Get

Yesterday I spoke of seeing a live comedy show. At the theater where the show was held, one spends a lot of time waiting in line before getting in to whichever show. Much of the enjoyment of going, in fact, is derived from chatting with old friends and making new ones in the interminable period of being in that line. It starts in front of the theater, and snakes down the block. You can figure what your prospects of getting in on a standby ticket are by what business the line stretches to.

Every so often, someone will come around and check names, issue hand stamps, or just tell you to clear the sidewalk. The theater, in the interest of being a good neighbor, tries to ensure that their line does not inconvenience passersby or people seeing to patronize one of the aforementioned businesses. It reminds me of a thing in football. Each football team has a whole array of coaches, most of whom have many duties during the game as well as between games, except for one.

That one coach is the strength and conditioning coach, who sees to the physical fitness of players. His job is done by game time, and so he has a new duty unrelated to his main job. He is called the "get back" coach. His job during the game is to make sure players, coaches and other personnel stay off the field, which is hard. It's natural for everyone to gradually, imperceptibly creep closer to the action until they are on the field. He's called the "get back" coach because he incessantly shouts, "Get back!"

That's what I think of when the theater employee comes around haranguing everyone about getting closer to the curb so that the bulk of the sidewalk is clear for people to walk by. It's surely a terrible, Sisyphean job that I would not want, and though I bristle at their direction, I make a good faith effort to comply. The whole thing is part of the experience, and our esprit de corps as a line would suffer in its absence.