I recently read an article in New York Magazine called “Up with Grups.” The article referred to “grups” as 30- or 40-somethings who walk, talk and act like a 21-year-old. As I read the article, I kept thinking to myself about how true it actually was.
Think about it, we go to school on the Main Line, how many 30- or 40-year-olds do we see walking around in their Juicy Couture jumpsuits, $200 pair of jeans, with their iPods plugged tightly into their ears?
During the day is not the only time they can be seen. The night seems to bring out the best in them.
As a bartender at Brownies 23 East in Ardmore, I see a lot of shameful things happen that many will probably fully regret in the morning. What’s worse, half of the people doing these shameful, embarrassing things are our 30- or 40-somethings.
Considering this is mainly a college bar, it is humorous to see the older crowd packing in with the college kids on Friday night for Happy Hour.
The drinking is only half the problem. Their stomachs probably haven’t had that much alcohol in them since their first frat party at college but somehow they manage to hang in there with some of the Main Line’s thirstiest college students.
I’m not one to say they shouldn’t go out and have a good time, but there is something to be said about a 40-year-old dancing all over a junior in college. Maybe a nightclub isn’t the right place for them.
Just last week I saw a man probably as old as my father with a parade of college girls around him while he threw down $100 bills and bought them all numerous rounds of shots.
From experience, people, especially girls, will not turn down a free drink, no matter whom it’s from.
This guy probably thought he was on top of the world but when he finally ran out of money those girls ran so fast for the nearest exit. I would normally feel bad for someone who just got played but in situations like this one, he should have known better.
People generally don’t like the feeling of getting older; birthdays soon become “just another day” right after 30.
I guess dressing the way they do, acting the way they do and even going out and drinking they way they do is just giving them the feeling that they still have it in them, that despite their age they still can have a good time.
The only problem with that is, most people, especially teenagers, don’t see it that way. We see a 45-year-old man trying to be 21 all over again, and that just does not work.
I wouldn’t want to see my parents acting this way and I’m sure I can vouch for a lot of other kids who wish theirs wouldn’t either.
