally cringy goof who got them through the holidays.