Zip It and Put It Away

Today, we are starting something new in The Prices Do DC. From time to time, we will be featuring guest posts from other writers. And what better way to start than with the 1st solo piece for publication ever written by my concert-going partner and wife of 40 years, Judy Snyder Price.

Hall and Oates on stage in DC

The other night, my husband and I went to a Hall and Oates concert in DC. In case you don't know who Hall and Oates are, they were a huge band in the 80s with hits like Private Eyes, Kiss on My List, Maneater, and I Can't Go For That (No Can Do). 

Now, as much as it pains me to say it, being  from the 80s (which I still think of as relatively new music) makes Hall and Oates actually an oldies act. That's why I was surprised to see so many younger fans in their late 20s and 30s at the Warner Theater show. I mean most of the crowd where we were sitting was younger than my son, who turned 40 earlier this year.

DC patrons have a deserved reputation for being extremely loud in restaurants and bars. They love to talk about politics and their jobs, about what they are doing and what they have done and what they are going to do and, from what we overhear, mostly anything else about themselves. We're not eavesdroppers and we don't work for the NSA, but you can't help but hear if you have 2 ears, even if they are 62-years-old each. When conversation is on our "list," we avoid these places.

Anyway, as the 8 p.m. start time of the concert approached and hundreds of last-minute arrivals (an apparent trait of the 20-to-late-30s crowd) found their seats, it made for an extremely loud theater. And you know it's loud talk if you can hear the people 4 rows away over the guitar tech checking the stage volume.

I figured that once the concert began, the chatter would stop and everyone would sit back and enjoy the show. Boy, was I wrong.

Maybe it's an age thing, but I think there's a problem with enjoying entertainment and young people today.

Once the band took the stage, many in the audience continued their conversations. In fact, some of them talked throughout the entire concert. It was annoying, distracting, and totally uncool for people who, at least from the way they were dressed and the expensive drinks they were drinking, think it is very important to be cool.

This generation also has an addiction to their cell phones. Many found it necessary to text the entire time. I know about multi-tasking; I do it too. But in a dark concert hall, the lights from cell phones can be very distracting when they are everywhere around you. Add the constant trips to the bar and then the bathroom and these interruptions really got to me.

I see it this way. If you want to talk to your friends, do it before or after the concert. If you need to text, do it before or after the concert. If you need a drink, get it before the concert starts. If you have to use the bathroom, do it before the concert starts and if you can't hold it until after a 90-minute concert ends, then maybe you drank too much.

My son says I am an old fuddy-duddy. Maybe I am, but when I go to a concert, I want to be able to hear the music, not somebody's conversation about what John or Mary did or didn't do last night. So, to all of you concert goers who fit the above description, I say zip it and put it away!