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when I was your age
Apr. 12th, 2002 03:10 pmIt was a misty Thursday morning, when I got into my car with LittleSister, enroute out to Needham where her own car was having a faulty engine pump fixed. She was clearly dragging, her head leaning up against the passenger window, eyes pressed against the rising sun.
"Late night?"
"Yeah, Michelle took me out to the Common Ground for mod night. You know, belated 21st birthday gesture and all."
LittleSister turned 21 last Tuesday, the last of the family to hit the age of majority, and like all the rest of us; the actual day came and went just like any other. No massive pub crawl ending with her puking into a gutter. No binge spree at the local packie. Just a quiet night having dinner with a beer, bought just because she could.
"So is it different? You relieved about not having to get turned away at clubs?"
"I guess, but it doesn't really feel different. It's just more expensive."
I chuckled. Yeah, I knew how that went. Graduate from free pitchers of water to whiskey sours and twenties start to vanish from your wallet all too rapidly.
"but, yeah," she continued, "it's not like the clubs feel different or anything. I've been getting into 21+ clubs for the last couple of years, and it's no big deal."
I nodded along, thinking back to about 5 years ago, when I was trying to console her for being turned away from a Pulp show in New York that was 21+. "Five years is going to take forever! That's more time than I've spent in high school!" she wailed.
"Hey," I said to her then, " when I was your age, I hadn't started going to a lot of concerts yet. Certainly none in grungy little clubs in desolate corners near Alphabet City. You've got a good head start on me already. Just be patient, there's still a lot of fun to have between now and 21."
"but, still, when I do turn 21, it's going to be the best thing ever."
I knew well enough not to say then, "no, it won't, it's just going to be another day." and that morning, I knew well enough not to say, "I told you so."
"Late night?"
"Yeah, Michelle took me out to the Common Ground for mod night. You know, belated 21st birthday gesture and all."
LittleSister turned 21 last Tuesday, the last of the family to hit the age of majority, and like all the rest of us; the actual day came and went just like any other. No massive pub crawl ending with her puking into a gutter. No binge spree at the local packie. Just a quiet night having dinner with a beer, bought just because she could.
"So is it different? You relieved about not having to get turned away at clubs?"
"I guess, but it doesn't really feel different. It's just more expensive."
I chuckled. Yeah, I knew how that went. Graduate from free pitchers of water to whiskey sours and twenties start to vanish from your wallet all too rapidly.
"but, yeah," she continued, "it's not like the clubs feel different or anything. I've been getting into 21+ clubs for the last couple of years, and it's no big deal."
I nodded along, thinking back to about 5 years ago, when I was trying to console her for being turned away from a Pulp show in New York that was 21+. "Five years is going to take forever! That's more time than I've spent in high school!" she wailed.
"Hey," I said to her then, " when I was your age, I hadn't started going to a lot of concerts yet. Certainly none in grungy little clubs in desolate corners near Alphabet City. You've got a good head start on me already. Just be patient, there's still a lot of fun to have between now and 21."
"but, still, when I do turn 21, it's going to be the best thing ever."
I knew well enough not to say then, "no, it won't, it's just going to be another day." and that morning, I knew well enough not to say, "I told you so."
