Twilight

I'm not actually going to discuss the film, so no worries you won't find any spoilers here (yet).

Rather, I'd like to discuss the event itself and all that I saw there.

We arrived at 10:10 for the 12:02 AM showing. There was a satellite truck parked out front for the local news crew that was inside shooting (side note, the news crew was filming when they saw my BIL, Eric, holding his two week old baby so they got her in the shot too!), so I knew it was going to be chaotic. I had bought our tickets in advance and I had people already waiting in line that I joined so I wasn't worried about sitting on the front row. We picked up our tix and got in line and then looked around. The place was PACKED! And they had already let one or two groups in to their respective theaters. Of course my line was the last to get entrance so we stood around waiting until at 11:15 or so. And of course you all read in the comments from my last post that I got the best seat in the entire theater. Banner day, my friends. Banner day.

Anyway, while I was standing in line and later while I was sitting in the theater, I got the chance to do something I LOVE to do. People watch. I am a hard-core, completely unabashed people watcher. If I think you're doing/wearing something interesting/silly/dumb I will stare you down. If you happen to catch me in the act I may or may not look away. Depends on my mood. After all, you're the one standing right there in the middle of Big Lots passionately making out with your boyfriend. Who said you had the right to privacy?

Being surrounded by a crowd with an average age of 15 was quite a treat. They're the most fun to watch! Here's what I learned and saw there:

1. That Girl still exists. You know the one. She's tall, thin and attractive and it's obvious that SOMEONE is spoiling her rotten. She's got the bag, the Juicy Couture sweats and the highlights. Her Tiffany's bracelet is constantly jingling as she tosses her hair back and forth. While everyone else in the theater is sitting down and chatting with the people closest to them, she only feels comfortable standing in front of her third row seat.

2. That Boy still exists. And he's placed himself right behind That girl. He's got the gelled hair, the bead necklace and the artfully faded Clapton  concert t-shirt that he bought at Hollister - he doesn't even know who Clapton is.  He's also standing up to talk to his friends. And he and That Girl keep casting sideways glances at each other but never speak. Which reminded me of how refreshing it was when I finally got the confidence (in college) to introduce myself to people without having to pass a note to a friend and make her do it for me. It got so bad with those two that I seriously wanted to just walk down there and introduce them so they could make-out and get it over with.

3. Uggs are still cool. And you can wear them with anything. I mean ANYTHING. Teensy, tiny shorts, leggings, miniskirts. But the best thing to wear them with is sloppy pajama pants/sweats. But make sure to tuck in the pants. But not tightly. Just loosely, so that your pants are billowing out over the top of the boot in a very flattering impression of a pirate. Ahoy there, matey.

4. The 80's are back. So, I was standing there staring at people when I noticed someone wearing a pair of shoes that very closely resembled the Topsider's I wore in 5th grade. But they were uglier. MUCH uglier. I literally gasped in horror, thinking this poor girl must be so wretchedly poor that she was forced to wear her father's hand-me-downs from when HE was a boy. And then I realized the girl next to her was wearing them as well. Puzzled, I started looking at all of the feet closest to me that were not clad in Uggs. And sure enough, 46% of them were wearing Topsiders. In utter confusion I turned to Abby - who is very with-it - and told her what I was seeing. And she informed me that Topsiders are back. AND she thinks they're cute. Kathleen - who is RIDICULOUSLY with-it - confirmed. I was aghast. In fact, I still am. I can totally do the moccasin thing, I love flats, Uggs I can handle. But I've seen my dad wearing Topsiders (or something close) for almost 30 years! This is one bandwagon I will NOT be jumping on.

5. The cell phone craze is out of control. I have a cell phone. My first phone came part-and-parcel with my first big-girl job. In 2002.  When I stopped working I didn't have one again until the end of 2005 when Chase had HIS first job out of school. The phone came free with the plan we chose and I had it until about a month ago when it started acting up. I switched to a hand-me-down phone that was, aside from the color, exactly the same. We don't have a landline, so my phone is just a necessity. I don't think a whole lot about it or use it for much other than actually talking on it (except today when I've been texting with Bird because Lylla is in labor). So I was appalled/amused/confused when I noticed the kids around me in line holding these fancy Sidekicks, Blackberry's, and IPhones. There was one guy in front of me who seriously was spinning his phone in his hand for an ENTIRE hour. Just spinning, spinning, spinning. And once we were sitting I looked around a everyone was texting, talking on their phones and playing games. It's nuts! I do think that phones are a nice thing to have. They make really great emergency phones that you can program a couple numbers into and that's all they do. I think these should be MANDATORY for kids under 18. Anything else is just a waste of their brain cells and a waste of money. What kid needs a $400+ phone?!?! Crazy business.

6. I wouldn't relive my teen years for a million bajillion dollars. Sure, some things would be fun. It would be fun to go back and try out for sports other than volleyball. It would be fun to do the pep rally/football games thing again. But to be a teenage girl is like being on a gameshow. A really fashionable, yet sadistic gameshow. You just never know what you're going to get. Today you might be the coolest kid in your group and all your friends like you. Tomorrow you might get to school and find out that during the nights your friends got together and decided they hate you. It's total guerilla warfare! You never know who's hiding around the corner waiting to take you out. Thankfully I was able to maneuver through my teens without too much major drama but I know some girls who weren't so lucky. And I think it's just getting worse (sorry Tay) with the introduction of stuff like Myspace and Facebook. So yeah. I would love to be 130lbs and stretch-mark-free again. But 16? No thanks.