Every month, my friends and I that worked/ still work at Fifth Third Bank try to get together and do something fun. This month, our get together was Adult Skate Night at the Smyrna Skate Center. Do I really need to continue? Or can you guess where this is going? Ok, I'll go on. When I was in college (too many years ago to say) I used to go to 80's night at the Murfreesboro Roller Rink. It was totally awesome. Complete with smoke machine. The only difference is a little bit more than a decade of wear and tear on my body. Back to Smyrna. Sunday night we began at 7pm (which is already pretty close to my bedtime). They were playing some great old school music and I was getting into the groove as I laced up my lovely brown skates with the fluorescent orange wheels. As I stepped (or slid) onto the wooden floor of the rink, I immediately knew I was in for a night. I kept doing the chicken wobble... arms out and flailing, legs sprawling everywhere and my torso going every which way... just trying to stay up for at least a couple of go rounds. I am proud to say that I only fell down twice. And I am also proud to say I was able to get up after I fell. About 9pm we called it a night. I had a blast but was sore the next day! In college, I used to roller blade everywhere on campus. Now, I think I would break a leg or worse. Here is a picture of me (on the right, with the flailing arms) and my friend Joni (on the left, looking confident and able to wave... Joni even skated backwards... but I still love her).
Monday night my friend Julianna and I went to see the band Alice in Chains. For those who don't know, they are an alternative/ grunge band that was extra popular in the 90's. They have a new lead singer (Layne Staley, the original singer died of a drug overdose) and are incredibly talented. Julianna and I saw them at the Ryman doing an "unplugged" show about two years ago. It was AMAZING! We were able to get tickets to this show which was being held at Municipal Auditorium. Now, those of you out there that remember rock shows at Municipal will understand the difference between a show here and a show at the Sommet Center (or Bridgestone Arena... whatever the name is now). At Municipal we barely got patted down for security (which is great for me since I am not smuggling anything in). Once inside, the only employee I saw was a little older lady sweeping the floors. There was no security at all. There was not even anyone there to give directions, etc. The concert was general admission, so we were able to sit where ever we wanted. We ended up sitting in one of the balconies. As the show began and the band began to rock out, we started smelling funny things and I got the munchies. Now of course, being an enclosed arena, there was no smoking allowed. However, also being that there were no employees and no security, there was no one to enforce those rules. Being a non-smoker myself... by the time I got home, I literally peeled off my clothes when I crossed the threshold and had to disinfect myself in the shower. I felt so dirty and gross! The band was tight, the show was great, but I feel like I am getting too old for that type of show. Here is a picture I took with my phone at the concert:
That reminds me a little of a Dave Matthews Band concert I went to 10 years ago. Thankfully, it was outdoors! But the people all around us were smoking and I didn't see any cigarettes... I don't think there was an ounce of security at that concert. I felt like I had a second-hand smoke high, but I've never been high and don't know for sure what that feels like!
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