Who Am I?

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A nobody; a nitwit; a pilot; a motorcyclist; a raconteur; a lover...of life - who loves to laugh, who tries to not take myself (or anything) too seriously...just a normal guy who knows his place in the universe by being in touch with my spiritual side. What more is there?

10 September 2012

Dancing Fools

At what age do we unlearn how to dance? When I go to clubs now and see people my age (mid-50’s) dancing, they look so…so…horrid. So awkward. So uncoordinated. So uncomfortable. It’s almost painful to watch. You’ve seen them; you know what I’m talking about. I mean, they were probably good dancers…once…in their youth. But what happens to our groove? Do we lose it somewhere along the way? I’m sure that if I got out there on the dance floor I would look just as geeky and, you know, wrong as other old people.

Which brings me – sort of naturally - to my friend Hal Johnson. He posted this on his Facebook page tonight:

"Doing the prep work for my wife's fab lasagna, listening to Son Volt, and wishing my rotten kid would quit laughing at the way I dance in the kitchen."

See? Even him!

This post generated the kind of snarky, sarcastic comments you can imagine, which is about all Facebook is good for, let’s be honest. And I envisioned this big, tall moose of a guy writhing around spastically in his kitchen as he’s layering strips of pasta into a glass casserole dish (at least, I hope it was glass). And I’d bet that when he was younger, even Hal was a good dancer. Err…nah, on second thought, strike that – Hal was always tall. Tall people don’t make good dancers no matter how young or old they are. But I’ll bet he at least had rhythm.  When I think about Hal fast-dancing now, the mental image I get is not pretty.

I live alone. I like to listen to music - dance music predominantly, sometimes very loud. And sometimes I catch myself in the mirror (the singular mirror that’s not in my bedroom) dancing to some ‘80s popsong  (Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough," say). It causes me to immediately stop and make a solemn vow that I will never…no matter how funky the tune and no matter how much alcohol I’ve consumed…do such a thing in public.  Or in private for that matter.

We can only hope that Hal lives in a place where his neighbors cannot see in his windows.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Man I LOVE your wit, Bob. Too funny! I feel the same way you do and you do pose a great question. Albeit I have never been much of a dancer myself by any stretch, I DO enjoy music that makes your head bob and your feet move, with the occasional flailing of the arms and snapping fingers. Who doesn't?

Bob said...

You are right about a number of things here, including what you said about Facebook, which is why you have to maintain this blog and its higher level of intellect.

Agree about a lot of folks dancing in clubs but I love the visual of Hal dancing in his home because of the underlying job that causes him to do so. Same w/ you. Keep the beat!

Bob said...

Oh my gosh I meant JOY, not JOB!

Bob Barbanes: said...

Well...it works either way. You know, Bob, I read that and thought about how intuitively right you are. Our job as pilots does bring us - some of us, anyway - immeasurable joy...joy which spills over into other parts of our lives.

I can't speak for all pilots, but many of the ones I've met, including Hal and Larry and I are pretty happy people overall. Some of us try to hide it with a facade of fake seriousness, believing that it's what the career demands. But it's hard to do what we do and not have it affect you in a very positive way.

You should meet this jet pilot I know: Tony Taloney. The guy simply exudes joy! It radiates from him in a way that brightens the day and lives of everyone he comes in contact with. Talk about fun to be around!

So yeah, we pilots have this buttoned-down, straight-laced image of being Mr. Serious, but underneath we're all disco dancers.

Me? Well, to get an idea of how I dance I can offer up this largely accurate example. It's a little :29 second clip. Copy and paste, it's worth the laugh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY_DF2Af3LM



Anonymous said...

Man am I ever offended! Deep down I am a disco dancer?!?
Shame, shame, shame on you. Hell, I couldn't dance to disco with any amount of alcohol imbibement. Is "imbibement" even a word, for that matter is "disco" actually music? Probably not, but that is just my opinion.
Anyway..... I can agree on part. Crank up the jazz, especially big band ("Doc" Severinson comes to mind) and JAM!
Cass