Going out the night before Thanksgiving with two of my friends seemed like a wonderful idea. After all, the three of us have 12 kids combined and it's generally hard to find a time when we are all at home and not busy. Over the course of the day we exchanged a flurry of texts and come 9:30 on Erev Thanksgiving I and one of the other guys headed out to Waxy O'Connors together with the third guy coming a little later to join us.
Yes, well, at least 300 other people had a similar idea. And it was probably more like 400.
When we saw the parking lot a light bulb went off, the light bulb that meant oh yes, all the kids go out the night before Thanksgiving. Sure enough, there was a line at 9:30, and let me tell you it's been at least a decade since I went out anywhere that was that busy. When our other friend walked in a half hour later, he said "I saw the line and wanted to say hey, I'm old, let me in." Seriously.
The three of us eventually found a quiet spot to talk and enjoy each other's company as we watched the twentysomethings get progressively more tipsy. The conversation was lively: our kids and their sports, funny stories from work, and definitely a fair amount regarding how old we were compared to the rest of the clientele. It was amusing to imagine how it would have been different had we been at least fifteen years younger and out that night. So in the spirit of remembering the good old days, here's a quick 1999 to 2014 comparison of a few things in my life.
1999 female companion: the future Mrs. Brosgol
2014 female companion: Mrs. Brosgol
1999 ultimate Boston athlete: Pedro Martinez
2014 ultimate Boston athlete: Tom Brady
1999 internet connection: AOL dial-up
2014 internet connection: Verizon FiOs
1999 car: 1989 red Toyota Camry station wagon
2014 car: 2003 red Toyota Camry sedan
1999 celebrity crush: Britney Spears
2014 celebrity crush: Taylor Swift
1999 beverage of choice at a bar: Dollar draft, anyone?
2014 beverage of choice at a bar: IPA, the hoppier the better
1999 expected wake-up time on Thanksgiving: noon
2014 expected wake-up time on Thanksgiving: 6 am
1999 ultimate time waster: GoldenEye on Nintendo 64
2014 ultimate time waster: Twitter
1999 weight: 200
2014 weight: 182
1999 5K personal best: 24:00
2014 5K personal best: 18:59
Suffice to say that across the board I'll take the 2014 side of the coin in every one of those categories, although I do miss GoldenEye. But today I'm in much better shape, am happily ensconced in life as a husband and dad, and as I like to say, still get paid, still have health insurance, and still am able to eke by every year despite my little tribe of children drawing every last penny from my paycheck.
So for now, it’s all good, but make sure to check back with me in 2029 for an update. I'll let you know how it feels to be, um, 51 and out on the night before Thanksgiving.
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