the party line
How would you feel if I asked you to sing at someone? No, not for money. No, you don’t get to choose the tune. Yes, it will be uncomfortable for them, you, and everyone involved. I’m not a social scientist, but I do have a clipboard and a hunch that most people wouldn’t respond enthusiastically if asked that question. And yet, every birthday, that’s what we do. Friends, family, colleagues we barely know – even strangers in public! – inspire this bizarre behaviour.
It only takes one singer to get a crowd going, and even if that person is the only one invested, we all respond like Pavlov’s dogs. A dusty switch inside our brain flicks on, our eyes go black and the
