Chances Are

When I was pregnant with C I suggested we name him Chance after the protagonist in the book Being There (it's Peter Sellers if you've seen the movie). Remember how he's hit by a car and when they ask his name he answers that he's Chance the gardner and they call him Chauncey Gardiner and elevate him to high rank and status? Everyone thinks he's being profound when he talks about the garden or ruminates on things he's seen on TV. Kind of a Clark Rockefeller circa 1970. If we'd have used the name we would presently have a five year old named Chance Gartner, about as close as Chance Gardiner as you can get. Ken vetoed it and I acquiesced, figuring not that many people would have gotten the joke and I'd have to expend a lot of energy explaining it. Chance is such a prep school name anyway, which was sort of the point in the book, but what are the chances any of my four kids will be going to prep school? So I suppose it's all for the best that we didn't go with that.

song: Chances Are • artist: Johnny Mathis