He may not be alone, it's often hard to tell. But there he is, standing at a concert where everyone else is sitting, eyes glued to the stage, bobbing his head and waving his arms and singing the lyrics back ...
This is different from Dancing Alone Girl. You know it is. Don't try to act all cool and politically correct; in this society, at this point, we don't think much of a girl standing up and dancing all by herself but a guy ...
I'm not saying it's wrong. Well, except if I'm sitting behind him. I'm old. I paid a lot for these tickets. I'm not standing up just so I can see over you, now sit the fuck down. And the same applies to a woman, have no doubt. But if he's not blocking my view, well, rock on brother
I just wonder about it, that's all. I have no problem with dancing. Really, I don't. OK, my own dancing may be likened to a one footed chicken given a double dose of LSD then fed a high voltage, but I view dancing as a perfectly acceptable expression of music and emotion. But there are dance floors for dancing, and stages, and the roof of your house when the moon is full and the rain is falling and you just got new underpants and ... OK, that last part may just be me.
But to dance at a concert, not in the aisle with a partner but alone, at your seat, it makes me wonder. And what about the people with Dancing Alone Guy. Why aren't they dancing with him? Are they too staid, too shy, too stoned, too busy recording him for a future You Tube infamy?
Is Dancing Alone Guy's companions laughing, hiding they faces, ignoring him, or saying "This is OK, at least he's not singing"
When did Dancing Alone Guy start this behaviour? Was he once Dancing Alone Toddler? Well yeh, probably, we've all seen little tykes bopping and bobbing and we encourage this behaviour, as a rule. It's only later that he may learn it's just not all cool and macho to suddenly stand up in the food court and start doing the funky chicken. Though I've eaten a lot of funky chicken in food courts, but as always, I digress.
Does Dancing Alone Guy only dance at concerts? Does he do it other places? When shopping for arugula and chick peas, does he lambada with the shopping cart. At work does he try to limbo under his cubicle wall, or does he twist and shout in the library. No, probably not. People may get upset. And he may get a straight jacket and a shot of Demerol. Or just shot.
But a concert is a place where unacceptable behaviours are accepted. You can sit there bobbing your head, clapping your hands, singing out loud .. well OK, you can see that on the public bus too it is just not quite as accepted.
A concert is a communal event where the rules of behavior are altered by the event itself. Perhaps that's why Dancing Alone Guy does it, simply because in this situation, he can. Maybe in his mind or in his heart he is dancing in the supermarket or his cubicle or in the library. But he doesn't want to get melons tossed at him, or get fired, or have Dickman the Library Dick chase him down and call him "funny boy"
It's freedom. And expression. And freedom of expression. So rock on Dancing Alone Guy. But if you do it in front of my seat, you may get a slap in the head. That's my freedom of expression
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