There's a Fire Burnin' on the Dance Floor

Last Saturday I got a call from a friend. His DJ partner was sick and he asked me if I could help.

Could I help? Of course. I enjoy music and he has a sweet setup. I also like dancing. Not to brag or anything, but I was good back in the day.

We played a youth barn dance. The whole time we had to balance body-thumpin' base vs. blowing the fuses. Yes, I said fuses. The whole barn was on the same circuit, so if we blew something we'd take all the lights out with us. That would have been . . . let's not think about that.

I did have a great time and I learned two things.

First, there's a lot of good music out there that I've never heard before.

Second, kids haven't changed much.

There were the shy kids hanging around the edges who'd often refuse to dance even when asked. There were the cool kids who had too much to lose to try anything new, so they mainly stood around chatting except for the slow songs. There were the kids who just came for the food and socialization. And there were the few who knew every step to every line dance and were dancing almost every song.

As a writer, this made me smile. I didn't grow up with powerful computers connected to the internet in my pocket. I didn't have social networking or text messages. Or thousands of songs literally at my fingertips. But even with all these changes, underneath it all, people are still people. Our hopes and fears, our personality, who we are--that hasn't changed that much.

* Back in the late 80's I got to see a huge outdoor laser light show. I've liked them ever since. But it's hard to capture them on film. Fabio Venni did an awesome job. You can check out the full version on Flickr.