Drum Lesson

I was supposed to have a drum lesson. When it came my turn to play, there were no drums and I couldn't reach the sticks I saw on the other side of the room, so I just banged my hands on my knees and spoke percussive sounds, trying to get a groove going that way. I could see by the expression on the face of the two teachers, men in their late twenties or thirties, that my tempo was dragging. I wasn't wearing a shirt and they commented that the muscular tension in my back would prevent me from playing well.