Status Symbol

I'm at the Green Day concert right now and am a little overwhelmed. (Clarification: when writing this there was still a solid half hour before the opening act came on. It would be pretty lame if I was writing this "during" the concert. Just finding a way to kill the time. My wife is playing a video game to pass the time.) I was in my early teens back when they were in their prime. Now that I'm nearly 30 I expected a crowd a little more my age. Boy was I wrong. A couple years ago they released American Idiot an it was a huge success, but I had no idea that it drew so much of the younger crowd. We walked into the Civic Arena and very quickly realize that we have a good 10-15 years on about 80% of the crowd. "Yea, like John Travolta before them, they are experiencing a second revival." And with that revival Green Day has drawn a whole knew fan base of 14-15 year olds.

Now I suppose it might seam childish to think this way, but when in situations like this I feel they need to find a way to distinguish myself from the voice cracking, pimple encrusted teeniboppers. I think it stems from the fact that even into my late twenties I've always looked young for my age. Until I was about 25 most strangers would guess my age to be 16. Then the hair started going (the only good thing to a receding hair line). Never the less, I feel the need to stand out so as to say "I'm not like all of you", and in situations like this nothing does a better job than booze.

It's fun to flaunt booze. You're around a bunch if 15 year olds smoking the pack of cigarettes they stole from Jimmy's mom, and they think they are the fuck'n shit. That is until you walk by with a nice cold brew in your hand, and they stare in envious awe. It feels good and you shouldn't be ashamed of it. So tonight I plan on pounding back a few more, and they're gonna be extra enjoyable because I know there are several dozen pairs of eyes on me and my wife that wish they could be like us. It's a status symbol, and why not enjoy it.

Here's to Booze! Cheers!