Bowling Bits

I took the youth group “Cosmic Bowling” Saturday night. For those who have no clue, it is bowling with an ambiance of black lights, strobe lights, other flashing lights, and typically Hip-Hop and R&B piped through the crappy sound system. I don’t know if other cultures have such an event, but it is something if you have never done it. Now, with all that said, I made some observations while there.

First, instead of rap, the manager of this bowling ally decided to play “classic rock”. We are talking AC/DC, Van Halen, Pink Floyd, and other various hair bands. Anyway, I heard two songs that when they came on I thought were the same: “Rock You Like a Hurricane” and “Someone like You” (may be named something else). The guitar riffs at the beginning. The same sort of cadence. They sounded extremely similar. What did I learn? Well, this genre can put out basically the exact same song with just different words and both will be considered classics. AC/DC is pretty guilty of such action.

Secondly, Nirvana’s “Smells like Teen Spirit” came on. I started singing along as it was a formative song in my childhood. Then I thought, “That song came out in the early 90’s. My Jr. High Students weren’t even born.” Now I don’t get into yearning for the good old days and seeing how young I can make kids feel by making reference to things they have never heard of. But seriously, now I get it. I’m getting old. Though jamming out to Nirvana in high school seems like it was just the other year, it wasn’t. It has been almost 15 years. Wow.

Thirdly, being gifted with encouragement (that was sarcastic) I tried to high-5 one Jr. High kid after his bowls, even though he wasn’t doing all that well. He was trying to compete with me, but just couldn’t keep up. He is a great kid. Nice. Country. But not a typical “cool kid.” In fact, he didn’t even give high 5s very well. They were awkward. Unnatural. He missed a lot. I can remember times when I was younger and trying to fit in that I went to give a high 5 and completely missed, compounding my self-consciousness. It is amazing that something like a hand slap can be the criteria for determining acceptance.

Finally, this last observation hit home since I am both a dad and soon to have another child. It is 11:00pm in a smoky, loud bowling alley. What is the last thing I expect to see? A few week old baby. And yet, a couple strolling in toting their newborn. I was appealed. I don’t know the criteria for child abuse and I don’t want to compare it with what some people do to their children, but seriously. The late night ruining any semblance of a schedule. The smoke inhalation. The loud, jarring noises. That can’t be good for a baby. But what do you do?

Anyway, bowling alleys are great as you can observe all sorts of things.