not just dancing anymore

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in history class the other day, prof. sena was explaining the changing trends in leisure activities over time. i started thinking about the fact that people were beginning to go to dances in the early 1900s durng their spare time. some people were against women going to these dances because it promoted close contact with men. i was thinking about that time compared to now. i was on my way to my seventh formal of the year, when i started thinking about it...what would those people think of formals today? in the early 1900s dresses were much more conservative and there was a lot of distance kept between men and women while they were dancing. dances were actually dances...now, loud music, flashing lights, and alcohol...it seems like it's more of a necessity than a leisure activity with the way certain people act at these formals. people falling over eachother, dancing in extremely provocative ways, sluring their words, dropping their drinks everywhere...it's kind of sad. they don't even dance anymore. it's really funny and entertaining to stand on the outside of the dancefloor just watching everyone else "dance." no one has any rhythm, many are just making out...such a huge difference from the early 1900s. you always think about how times have changed in a general, but you never really think about certain examples like this one. music changed, clothing changed, dancing changed, attitudes changed...girls even ask guys to dances now...in the case of this pi beta phi sorority formal. some girls still go to bars and clubs and whatnot with a group of friends waiting for guys to pick them up and buy them a drink. that much hasn't changed. i wonder what dances, sorority formals, cocktails, and such will be like when my kids are in college. it's really intriguing to think of how things may change. some people say that the generation gap between people my age and our kids will be almost double like what it is between us and our grandparents.

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