Life is wasted on youth

When I was in high school I had to do a project for my Sociology class. In that class I was asked to sift through a magazine and count how many pages had ads on them. Of the some 200+ pages in the magazine 96% of them had ads, and then my teacher asked me to find out how many ads were catered to someone over the age of 30. I couldn't find any. This was a lesson that was easily forgotten once the assignment passed, but I found myself thinking about it a lot last night.

See, when I turned 21, I didn't go out drinking and partying it up all night. I didn't have any of the fun "21st birthday!" paraphernalia that you get from Party Depot, and I didn't do the 21 shots on your 21st birthday thing (thank god because that much alcohol is just stupid!) and so my 21st birthday kind of set the mood for my early 20s. See on my 21st birthday my family threw me a small party in my house, Coldstone screwed up my ice cream cake, and my aunts uncles and cousins forgot birthday cards, except my youngest cousin who was sweet enough to draw me one on her way to my house.  I then sat in my living room after having the messed up cake with family, playing Spyro the Dragon on my PS2 with my little cousins (who are now not so little anymore)

My 21st birthday was kind of a lot like a quiet 15th birthday. Not the big blow out that is expected for the big Two One. When I was younger I never went out drinking, I didn't go to bars or clubs or dancing. I didn't bother with it. I was the stay in and be safe, and quiet, and read, sort of girl. But lately I've found myself venturing out a bit more. The last couple weekends in particular. And I'm finding that going out into the world on the weekend is fun and entertaining! Hey, I'm hitting the club scene a little late but that's fine right?

So, last night...

I was at this club called Raindrops, it's out at the Spirit Mountain Casino, and frankly I think it was a good club if only for the music they played. A big complaint I've had lately is that every dance club I find only plays this top 40 crap. It's the same songs every weekend and they happen to be the same songs that are overplayed on the radio, and for the most part they suck. But this club? This club plays some of that, with classics mixed in. I was able to dance to Queen, and Def Leopard, Thin Lizzy, Blondie, Twisted Sister, and many more. They played a lot of good music, which I enjoyed.

But as I was sitting on the sofa we had stolen from another group (mainly because Kurt did a good job of making a guy uncomfortable enough to move) and I was waiting for the alcohol to kick in and make me intoxicated enough to be willing to dance on the floor with the other people who were already well deep into the liberation's, I realized the crowd at this particular bar. Not all that different from a regular bar really. I could break it down into 3 categories:

Category #1: Recapturing our youth Oh I'm sure you know these types. They are women pushing 50, but wearing clothes they bought at the 20 and under stores, trying to show cleavage they started dropping almost 15 years ago, their faces are showing the lines of wrinkles that years of stress over kids and smoking have caused, and they shake their hips back and forth while they grab the bottoms of their shirts pulling them up just slightly like they saw in that one White Snake Video back in the day. Men who are sporting West Coast Chopper shirts because it makes them look "bad ass," voices raspy with all the rock music they sang out in their garages in their youth, they still put gel in their hair to look like "The Boss" and their abs have disappeared under the beer-baby they've been incubating since high school. They pulse out their dance moves while cruising up to the hot young 20 something girl, like she's interested in him. These adults are probably trying to get back out on the market after a divorce, or maybe their kids are all moved out and they want to find out how to have fun again. But either way, this particular bar crowd can be both entertaining and disturbing. (Disturbing when they're dancing up on the people young enough to be their kids that is)

Category #2: We do this every weekend These people don't have the heart yet to assign themselves a seat in the local honky tonk bar, where the only real sounds are the juke box and the billiards tables, so they still come to the clubs. But they usually come alone. They never order anything that comes in a high ball glass, with colors, shots, or a piece of fruit on the rim. They are strictly beer drinkers, or perhaps they're sophisticated enough to drink something hard on the rocks. You can usually spot them nursing a bottle at the bar, or leaning against a wall. They don't take up tables because they don't share them with anyone. They never dance, they just people watch, and they almost never smile. It is only a matter of time before these particular creatures do find themselves claiming the well seat at a quieter place, some place they could order a steak if they wanted too, and stare down the cleavage of the bartender who pretends that he's such a sweet old man. Women are not exempt from this category, they are not as common, but when they do show up here they usually make several comments about what terrible things men are and then laugh about it with the other men at the bar.

Category #3: We are the champions of the world Ah yes, youth. Those sweet child-like beings. I don't need to describe them for you, because I'm sure you're all familiar with them, but I will just because I think for the most part they are lumped into the same cliches quite well. They are girls who are wearing short dresses and tall boots, their hair is either flat ironed or curled and packed with enough styling products that it wont budge on the dance floor. They all have small purses because they don't have lives to put into them yet, and they keep these tiny bags attached to their shoulders while they dance, because it is part of the outfit, not because there is anything worth stealing from them. They hold their arms up in the air when they dance, and they say "Woo!" after every shot they take. They only order shots on occasion, and then it is usually a round for their whole group. Mostly they drink things with fun names, Sex on the beach, I kissed a girl, apple-tini, and they never drink beer because it is "gross." No, they prefer colors in their drinks, which is why every bottle behind the bar is a sparkling shade of blue, red, purple, green, yellow or glass clear, which mixes well with the other colors. The later the night gets the more they start to touch themselves while dancing, and they almost always only dance with the other girls. Like a pack of lionesses, they wont let the males into their huddle. And they ALL go up on the dance floor if a girl power song comes on. The men for the most part can't dance. Most of them put their fists up at shoulder level and shake them back and forth like a mild seizure. They usually carry their beers up on the dance floor with them if they can, and they hardly ever order a drink with color because it seems too girly, even if it would lay them flat with its alcohol content. They often use their mobile phones to snap pictures of the girls who suddenly all think they're victoria's secret models on the dance floor. And the men don't ever dance with each other, unless they happen to be gay, but these men dance better in the first place.

If I were to break these categories into percentages I would say that 2% of the people in a bar are from category 2, 15% are from category 1, and all the rest are in the third category. Why? Because when you are young it is okay to spend $100 on drinks in a night. Because you still own club clothes at this age. Because you don't have kids, or a mortgage or responsibilities to adhere too. Just like the ads in the magazine, the bar scene is catered to youth. They have the whole world laid out before them, and they don't even know it. They have no idea how fantastic they look, or how amazing it is to cut loose and feel free on the weekend. I only have a few years left before I don't feel it is a very appropriate scene for me anymore. I don't want to be in either of the other two categories. When I'm pushing 50 I'll be writing, or reading or hiking on the weekends, but I wont be thrashing on the dance floor.

I'll probably be sitting in a hot tub, drinking wine, and thinking about all the things life has brought me up to that point. I wish that youth could truly understand what they have and really appreciate it for what it is. And realize that is why the 50 somethings come back to the bar. They are looking for that magic that they lost somehow, and they know no other way to get it back.

Lucky for me I hold all the secrets. I always know where to find the magic of youth.... my very own fountain.