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September 14, 2009

Middle Schoolers: Shameless but Good Musical Taste


Last Friday, my son's middle school had a dance and because Chase hasn't yet reached the point of mortification-when-mom's-around, I volunteered to help out. I was manning the candy sales desk and learned a few things about today's middle schoolers. One, even at 11, 12 and 13 years old, kids still love candy the way Boston loves its Sox. Two, said-children will stoop to low levels to get their hands on it after realizing it requires $1
cash that they don't have. Here are a few ploys thrown my way:

"Could I have free skittles since I know Chase?"

"Could I have free Reece's because I look pretty today?"

"Could I have free M&M's and I'll pay you Monday?" (As if I'd be hanging out at the school Monday.)

"Could I have free Kit-Kat today and I'll pay you $1.50 on Monday?" (Tempting but still, I won't be loitering at the school Monday with a black trench coat on and a bunch of my Italian friends looking for kids to pay up or else.)

"Could I have a free Snickers? You're the prettiest mom here." (I'm flattered, really, but still, no.)

It was enlightening haggling with the sneaky creatures. But what was even more so was strolling into the gym later to watch the actual dance and hearing the music that was playing. Moments after I walked in, the speakers were flooded with none other than Michael Jackson's Thriller. The original version, not some doctored up techno version. And the place erupted. The kids went crazy and proceeded to sing every word of this 1983 hit. Good lord, I was 13 years old when this song was huge. And now my nearly-13 year old child is running around moon-walking (attempting to anyway--the boy needs help with his moves) and doing the up-on-your-toes move that MJ made popular. Next up? Journey's Don't Stop Believin'. Seriously? This came out in 1981. Again, the place went nuts. I was speechless. This wasn't some retro dance; there was no 80s theme. The kids even had the opportunity to provide requested songs leading up to the shin-dig. These were the tunes they wanted to hear. I have since learned that the Journey hit is the most downloaded song not released in the 21st century from the iTunes music store.

So apparently, at least parts of middle school are unchanged since I attended as a student. Kids still love candy, they're not above begging or giving shameless complements to get their hands on it, and their taste in music is amazingly good.

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