Everything Except

Last week - or was it earlier this week - I blogged about a phrase which should be taken from us so that we may never abuse it again.

This week's target isn't a particular phrase, but more of a response. I came across it today and just couldn't help myself. I'd heard it for the millionth time, and I can't hold my tongue.

People, my people, it's time to disband "I listen to everything."

I know it's going to be hard, but it's just got to stop. Because there's more to it than just that response, and you know it. You say it because you don't want to be pigeonholed, and that's not a necessarily ignoble thing to do. I do it, too. I don't like to be pigeonholed, so I answer the "politics" question in a similarly disengenuous manner. "I'm sort of liberal, but I don't really like the Democrats" is the gist of what I usually say to that sort of question, and I die inside a little bit every time I use it.

But what I'm talking about is far more common and unnerving. Admit it. You know it's true.

If asked, "What kind of music do you like?" the response is always, "everything. I listen to everything."

Nope.

Just under the flesh is the admittance of barriers, so the statement "I listen to everything" becomes moot. Almost every single time I've asked that question, I've gotten basically the same answer.

"I listen to everything...EXCEPT ________."

Fill in the blank.

Most often, it's country. "I listen to everything...EXCEPT country." As if country is somehow beneath taste. And most people even say it as if country isn't music at all, but more of a disease that they (you) have quarantined in their (your) cultural lives. Like, "I lived with a guy who had country once, but he didn't get any of it one me." Well, that actually sounds about right, if you really think about it.

But it's not limited to country, or even to one type of music. That is what is so damn frustrating about the whole business. "I listen to everything, except ________ and __________."

Most often, it is a combination of rap and country, but there are variations. Rock itself is rarely mentioned, though "the loud, screaming music" is entirely feasible in this scenario.

Do you get what I'm saying? It's ridiculous. Just say, "I listen to rock music. That seems to cover a lot of ground these days. Pop music, oftentimes, is intertwined with the rock line, so you're even safe there."

"What kind of rock do you listen to?"

Hmmm...Actually, maybe you guys are right on this one.

Nah. Just stop saying it.