'Ramones'

I recently visited a Whataburger near my work. Right when I walked in, I noticed a woman in the Whataburger gear with Down's Syndrome.

I ended up noticing this woman during my entire visit. For nearly 25 minutes straight, she was cleaning tables, floors, clearing out trash and trays, and emptying trash cans. Busy. The entire time. It made me sad that she was entirely more efficient and a better employee than anyone that I knew. All of whom do not have Down's Syndrome.

When I was a kid -- like eight or nine -- the local grocery store had guys that would push your cart of grocery's to your car and load the bags into your trunk or bed of your truck.

There was this one guy who always ended up carrying our bags out. I don't remember his name, but I do remember he was relatively good looking, in his mid-20s and extremely nice. However, he was relatively good looking, in his mid-20s, extremely nice and working as a bag boy at a grocery store.

Later I would learn that this young man was mentally handicapped. Thus the job and his pleasant demeanor.

My point? The Ramones are the retarded people of rock music.

Don't let them do too much (say, three chords and carrying groceries or wiping tables), but don't expect visions from the Algonquin roundtable.

The Ramones were sophisticated and even at their most basic, the Beatles or Colplay were 100 times the band that the punks from Queens, New York were.

But they were efficient. They did just as good at two minutes than Yes or Dream Theater do in 10. Most bands would dream of keeping it real like the Ramones did for two decades.

Employers would dream of having a dozen Down's Syndrome girls from Whataburger or retarded guys from grocery stores.