Simpler Times

Remember the days when we quickly arose out of bed, ran downstairs and turned on the television just as Power Rangers was beginning. Mom would bring us a bowl of cereal or some form of breakfast and we would just sit back and enjoy the good life. (I can’t think of a time when my mother ever had a bowl of cereal waiting for me, but my good old days memory is of the show Pinky and the Brain.) Well fast forward about 15 years and oh how much things have changed. Jobs, taxes, school, homework, essays, groceries, rent, all of these things we didn’t even comprehend as we were growing up.  They’re here now and in some ways we welcome the present, but also in other ways we can honestly say we miss the simpler times.  The things that motivate us now, the things that encourage a smile across our faces have drastically changed since the times we were all younger.  Remember the times though when the simplest thing made us happy. This became very apparent to the two of us as we observed at the Purdue football game against Ball state, just shy over a week ago…

                My friends and I had decided it would be a cool idea to have our parents and other family members come up, down, etc for the game.  There were roughly 18-20 of us piled around a table outside our apartment eating, drinking, and enjoying the weather leading up to the game.  As we arrived at the stadium the parents sat in their respective seats and the students sat in theirs. At halftime Nick and I decided to join my parents in the end zone, row eight, prime seating position.  These seats were excellent all except for one big, or rather “small” thing. We were right behind a large group, of young, future cheerleaders.  Now readers (males) you may be thinking to yourself, “doesn’t sound too bad” well let me assure you they were very young. I’m going to estimate the group ranged from ages six to probably about fifteen.  Therefore, these girls were obnoxious, loud, immature, and yet they were extremely entertaining much to our surprise.  Little did we know that in roughly sixty minutes of sitting behind them we would have our second blog topic, courtesy of the young ladies themselves.

The atmosphere of our perspective changed almost minute by minute as we sat behind these cheerleaders of the future.  The first impressions we had of them was when the coach of these young ladies was handing out cheese puffs and candy.  We saw before our eyes these sweet, young girls transform into crazed, starved creatures.  The girls forgot about having fun or watching the game and switched every ounce of their energy towards acquiring those snacks.  I really can’t say I blame them.  I remember the snacks after tee ball practice. They were literally the best and by far the highlight of the day.( I just could not help contemplating that in a few years that instead of candy, these  young ladies would be clamoring for alcohol, and yes while an unfounded generalization I am sure they would somehow try to get free drinks.)   I think it is fair to say we envied these girls as we were quite hungry ourselves. I honestly considered reaching over when they weren’t looking and grabbing a few of the treats myself. Luckily at our age we are well schooled in the art of composure and resisting at least some temptations.

Now don’t think for a second the fun ended here. On the contrary it was just getting interesting.  Out of the corner of our eyes we saw an inflatable beach ball being battered high into the sunny sky.  As the girls noticed this feat happening, yells of joy and exuberance rang out into the pleasant September air.  At this point the clouds seemed to cover the sun, the crowd quieted and the hairs on the back of our necks rose.  Something was amiss, that was obvious.  We could feel it deep in our bones.  We looked at each other, then up at the sky, then back at each other (well that part may not have happened) and then we saw what was wrong.  It was not a screaming lunatic streaker, large spider or even a snake, but rather one of earth’s smaller insects.  Yes, that is correct readers, it was a bee.  A bee had just entered the bleachers.  The squeals of laughter quickly turned into loud, fearful screams of panic.  Gone were the fond memories of cheese puffs and beach toys.  Gone were the smiles and moments of delight.  A bee had single handedly ruined the game for these young ladies.  Now we must admit as these cheerleaders were swatting, fleeing and yelling, we were clapping, smiling and laughing at their plight.  (Now I was a little more reserved as I am supposedly allergic to bees, however I also realize yelling or shrieking will not do anything but annoy every one.) Eventually the dreadful bee flew on to torment other sections of the stadium.  We assumed our entertainment for the day was gone but ohhhh were we wrong.

A magnificent play was unfolding on the field, our QB has just stepped back to deliver a deep pass. As the pass was flying the receiver was promptly covered by two of the opposing team members. The pass plummeted down and right onto the shoulder of the opposing player. And then as if by some magic happenstance or the properties of footballs, the ball bounced. The ball bounced right out of his outstretched arms and into our receivers hands, the fast forward button was hit, with the opposing players some how knocking each other down. Our receiver is running and easily makes it into the end zone. It is after this play that the one and only mascot of Purdue comes vaulting over.  Like a knight shining in black and gold Purdue Pete showed up a mere row away, and thusly the young maidens flocked.  Back were the yells of excitement; back were the bouts of unconstrained giddiness.  We could only look on in amazement at the scene unfolding before our eyes.  What we saw before us was something straight out of a motion picture.  Girls were running, jumping, diving, and earnestly looking for their pom-poms. (I mean everyone knows you can’t take a picture with a sports mascot unless you have your trusty pom-poms at the ready and at attention.)  They launched themselves on Pete in a clearly volatile manner as Pete could only look on in utter terror (or so we could only assume.)  His dead eyes gave no clear indication to his true emotion.   Before Pete could blink an eye he was enveloped into a circle of young cheerleaders, who wanted nothing more in life at that moment than to get a photo with their knight.  Satisfied with their victory they quickly left his side and returned back to their phones, cheese puffs, and knock off purses. (You are asking yourselves right now, “how can two guys who barely know their own fashion, tell the difference with purses?”… We know this to be true because these girls were very young and have not been immersed into the world of Coach as of yet.)  It was at this point of our adventure when the fun ended, and we left the stadium to head home back to our adult lives.

Throughout this afternoon we were reminded just how much things have changed from the time we were kids to the age of adulthood.  We are no longer as eagerly motivated by cheese puffs, or bags of candy.  We don’t squeal in unrestrained delight at the sight of a college mascot.  We don’t retreat in horror at the sight or sound of a bee.  All of these things considered, and we still couldn’t help but look on in amusement and wonderment.  While there were great moments witnessed during this afternoon, it is hard to imagine we would trade our current lives for the simpler times.