The Concert

Last night we went to a concert. I haven’t been to a concert in over 20 years, but I know that they haven’t changed that much. I knew that it would still be too loud for me, but I had to go as this was a Christmas present. So I brought my cotton balls for my ears, thinking that it would muffle the loud music. Well it did to a point, then the music got really loud and I could hear it, no, feel it inside my body beating away. You know that feeling when you are driving and pull up next to a teen-agers car with their boom box of a radio blasting through the air and you just hear the bass of the drums and you can feel it moving your vehicle. Well I felt like that, only I couldn’t drive away! I was stuck there!

I did enjoy parts of the concert, I did like who was performing and I liked her music. I think that I am too old; or rather to smart to want to go to concerts and ruin what hearing I have left. As it is, when my hubby or children talk to me, my pat answer is “Huh?” And I wonder where my kids get that from.

Now I am not advocating not going to concerts. There are some really good singers and groups I would love to see, but not at the expense of my hearing. I would love them to tone down the sound, or make it softer. Then you could really hear them sing and enjoy the music so much better. But on the other hand, I wonder if some of these groups and singers play their music too loud because they can’t sing and if we really heard them, we wouldn’t buy their CD’s.

Day Six

I was going to write about the older man I saw flipping someone the bird out of his van window because they were either to slow or didn’t put on their turn signal on. I was going to say something about what kind of example are we setting for our children when we do things like this and then ask what is wrong with the youth today. And these same people say that the kids have no respect for their elders and they should all be institutionalized.

But then I went to a winter concert at my son’s school. As I walked into the gymnasium, it took me back to my youth. There were metal folding chairs put out for all the parents and family to sit on, plus they had some bleachers against the wall. My son told me where he was sitting in the band, so I tried to sit on that side of the room to see him. The crowd for the most part was attentive, there were a few cell phones ringing and once in a while you can see the glow of someone texting on their cell phone. (The man sitting next to me!). The event turned out to be very nice, the band played, the choir sang and did a play and a young boy played solo on the piano. I truly enjoyed myself.

It made me think that we can not cut the arts out of our schools. Our children need to know about music, drawing, theatre and, if I may be so bold, cooking and sewing. In my opinion music teaches musicality and rhythm, drawing teaches about the movement of your hands (fluidity) and theatre teaches the ability to speak in public. I believe that the later two fall under the heading of good nutrition and taking care of oneself. All of these are needed.