Getting old
WHOEVER said it’s hip to be square must have had a beard. No, this isn’t a 300-word discussion on the merits and pitfalls of beards (they’re great, case closed). Rather, I can’t imagine anybody too young to cultivate a decent amount of facial topiary coining the phrase or believing it with any conviction. See, I’ve finally realised I’m not down with the kids - and I couldn’t be more happy with it. Me and my friend Alex went to see another friend’s band play their farewell show a few weeks back. We’re both in our mid-20s and our friend is several years younger. By default, the average age of the crowd he was playing to was younger still - of the 150-strong crowd, I’d say the upper age range was 20 years old. As the show gets underway, the ‘kids’ are stage diving and crowd surfing. The last time I tried to get some elevation was when I lost my house keys and had to scale the garden fence a couple of months back. I remember thinking it would be a doddle and being surprised at how much more aggressive gravity had become in the couple of years since I had last tried doing anything athletic. Luckily, Alex and I anticipated the craziness before the show started and had moved to the back of the room. There we stand - beardier, scruffier and carrying a bit of extra paunch, while those younger than us go wild. It didn’t seem to bother the ‘kids’ either way. We seemed to be invisible to those that made their way past to the bar or outside for a cigarette. Admittedly, we can’t have looked the part. Our bearded, blue collar look was at odds with the kids’ highly-planned outfits and immaculately coiffed hair. Most of them looked like they had jumped out of the pages of a fashion catalogue aimed at ‘rebels’. I don’t think our nonchalant, arms-folded stances helped either. I wondered if we were beginning to resemble (hip) parents who take the obligatory roles in the shadows at such events. It wasn’t just the clothing - a lot of the music went over our heads too, particularly from the support bands. Everyone else was lapping it up and I’m sure we would have been the same had we been seven or eights years younger. It was official. We could now say we weren’t down with the kids without a trace of irony. What’s more, we both realised we were very comfortable with that fact. It really is hip to be square - a realisation that comes with age and figuring out where you stand in relation to everything. It was a nice way to come to the realisation. I do wonder what I’ll be saying when those kids are going through the same thing when they reach my age. So long as they have ditched the garish attire and slick hair-dos with sensible clothing and beards, I don’t mind.
