A Pondering on Aging

One of the things that has changed significantly about me over the past few years is my position in a crowd of people.

In my younger days, I was most comfortable being in the middle of the throngs of people. I was most content when I could bounce from circle to circle and talk to everyone at the party. If there was someone I didn't know, I would be best friends with them after a couple of shots and a beer. Rarely did I sit at the same table all night. Hell, rarely did I sit. I don't know that I would go so far as to say I was the life of the party...but I was sure living the party.

But the older I get, and perhaps this is jaded by years and years of drunken assmaking, I have found that I am less comfortable being in the middle. I much prefer sitting on the sidelines and watching the interactions. Watching people move from group to group. Watching one set of eyes cast around for another. Following the stories of individuals as they develop through the evening. The sociological study of the average American drunk is highly underrated.

Through this "new" observational status I have seen people do things they don't remember (or at least don't want to remember) in the morning. I have seen new relationships bloom. I have seen old relationships fall apart. I have seen sexuality identified for the first time. I have seen the desperate attempts to connect with someone, anyone, at 1:30am. I think I am beginning to see the world through the eyes of the bartender. And it is a fascinating world.

The other night we went to a show to watch some bands who were being promoted by a friend of ours. It was a typical bar...dark, poorly decorated, kind of dirty. As long as all you wanted to order was domestic beer they had anything you wanted to drink. But, evidently the news that the legal drinking age is 21 had not yet reached this bar. We were the oldest people in the bar by at least 15 years. And I'm not even 35 yet. It made for a fantastic evening of people watching.

However, at one point there were a couple of kids (and yes, I say kids because they were) who decided to do tequila shots. Now, don't get me wrong, I love a good tequila shot. I can lick and slurp and suck with the best of them. I've done more tequila shots in more ways than most people ever think of. Comes from living in California for a while. But these kids...damn.

They decided that the appropriate way to do the shot was to snort the salt, drink the shot, and then squeeze the lime in their eye. Yup. That's right.

I hate to think I'm getting to old to go to shows and party and have fun anymore. But THAT my dear reader, did not appear even remotely fun to me. In fact, it made my eyes water and my nose hurt for about 20 minutes afterwords and I just WATCHED!

I guess you have to be careful watching the crowd too. You never know what you're going to see. And some things will just be burned into your retinas forever.