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Saturday Night Get Together

It had been a long time since my young friends came to visit me. Saturday was my lucky night--three good-looking 20 year old boys came to watch televison, talk, and discuss hot topics.

I found out the latest about girlfriends, jobs, relationships with family members, drinking, drugs, which cartoons are worth watching, and was challenged to come up with my own definition of art. Daniel always comes up with some philosophical question to debate. He's not going to school anymore, because he ran out of money and student loan, but he still uses his brain. I'm very proud to know a young person like him. It's nice to have friends who aren't exactly your own age.

Two of the boys were thinking of getting an apartment together--the first for both of them. They had been apartment looking, and had done some figuring of money. Clinton wanted to know if I knew a good store to get second-hand furniture at, and I suggested he look at garage sales.

Daniel just got a new car to replace the one that was totalled in an accident. He realized he has to pay insurance, the car payment, and other things that you have to buy to live when you're on your own. I think by the end of the evening he had decided that $8.00/hour isn't enough to make it on your own--even if you get a one bedroom apartment and split the expenses with a roommate. I'm sorry for them that they can't get there own place yet, but I'm glad they realized how there money situation would change if they got an apartment.

I pulled out my acoustic guitar, and two of the boys played. They didn't play anything I could sing to, but I enjoyed the live music nontheless. The three of them have had a band ever since they started high school. They know it's not a job they could get for life, but they enjoy getting together and jamming. Everybody needs some kind of music in their lives.

Shane has Comcast digital cable at his house, and he found all orts of interesting programs that I didn't know about. I have suggestions of what to watch on MTV. We watched "Cheaters" for awhile. It's a show filmed in Dallas, and Daniel worked on one of the shows when he was in Art School. We decided that anyone who would host a show like that, and talk in a way to play up emotion and get the people so upset, must really be a jerk. Daniel verified that he was.

They stayed for a couple of hours, until about 12:30, and I really enjoyed their company. They are my friends because I befriended a neighbor kid years ago. He ended up moving to South Texas, but his friends have stayed in touch with me. They give me an interesting perspective on life, and I remember how it felt to be young. I have become jaded over the years. It's easier to be optimistic when the world hasn't had a chance to shatter all your dreams.