The Thrill Of It All

At the request of my daughter, and against my better judgement, my mom, my sister and I took all the cousins to the State Fair on the hottest day imaginable. Not only was it hot, but The Jonas brothers were performing a free concert out on the Main Stage and it was crowded. Crowded actually doesn't even begin to describe the claustrophobic atmosphere. I've never, in person, seen so many tween aged little girls swooning over a teen idol. It was a throw back to the Elvis or Beatles early days where girls would line up screaming and jumping up and down with excitement and with the anticipation of seeing someone up close and personal, that they had previously only seen taped up to the walls of their room.

The heat was so bad that before the concert, the concert organizers were out on the stage telling the girls to hold up their hands if they felt dizzy or felt that they needed medical assistance. Then they proceeded to spray down the crown with fire hoses, which 30 years ago I would have thought that was great fun, but not anymore, so we kept our distance. Luckily, I had been to my share of out door concerts as a teen, and had come prepared with lots of water, sunscreen and snacks. My sister and I also didn't let the girls out into the wild crowd until the very last minute. The mistake outdoor concert goers make, is they cue up early to get a good spot, then they end up waiting a long time for the concert to begin, all the while getting sunburned, hungry and dehydrated. What the newbie little girl concert goers don't know, is that if you travel light, you can shimmy your way to the very front at the last minute. So my sister and I filled the girls up with a good lunch and lots of water, and sent them packing with extra waters and a cell phone, to brave the little girl crowd of concert goers. As I expected, the two of them worked their way through the crowd and ended up front and center with a great view. My sister, my mom and I and the boys then sat at the back in the shade, sipping lemonade and eating popcorn in our portable soccer chairs that we had brought with us. It was great. They got to get up close so they could sing along, yell and scream, and we got to sit in the shade and relax. Sometimes it's good to be old.