lousy tear ducts...

I've gotten teary-eyed twice in the last few hours. First from watching Kristin Chenoweth and Idina Menzel's performance of Defying Gravity during the 2004 Tony Awards and second, after reading an article about Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center's revolutionary plan to protect its low wage earners from layoffs.

I knew I was going to have difficulty from the beginning when Glinda tells Elphaba, "Don't be afraid." And Elphaba replies with a voice trembling from newfound courage, "I'm not. It's the wizard who should be afraid... of me." It almost looks like Idina is about to cry herself. Damn. Then I really lost it when Elphaba flies above the stage, looking down at the throng who've misunderstood all her good intentions (hey wait a minute...) and maligned her... Damn. Damn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejGLmx7ZH0c

Meanwhile, on a more realistic plane... so the president and ceo of Beth Israel has come up with a new plan to save low wage earners from the fate of so many other workers today. Making rounds of the hospital, he noticed that it was the people bringing food to the patients and pushing their wheelchairs that were really in effect practicing a type of medicine that all the prescribed drugs couldn't achieve. They were talking to the patients and offering them some comfort and humanity. In a meeting with hospital staff, he broached the idea that in order to protect these people (mostly immigrants), those earning more would have to make some sacrifices. He had hardly finished his sentence when his audience, the hospital staff who would have to forego bonuses and take pay cuts, began applauding his idea. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/03/12/a_head_with_a_heart/

I don't know. I think I can keep my emotions fairly under control but I do get teary-eyed over random things. A friend likes telling the story about how I yawned pretty much through a sentimental weepy love movie but started crying during a computer-geek thriller when the main character confronts the evil IT mogul, declaring that "knowledge belongs to the world." I don't want to name the movies specifically. That would just further implicate me in my dorkhood.