40 Year Old Child!

Getting up this morning and making my way to the computer…I had no idea of what to write about today…and still don’t. I knew that I should post something…just did not know what.

I guess that this may end up being one of those posts where I just spew vomit from my brain. I am one of those people that, on any given day, will go through periods of random thoughts and jumbled up moods. The hard parts for me are most evident in my moods. I consider myself a, very laid back and playful kind of guy. I love kids and playing with them. At parties and get-togethers, if someone is looking for me, their best bet is to find where the kids are playing…usually I am the guy in the middle of them being attacked…like an animal being ravaged by a pack of hyenas…or the “monster” chasing them all over the yard. I actually love this role, and think I do it well. One of the problems for me is … do I do this because I love children or because I tend to dislike random adult conversation? The other day, we all went to a friend’s house for a barbeque and when we got there, there were already about 8 adults and 9 other children. I only knew 4 of the adults and half of the kids. I began by sitting down with the adults and introducing myself, but soon reverted to playing with the kids. After playing for a bit I grabbed a plate of food and then went back to sit with the adults. While eating, I listened to the conversation that was going on and I just had no interest in participating. For the most part, I considered 4 of the adults to be annoying, inappropriate, pompous and rude…not to mention very inattentive to their kids.

The conversation (that I wanted no part of) went from drinking, to Korean culture (one of the families had just moved to Korea), to pre-schools, to joking about the pre-school’s dean hosting drug parties, to secretaries, to “full service” spas for men. All of this was within the ten minutes I was sitting at the table eating. And then, as I was just about ready to get up, our hostess (whom we are very good friends with) walked over commenting that she had some sort of food stuck on her thigh. Most of us chuckled with her…but the guy at the end of the table, sitting next to his wife, said, “hey…I’ll lick it off for you.” Now, I don’t know about you…but I felt that his comment was RUDE! In front of his wife and to the wife of his friend. What the fuck?

I then decided to get up and go play with the crazy, but more respectful, kids. After a little bit, the hostess came up to me with a pile of firewood and asked if I could get a fire going in their fire pit…she is not so outdoorsy and does not know how to do that kind of thing. I took the wood, gathered some dried branches and leaves and started one of my professional fires. She came out a minute later with a few bags of marshmallows for the kids. As I distributed the marshmallows, I noticed that not all of the kids seemed to be so careful around the fire. I appointed two of the older kids as “fire marshals” and went back to the “adult table” to let the parents know that their kids were at the fire pit and that they should all keep an eye on them. I was quite thoroughly brushed off.

I have to say that all I felt like doing was walking over, peeing on the fire (to ensure the safety of the kids), flipping off the table of ridiculous adults, having a beer and walking home. What I ended up doing was having a beer, sitting in a chair near the fire pit and then playing with a few of the kids.

Am I immature? Am I anti-social? Do I just have nothing in common with this group of people? …or is it that their high powered jobs and enormously high incomes intimidate or embarrass me?

I don’t know…but in a nut shell…kids are far more interesting and fun to hang with than adults. With the exception of Insane Mama and …whoever ends up meeting us at Dukes on Sunday night.