In film making after a dramatic scene ends, the director or producer will say ‘aaand scene’ and closes the film clap board and the actors go back to their regular mood. Thats exactly what goes on in my group of friends. In this group there are 5 of us including my older sister, we try to keep the friendship as safe place and I feel good in my own skin when Im with them. We’ve all known each other for more than 6 years, and some of us work together, so we know when someone is serious or just need a laugh. So when we use the phrase “aaaaand scene” it’s because we know the person need to chill and needs a laugh. This word has become so familiar to us that we don’t even recognize we are saying it,  using this phrase has become a habit between us. In the group , that phrase is so normalized that we don’t even call jinx when we say it at the same time. 

          It all started because of a meme, about 4 years ago. It was a picture of a man in a suit taking a bow with the caption “aaand scene” and my sister shared the meme with me on instagram. In the text she said “you; when you are done having a bad attitude” and I found it funny because of  how relatable it was, due to the fact that I’m known to be the dramatic one in the family and being loud all the time. After that, my sisters and I used ‘aaand scene’ after one of us is done  having a breakdown, or come home ranting about a small inconvenience at work. And at some point I got so used to using the phrase that I brought it to my friend group by accident. One day at work, one of my friends was giving a speech about why the guys at work shouldnt be allowed to use the girls locker room bathroom, and for some reason she was very passionate about her argument, to the point that it got a bit intense, she was using a lot of hand gestures. When she was done ranting about it, I said ‘and scene’, I said it in a low voice thinking that no one was going to hear me say it, but they all heard it and laughed. I knew she was serious about the situation but she was getting to worked up about it and I felt like she needed to breathe, so I broke the awkwardness with that phrase. Now still to this day, when one of us is having like a mini episode or when we are on our period and a bit moody we used “and scene”. Sometimes we even use our hands to clap them and pretend like we just closed the film clap board. Our definition for this phrase is basically when one of us is being over dramatic and/ or causing a scene. And sometimes we say it to ourselves when we feel we are being over dramatic or yelling a lot. 

           We also used this phrase to lighten up the mood sometimes or make someone smile. During the summer I was the designated driver for the group. We were headed to the beach and some guy stole our parking space that we’ve been waiting 10 mins for and I just didn’t think it was fair that we waited for the space and some random guy just comes out of nowhere and parks there. So I started cussing the driver and yelling at him about how I was going to hit his car and probably pop his tires. But after a while we realized it wasn’t worth dealing with him , we decided to leave and find another parking spot, and my friend from the back seat yelled “aaaaaaaaaaaand scene”. And I grew a smile on my face because I knew that  my yelling at the driver was really unnecessary and I caused a scene in front of a whole bunch of people. So that day we just kept laughing the whole time about how my anger gets the best of me sometimes and that my outburst was an Oscar worthy scene. Looking back at this event, they made me feel better about my embarrassment and they made me feel comfortable again after the awkwardness that I made. And how that phrase ‘aaaand scene; could change a whole person’s mood, from yelling at a person and threatening his car to laughing in the car with the best people in the world looking for another parking space. 

        The day I realized that “aaaaand scene” was just between me and few people was when I was waiting in line for an iced coffee and a lady in line was talking to someone on the phone of why biden wasn’t going to be a good president and etc, so when the cashier called her she ended the call  and I wanted to say it out loud but I realized I couldn’t because no one was going to understand. And I really wished one of my friend was there to witness this lady’s loud argument so we could have a laugh later. But later we later text each others stories about how someone caused a sense in the train or how our manager  are acting fake when the CEO walks in. We also use ‘aaaand scene’ in text with each other, when we are giving out our opinions and we get defensive about it and we just send a gif of someone taking a bow. Which is basically just mocking each other about how dramatic we are with little things. 

          I like that we share this phrase because it makes us feel more comfortable with each other and it makes us feel special being part of a group that has developed this slang work and using it on a daily basis. When you think about it a random common word or phrase could hold so many memories and events. The phrase ‘aaaand scene’ actually bonded us closer because it allowed us to show our ugly side and not feeling bad or embarrassed about showing it or exposing it, we will just laugh about it later when we are back to our regular mood.