When did folks get boring?

"The great enemy of truth is very often not the lie--deliberate, contrived and dishonest--but the myth--persistent, persuasive and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the cliches of our forebears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."
— John F. Kennedy

I remember a time when the weekend was uncharted territory. Before I got a smartphone and had a calendar on it to keep track of plans. Back when I knew 15 people who'd be up for anything this weekend. They have shuffled off to Europe or California. Some got married or committed themselves to an eternity of work because of their jobs.

I seem to remember my early-to-mid 20's as nothing but carnival rides and fireworks. Even the bad times were at least interesting. When I overdrew an account, it was by $800. When someone broke up with me, it was seemingly the most ruthless ay to do it you could imagine. These days I never overdraw my accounts; I'm in a stable relationship. Its not lamentable, but its leading me to some new places and I'm not sure I understand the rules here.

It seems when you hit (or approach) 30, everyone wants to conduct themselves as if they're bloodless WASPs around whom everyone ought to conduct themselves as if it were a tea party, regardless of how endreged your current position is. And if anything about Marriage bothers me, its the unspoken cultural dictum that we need to whitewash our past. That who we were is just how we coped with the misery of singledom and now that its gone, we should all disregard our inner impulses and just be pleasant. If I have to bear witness to another smiley introduction that is the mimetic equivalent of a curtsey I'm going to drink myself into a coma.

For the record, I'm fine with marriage and civility. But it doesn't equate to boring. Or at least it doesn't have to. There's a regular occurrence whenever I'm out where people make this face as if I've offended them. The problem is I'm almost never speaking about them. Their being offended, in my opinion, because I refuse to conduct myself like royalty and I'm removing the image of the tea party. Whenever it happens, I can imagine the conversation when I'm gone. "oh thats just Brow."

I don't intend to make this a rant on the falsehood that takes place between people. We all know what fake is, and we can generally tell when people are it. But if you've got a job, you're likely fake the entire week. I have to pretend I'm interested in stories, problems, other peoples families, and feelings. Thats just how the game is played if you want to pay rent. But when we punch-out and the quitting whistle has blown, why continue? And if you have a reason, don't you fear for the impending mental breakdown? Have people not seen American Beauty?

I like to think of myself as a people person. I engage strangers and old friends in the exact same way: like I'm playing a Rugby match in the rain. I get messy, I'm not afraid of sliding around or full contact, and I never lose sight of the goal - lets have a decent time. Because at some point soon, I'll be wearing a tie and shaking hands with clients who's money I need. I'd prefer to not sit around and wait to get back there, so for this short period, while we're young and insouciant, why don't we agree to have a drink more than we should, to roll with a few more punches, and try to remember that regrettable past for just a couple hours. Because you've got an eternity to act old, be miserable, and play it safe.