Another Perk of Adulthood

It was a liberating day five years ago—when I finally made the announcement. Not only would I cease going out to hear music I don't like, but I'd also skip all of the venues that make me cringe. It was a huge step, because of my number of friends, peers and exes in bands and releasing new CDs at the time. It meant that I would theretofore be seeing none of them perform live again!

To put it plainly, I love reggae and ska, classical, a little hair metal, and a smattering of punk, but little else.

Most of my cronies perform in other spheres that I've been silent about for decades (pop, shoe gaze, indie-schlock, hard core, comic pop parodies, and the rest of the punk music). Like I said, it was a  liberating move.

My reasons for the change are twofold. First, I don't like what I don't like, and it's high time to be clear about that. Second, and most important, social phobias make these situations emotionally grueling and psychologically uncomfortable (putting it mildly). It's safe to say that I owe many a drunken blackout to the crippling discomfort of feeling trapped in an undulating crowd, while listening to music that means nothing to me.

Okay, breakthrough, I think: As I wrote that last sentence it occurred to me that I may have conflated two things in my mind; the claustrophobia of crowds and the music that entertains them. This bears further investigation, later.

 This morning, it dawned on me that—as an adult—I get to skip all sorts of things without any guilt or repercussion whatsoever, not just clubs and bands. But restaurants, parts of the country, brands and people. Yes, it's easy to bid adieu to:

• That restaurant that served me the $14 bagged salad mix (WTF?!)
• Texas and Florida
• Any cookie, but Pepridge Farms Chess Men (in 20+ years they're the only cookies I like)
• All of our respective exes; they're exes for a reason.

Shrug:  image source