Bruuuuuce

Kathie and I went to the Bruce Springsteen concert last night.

It was terrific, but there were a few glitches along the way. A huge accident at the Turnpike’s Meadowlands exit delayed thousands of fans so the concert’s starting time was postponed for an hour and a half.

Springsteen did not come on stage until 9:30. He gave a wonderful performance before a packed house of hometown fans. He did not leave until 12:45.

Since few left early, the whole 40 odd thousand people drained out of the stadium at the same time. We did not get home until 3:00 AM. Kathie asked if I could recall the last time we were out that late. I don’t think I was ever out that late. Sorry, I’ve led a quiet life.

We had a great time, but we may be getting too old for rock concerts.
If you think you might also be in the same boat, here are a few warning signs:

. You are in your seats at 7:30 PM, the posted starting time. You are alone.
. As soon at the place fills up, you start scanning the crowd for people who are older than you. There are none.
. Your wife brings ear plugs in case the music gets too loud.
. Eventhough your feet hurt, you stand through the entire concert because you don’t want to be that old guy who sits down.
. You mention to the young people seated next to you that Springsteen is starting to resemble Tony Bennett. They don’t know who Tony Bennett is.
. You complain that you can’t hear the lyrics over the “damned racket.”
. You wonder if you should say something to the young lady in front of you about the number of beers she has consumed.
. After the third encore, you hear yourself saying: “Oh, no. Here they come again!!”
. Everyone else is half naked, but you brought a sweater.
. You listen carefully to the stadium evacuation plan.
. Eventhough you have written down your parking location and referenced appropriate landmarks, you still lose your car.
. It worries you that you are not allowed to bring an umbrella into the stadium.
. You buy one water after grumbling about the $4.50 price tag and refill from the water fountains.

If you exhibit any of these symptoms, you should probably stay home, pop a Bruce cassette into your Walkman, and take a snoozy in your lounger. Sounds good to me.