Gone for the weekend
or, "Am I Old?"
Baguio is always a welcome respite from the stress of city living. The cool air and overall laidback atmosphere there do wonders to rejuvenate anyone's tired mind, body and soul. (Of course, it's better if who you're with can provide that even if you're not in Baguio. But that's another story).
Over drinks at a local franchise of a Manila-based resto-bar, a friend and I watched as local kids slow-danced to songs by a showband performing onstage. It was a scene not unlike your average high school JS prom, and suddenly, I became very much aware of my age. Not that I thought of myself as old (although at that moment I certainly felt old-er), but I was a little surprised teenage kids still did that, danced cheek-to-cheek, guys-hands-on-girl's-waist, I mean. After a couple of slow ballads, the band naturally progressed to playing faster, more upbeat, disco-type music and eventually, almost everybody there stood up and made their way to the dance floor. Almost everybody, that is, except my friend and I.
Everytime I saw people dancing and singing along with the band, their hands raised up in the air, I had goosebumps; I'm not sure why. Did I think I was too old to even consider being in the middle of a throbbing mass of warm bodies shouting out the chorus to Nelly's "Hot in Herre" or Usher's "Yeah" for the umpteenth time? Or did I simply consider myself above the extremely juvenile activity of disco-dancing? Maybe I was thinking how totally baduy it was to be in a second-rate watering hole, dancing to the songs of a really bad showband, surrounded by kids who didn't know any better.
But now that I think about it, somehow (yet again) I manage to overanalyze a simple, uncomplicated situation. Those kids were just having a good time; it was a Saturday night, after all! Besides, it's not like I didn't go through that phase myself. Sitting there at the bar, I actually thought back to those days of Euphoria and Limits back in high school and college, and I just couldn't help but smile.
Baguio is always a welcome respite from the stress of city living. The cool air and overall laidback atmosphere there do wonders to rejuvenate anyone's tired mind, body and soul. (Of course, it's better if who you're with can provide that even if you're not in Baguio. But that's another story).
Over drinks at a local franchise of a Manila-based resto-bar, a friend and I watched as local kids slow-danced to songs by a showband performing onstage. It was a scene not unlike your average high school JS prom, and suddenly, I became very much aware of my age. Not that I thought of myself as old (although at that moment I certainly felt old-er), but I was a little surprised teenage kids still did that, danced cheek-to-cheek, guys-hands-on-girl's-waist, I mean. After a couple of slow ballads, the band naturally progressed to playing faster, more upbeat, disco-type music and eventually, almost everybody there stood up and made their way to the dance floor. Almost everybody, that is, except my friend and I.
Everytime I saw people dancing and singing along with the band, their hands raised up in the air, I had goosebumps; I'm not sure why. Did I think I was too old to even consider being in the middle of a throbbing mass of warm bodies shouting out the chorus to Nelly's "Hot in Herre" or Usher's "Yeah" for the umpteenth time? Or did I simply consider myself above the extremely juvenile activity of disco-dancing? Maybe I was thinking how totally baduy it was to be in a second-rate watering hole, dancing to the songs of a really bad showband, surrounded by kids who didn't know any better.
But now that I think about it, somehow (yet again) I manage to overanalyze a simple, uncomplicated situation. Those kids were just having a good time; it was a Saturday night, after all! Besides, it's not like I didn't go through that phase myself. Sitting there at the bar, I actually thought back to those days of Euphoria and Limits back in high school and college, and I just couldn't help but smile.
posted by peejay at 9/22/2005 11:55:00 AM
5 comments
