Don't Take Me Seriously - Book - Page 264
The midlife mosh
Going into the pit for proof of life
now that, while most of you were all
snuggled in your beds last Wednesday
night – rereading your Connect SCVs, of
course – I was at Club Nokia for the Dropkick Murphys concert.
Three things about that ….
(1) The Dropkick Murphys are freaking
awesome! (So were their two warm-up
bands.) And, since the Murphys are an
Irish “punk” band – apparently, I like punk.
Who knew?
(2) I “danced” in the Murphys’ mosh pit
– and I survived without serious injury.
(3) I’ve been living large off the tale of it
all week since, and, obviously, I’m not done
milking it yet.
Now those who know me know that I
am a couple years past your typical mosh
pit prime. In fact, the kids circling and
slamming about the pit seemed to fall
into two camps on this: those who wanted to punish their parents by knocking
me down – and those who were afraid
I would break a hip. You could see the
worry on the faces of the latter, God bless
’em, and it was priceless.
Three things about that …
(1) I took some hard blows, and was
knocked down a couple times, but I gave
generously back in a “fatherly” way.
(2) Those kids were really cool. Believe
it or not, there is an etiquette to mosh-pitting, which includes helping each other up
and taking it all in good humor.
K
(3) And, finally … of course I did it all to
impress a beautiful girl.
However, the added benefit of surviving
the pit at my age is receiving a bit of rejuvenation, a “proof of life.” Consider it the
poor man’s Pamplona. (And the looks on
the faces of those who went down, mine included, certainly mirrored the faces of those
expecting to be trampled by the bulls.)
OK, after that unsolicited Murphys
review (no, we were not comp-ed), I get to
the point.
A “midlife” crisis can begin at age 20
or so, and continue … well as long as I
continue, anyway. And those of us living
under these tragic conditions often attempt
to thrill-seek, to cheat death, so as to give
the alternative a warm glow. The problem
is that the glow wears off, and you have to
find something more extreme to top it.
Now, mind you, thrill-seeking is not a
24/7 kind of thing. There’s no sense jumping from a higher altitude while you are
still smiling from the previous jump. No,
instead, you take a leap, survive, put your
feet up, have a julep, and brag about your
exploits to everyone within earshot and in
every possible forum. It’s only when everyone has heard your latest story, and stopped
caring, that you have to go for a topper.
Given that, you might begin to think
that thrill-seeking is only an attempt to impress others, to obtain love and admiration
and awe by strong-arm tactics, so to speak.
Jim Walker
Don’t Take Me Seriously
Well, OK. There is some truth to that. But
the bottom line is adrenaline. And love
don’t get ya that – at least not for long. No,
the search for proof of life is a very internal
thing, as are the reasons that drive you to
seek it.
But having a buddy (or a mosh pit dance
partner) just makes it more fun – and
doubles the chance someone will survive to
tell the tale.
Video Link of the Week:
Getting carried away with Old Spice Bar Soap
Y
es, this a commercial, but your editor
likes Old Spice and the sense of humor in this video.
And, by the way, there is a whole series of these crazy
Old Spice commercials out there. How did we miss them?
http://bit.ly/Xnp2Zm
14 | >>
WWW.CONNECTSCV.COM • APRIL 24 - 30, 2013
Remember Jack Nicholson and Morgan
Freeman in “The Bucket List”? Well, all I
need is a side-kick millionaire to fund my
shenanigans, and I’ll be cliff-diving in a
flying squirrel suit in no time.
Meanwhile, see you in the pit.
Let’s go Mur-phys. Let’s go Mur-phys.
Comment at jwalker@signalscv.com or at
http://Twitter.com/DontSeriously.
