10,000 teenage girls make a lot of noise

Last Friday, my co-worker asked if anyone was interested in going to see Taylor Swift. Her friend had tickets and could not use them. One of my best friends introduced me to Taylor's music a few months ago so I told my co-worker I might be interested in the tickets, but I wasn't sure since my friend's foster son had a wrestling tournament the day of the concert.

My friend said she would be able to and was interested in going so we bought the tickets. Last night we met at our usual spot at the light-rail transit center and set off for the first concert she and I have been to together in years. I can't even remember what the last one was, but I know it was either John Michael Montgomery or Coolio. Yes, Coolio.

I would say the average age of the majority of the concert goers was somewhere between 12 - 15 and the venue held about 13,000. That is a lot of young girls. That many young girls can scream very loudly. And they can do so for a very long time. I felt old, which is kind of ironic because last January my cousin and I were at a Garth Brooks concert screaming our heads off like teenagers.

The concert was very good. She was very entertaining and prior to coming on stage had a public service announcement about staying true to who you are. I think the reason I like her music is because starting over at the age of 35 has me feeling very much like the insecure girls who still want to believe in fairy tales she sings about. I never thought at this age, I would be in a position to be taken back in time to a period of my life I didn't enjoy the first time and really have no desire to repeat. But, as they say (which I am really tired of hearing by the way), it is what it is.

Throughout the concert, I found myself watching the two girls sitting in front of us. I would say they were about 12 and obviously best friends. My friend and I have known each other for almost 13 years, so possibly longer than these two have been alive. I kept thinking about all the things they still had in front of them: first crushes, first loves, senior prom, graduation, college, etc. There is so much ahead of them and I found myself wondering where they will be in 20 years. I hope they are sitting next to each other in the back row of a sold-out teenybopper concert covering their ears in attempt to shield the screams of 10,000 teenage girls.