Sometimes I get a little bored playing the same old stuff over and over. Well, that all changed on Thursday, December 20. I had a great experience playing music for an eighteenth birthday party.
Yes, they were eighteen-years-old. Yes, they were fun and outgoing. No, they did not listen to rap music!
You have to understand that I grew up to John Cougar (now Mellencamp), Van Halen and WHAM. The closest we had to rap until the end of my Senior year in high school was Rick James or (worse yet) Michael Jackson. Now, the airwaves are filled with T-Pain, Soulja Boy Tellem, Flo Rida and more. As long as they spell improperly, they are popular (I think I will go by “Scaw TT” for now on). The point is…I don’t get the new stuff very often…and why does everyone go around slapping themselves in the “booty” and refer to themselves in ways that must make the ACLU salivate? Okay…okay…enough with that.
Well, maybe just a little more. What is a shawty? According to the Urban Dictionary:
Shawty originated from Atlanta. It’s the south’s version of the word Shorty. It is used as a greeting, farewell, or in the place of peoples names or pronouns(he,she,his,her).
- Wassup Shawty
- Shawty trippin
- Did you get shawty’s number
- Aight then shawty
I’m not even going to get started with “wassup” and “aight”…
Anyway, this group’s musical tastes leaned more toward techno (club) music as well as alternative rock music. The thing about the club genre is you have to like to dance if you like that type of music. It is made for dancing and dancing hard…and for the most part, these kids filled the part.
These eighteen-year-old young people (I can call them that!) were happy being themselves. Their clothing was not wacky or anything crazy, but it wasn’t conforming like most kids. They looked nice, but you could tell they didn’t call and ask each other what they were going to wear to the party…in fact, I don’t think any of them cared what anyone else was wearing.
Probably most impressive for teenagers, they didn’t shy away when the food was served. There were no statements of “Oh my goodness, I can’t eat that! Think of the calories!! I don’t want to be fat!!!” or “What is that anyway? I’m not eating that.” When the food was served, they ate and enjoyed each others company at the table.
When it was time to open presents, everyone became involved. You could tell that these were all good friends. Their gifts were thoughtful, funny and full of love. No one hung out in another room (You know…the ones sneaking the food they scoffed earlier) or talked incessantly so no one could enjoy themselves. They were friends…there was no doubt.
It was a unique evening. Luckily for me, I had my thirteen-year-old daughter with me. She was able to take in what real friends were like. No stress over clothes. No acting like you do not eat. Just friends getting together to celebrate.
I only hope my daughter (sort of a genius most of the time…but addicted to fashion and purses) was able to take something away from this event. Hopefully, she can create a loving, non-judgemental group of friends like she witnessed on this night.