It's a cloudy blue sunday morning. The masses are gathering in the tall sparan sanctuary in quiet reverence, some kneeling, some sitting with their heads politely bowed. In the back of the sanctuary a little girl sits by her father precociously, following every little nuance and gesture he makes. I walk in quetly, following a line of elderly people and my new friend, the other bass. The choir heads up to it's loft and takes their places and prepares for the worship service.
The general murmur that has crescendoed now dies back away as an austere man walks in slowly wearing a thick white robe and a heavy purple stole, followed by a succesion of elderly gentlemen looking like knights--with feathered plums in their hats and long floing glossy capes. I know that this exotic service is going to be an interesting one.
Most undercover reporters write about the time the spend embedded in a street gang in Los Angeles, or a Mental Hospital, or the the republican part in Washington D.C. I'm not that brave. Instead I chose a subject just as foriegn to me as the chicano gangs of LA: Catholics.
I was walking through the hallway of the music building and saw several fliers about a substitute bass/baritone needed "POSITION PAYS!" with no previous experiance neccessary. I call the number, because there has to be a catch. Getting paid to sing? The only thing easier is getting paid to screw. And singing has a little bit more dignity. Still, it seemed a perfect but I wanted to know more about it before I agreed. As I told Jennifer "the only thing that would make it a bit harder is if it's a catholic or a baptist church." So I call the guy, and everything seems to be in order.
"So what kind of a church is it?"
"It's Catholic."
"Of Course it is."
"What?"
"nevermind."
It didn't matter, because he wanted to pay me $50 for the rehearsal and $50 for the service. If someone wants to pay me a hundred dollars for four hours work, I don't even care what language it's in, let alone what denomination. Unfortunately as I found out Thursday night I spoke too soon.