The other night we were watching this new HBO show, called Treme. It’s a show about post-Katrina New Orleans. It’s a great show.
Since Sonja is from New Orleans, I of course not only get to watch the show but also get full-blown commentary during the entire time. I not only get to learn about these new characters. I get background information, history of the streets and what happened during Katrina. It’s like getting two shows for the price of one — one on television and one in my living room.
Anyway, there was a really funny episode about a guy celebrating his girlfriend’s birthday. They are both musicians. He buys her a great bottle of wine for her birthday, and wants to drink it in the morning.
You’ve got to love a musician’s life. The minute they wake up, he looks at her and says “I got you a birthday present.” Then he hands her the bottle of wine. She says, “No, let’s drink it later.”
I love the 20′s. I mean, people in their 20′s are just great.
So of course what happens next is that they start fooling around. The 20′s are so great because they are in that time when they can get drunk or screw all morning long.
Later they were on the street, and a musician comes over and tells the girl that he really wants her to play with his band that night at a private event. She then asks the musician if the boyfriend can play with them too. The musician says he already has someone playing the piano (the instrument the boyfriend plays), but says the boyfriend is welcome to come and enjoy the food and the music.
What happens next is so typical of people in their 20′s. The boyfriend of course goes to the show. He has conversations and eats all the food.
Eventually, and even though the girlfriend was keeping watch as to where he was, the boyfriend leaves the show pissed off. Leaving like that is something you do in your 20′s. He left because he was jealous and pissed off that his girlfriend had a gig and he didn’t, and because he saw her talking to some guy of which he didn’t approve.
So the next scene shows him drinking the bottle of wine he gave her for her birthday alone in their apartment. It’s such a douchebag 20-something guy move to do.
How do I know? I’m sure I probably did that when I was in my 20′s. So I laughed during that whole scene.
Let me tell you something. If it’s your significant other’s birthday and they invite you to something that is really special to them, then you celebrate the fact that they were recognized. I don’t care what you had otherwise planned — taking them out for a really nice dinner or to the top of the Empire State Building or whatever.
You can do your special celebration afterwards or even on another day. What I teach over and over again is to be present in the moment. Realize in that situation that the “new thing” that came up is actually another special celebration and just enjoy it.
It’s amazing how many guys in their 20′s act like the guy in this show acted. Actually, it’s not just guys. I know a lot of girls are reading this and snickering as you are thinking that you never act like this, but I have seen a lot of women in their 20′s act this way too.
This is a 20′s disease. It’s called “if things don’t go according to plan I am going to throw a temper tantrum like I’m five years old.”
For any of you who acted like this in your 20′s, I hope you are not doing it in your 30′s and 40′s. If you are, you really are just a man-child or a woman-child
