Ben Sasse, the junior senator from Nebraska, is known for his rock-solid conservatism and his common touch with constituents. But he’s also a regular dad who sometimes can’t avoid participating in some of the parenting duties that we all tend to groan and complain about. Such was the case when Sasse attended his child’s piano recital on Tuesday. As anyone who’s ever attended one knows, those things can go on forever. Except for the brief few minutes when your child is playing, the rest of the recital is usually an exercise in patience (how many times can you listen to “Fur Elise” without losing your mind?) and fighting to stay awake. Sasse, with an assist from Twitter, fought the good fight and endured to the end.
It started out well enough—with a positive attitude from Sen. Sasse:
CAN YOU FEEL IT?!
It's piano recital night. Am so fired up (Hoping* to live-tweet it)*assuming wife doesn't notice typing under my program
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) December 20, 2016
Big show kicking off…
(Who knew you could spell "O, pain" from the letters in "piano"?)#RecitalHeaven— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) December 21, 2016
Who knew? Every parent who has ever attended a piano recital, that’s who.
We have one adult student (23 yrs) tonight. She claims heckling is prohibited regardless of student age. Does that seem wrong to you too?
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) December 21, 2016
No participation trophies either, I guess.
This is the part where the fifth iteration of “Fur Elise” begins to get old:
How to put this?
Let's just say it's great that most 5-yr-olds have 6-7 years left to become child prodigies.#Goals#PianoRecitalHeaven— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) December 21, 2016
Then utter despair begins to set in:
Why have I been forsaken?#PianoRecital
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) December 21, 2016
Thank goodness, Sasse’s brother-in-law saves the day:
Bro-in-law just stood up & yelled "Free Bird!"
(Am withholding commentary outta fear my wife will read this later…)#PianoRecitalHeaven
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) December 21, 2016
https://twitter.com/michaeloferwins/status/811390170972897280
(In case you’re wondering, here’s the history of why people yell “Play Freebird” at concerts, though strangely, the utter misery of piano recitals is not listed as a reason.)
We agree with this next one:
Some days you want to give up twitter, then you see a US Senator live tweeting his 5yo's piano recital and you remember the magic @BenSasse
— Brian Francis (@briandfrancis) December 21, 2016
The #PianoRecital has been going for 90 minutes.
I suspect only 4-ish hours left…
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) December 21, 2016
It feels that way when you’re in the middle of one, doesn’t it? Poor guy.
Guy just texted that he missed SupBowl3 b/c of a #PianoRecital
For the love of all that is good, who wld sched a recital during FOOTBALL?!
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) December 21, 2016
WHY WOULD SOMEONE DO THIS?!?!?!
Delerium setting in:
Update
a few notes from the kids' #PianoRecital
C
D
B flat
F sharp— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) December 21, 2016
The #PianoRecital Establishment really upped their pyrotechnic game this year. Impressive stuff…
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) December 21, 2016
If you aren't following the #PianoRecital being live tweeted by @BenSasse pic.twitter.com/C5SC9CxBie
— Bailey La Sage (@B_ails) December 21, 2016
If only. Then they’d be bearable.
One kid just (accidentally) sang 62% of the song as he played. #PianoRecitalForever
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) December 21, 2016
That. Is. Awesome.
Sadly. There will be no video. America mourns.
I like where your head's at, but…
wife has an #EagleEye and I've "been warned" https://t.co/ZDXgMbdClo— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) December 21, 2016
But uh oh…
(can't talk now. kinda in the doghouse.) https://t.co/YiRxEXVdEd
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) December 21, 2016
(71% probability it will survive the #PianoRecital #fallout… Pray.) https://t.co/1WTKrfYmXE
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) December 21, 2016
You know what you need to do, America!
Fortunately, looks like Sasse (and his tweets) survived:
El fin.#PianoRecital https://t.co/0YtgwuGq6O
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) December 21, 2016
Thanks for sharing, Sen. Sasse!
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