A False Transition to Adulthood

I never got around to telling this story, so here are my thoughts, several weeks late. I met some friends from elementary school that I hadn't seen since... elementary school. We all went out drinking, and a number of very funny situations occurred.

1) The whole gang decided to head out on the dance floor together. This is fine with me. We all got some beers before, and so this posed an interesting situation. Some of the people had beers in their hand on the dance floor, and so they were either just standing there with the group and not dancing at all, or doing so awkwardly (as I was trying to do). It was a real funny mix. Everyone was determined to stay together as a group, but the dynamics were absolutely zero. A couple of the guys bought a pitcher and split it. The one holding the pitcher on the dance floor was doing the funniest move I've ever seen. He was essentially shaking his hips, while alternatingly raising the pitcher up and down in the air.

2) One of my best childhood friends got into a fight with his girlfriend. We ended up staying outside for a good part of the night while she flirted with some other guys and generally didn't pay attention to him. Ordinarily, this would be a tragic situation. What was even funnier is that he dealt with this situation in exactly the same manner as he would have in elementary school. Not a single thing had changed. it was like a gigantic hissy fit. All the people who were outside felt obligated to console him. Even funnier were the single girls (his friends, and girls I went to elementary school with as well) who were trying their best to capitalize on the situation with comments like: "Listen, you're such a great guy! You don't deserve this!"

I couldn't wait to see how the group dynamics would be. For the most part, I wasn't too surprised. Everything seemed familiar and yet awkward. Things had changed, and yet not really. Nobody seemed fully comfortable with each other, and none of the conversations were very productive. I couldn't help but smile through it all, though.