Movie Quote Day: Not exactly a cure to summer boredom

I have been looking forward to this week all summer. Working two jobs and taking one class ended up being more exhausting than I had planned on. So at the beginning of May I decided that I would take a week off of work whether I needed it or not. That week has finally arrived. My only plan for the week is to not work—everything else is up in the air. I would also like to experience the sensation of being bored. Bored at home, that is. Being bored at work is absolutely no fun at all.

Yesterday was the Carter family's first annual Movie Quote Day. Anyone who has been around my family should know that we spend a significant portion of our conversations quoting movies. My brother-in-law Jeremy has said that we remind him of the family in While You Were Sleeping, particularly during the dinner conversation that includes topics such as John Wayne and mashed potatoes. We often find ourselves participating in several conversations around the table simultaneously, with Tyrel trying to contribute by saying completely random and nonsensical things that make sense only in his brain. Included in the chaos are random movie quotes that have to be followed up with their respective responses. (For example, whenever anyone says "You're dead!" someone else must say, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry" and then someone else must immediately thereafter say, "Grandma!" I don't even remember what this quote is from, and I'm pretty sure it's out of order, but we have a tendency of taking movie quotes and making them our own. Let me assure you, our interpretations are much more awesome.)

We have even taken to quoting ourselves. When me and Kimberly came home last year for the summer, we decided to keep up one of our college traditions—the quote board. My siblings loved the idea, and our quote board has its own place of honor next to the thermostat in the hallway. While it hasn't come close to catching all of our funny moments, we're quite proud of it. Tyrel's dearest ambition is to have his name on there more than anyone else.

A few years ago, while driving home from dinner or a family outing of some sort, my dad challenged us to speak without using any movie quotes the entire drive home. Suddenly the drive from Provo to Elk Ridge seemed really long. I believe we made it about 8 minutes, and most of that time was spent in silence. Quoting movies is ingrained into our very natures and it would take years and years to get the habit out of our systems.

We often joked about having a day set aside for speaking entirely in movie quotes. Finally, one day about a month ago, I said something to the effect of, "I hereby pronounce June 21 to be Movie Quote Day." Unfortunately, Tyrel heard me, and he has been looking forward to it ever since. So we decided to just go along with it and see what the day would bring.

The day before June 21 (which, ironically, was the longest day of the year), we got together and came up with some rules for the next day. The rules were simple:
1. Everyone must speak only in movie quotes or commonly quoted family sayings. The quotes must keep their original inflection.
2. Everyone was allotted one hour of "freedom of speech." This meant that while everyone else had to speak in quotes, one person was allowed to say whatever he or she wished.

We kicked off our Movie Quote Day at two hours before 2:29. ("Two hours before 2:29" is one of the earliest quoted Carter memories.) I was the first one granted the hour of freedom of speech. I enjoyed the hour quite a bit. I loved asking my siblings questions and watching them struggle to come up with a pre-formulated answer. My favorite part of the day was when I asked Shannan a question and she just looked at me, opening and closing her mouth. I then proceeded to say, "Speechless in my presence."

The next 3 hours weren't quite as fun, and that wasn't just because I was relinquished of my freedom of speech. Quoting movies on demand was quite difficult, and we found that we often had to be silent rather than say what was on our minds. Even Tyrel got tired of quoting Bill Cosby constantly.

So, the fun was short-lived, and what was supposed to be a fun game ended up greatly contributing to our boredom. We should have guessed from Tyrel's efforts to land himself on the quote board that planned spontaneity is really no fun at all. But it was worth a try, and now we can say that we did it. Sadly, I must announce that our first annual Movie Quote Day will probably be its last.