Age of Unreason

I often tell people the best thing about aging is, the older you get, the less you need to have a reason to be unreasonable, the more you can be cranky without apology.

I went to the Paul Rodgers and Queen concert this week with The Boy. It was a March break treat from The Man. The concert was great. White haired people on stage, white haired people in the audience, bringing the sound up a few notches. They did Queen songs and Paul Rodgers tunes. Rodgers is no Freddie, but he did a darn good take on Freddie's songs. They even did a tribute to Freddie, which thrilled everyone. Brian May and Roger Taylor had many solos. The only thing that hampered the experience were the two people in front of us.

Our seats were already up in the rafters, almost the last row of the section. The rows of seats are tiered down so you can see the stage without obstruction no matter where you are. Except if the two people in front of you stand up for the whole show. Then all you see is their bums in your face.

Because this young couple insisted on standing, the couple beside us found seats elsewhere. The row behind us kept shouting at them to sit down. We certainly couldn't see. With The Boy to look out for, my maternal instinct kicked in. I needed to fend our right to see. After a while, I said to the couple in front, "You guys need to sit down. The four of us behind you are moving to different seats and the row behind is shouting at you because you are blocking us. You can still see if you sit."

Swigging their beers, they said, "But it's a concert, man. You stand up."

"No, I want to sit to enjoy this."

"Why are you telling us to sit? Everyone else is standing."

"Everyone else is not standing in front of me and making the people behind move to other seats and yelling at you."

"Look there is that whole section standing up, why don't you tell them to sit down."

"I just want you to sit down."

"Blah blah blah objection objection..."

"Sit down."

"Blah blah blah objection objection..."

"Sit down."

"Blah blah blah objection objection..."

"Sit down."

After a few rounds of shouting, the usher came.

"Why is she telling us to sit when everyone else is standing?"

"Because you are sitting in front of me and I am evil and prickly."

The usher decided he couldn't stop anyone from standing in their seats, but he also knew we had the right to an unobstructed view. So he offered us different seats that were actually more centred. We enjoyed the show much more after that. In this section, we too stood up and clapped at the end of good songs, but during most of the performance, people remained seated.

Of course The Boy was horrified with embarrassment. I said I'm sorry you are embarrassed, but I found that rather therapeutic. Which supports what I feel about aging. The older you get, the less you need to put up with the thoughtlessness of young adults. I make allowances for minors though, because they can still learn. Aging is licence to be unreasonable and I love it.

But it also tells me I have a bit of a rage streak in me, just like my Bro (not to be confused with Bro Bro, who occupies twice the space that Bro does). Maybe it's in the genes. And we are such nice, mild mannered people otherwise. But I think it's more that I have found my voice and I am glad to have asserted my right to enjoy the show. With all my meditation and medication, I am working on better self acceptance. If I really am just a cranky, unreasonable boor, I am just going to have to accept that.