Sometimes Being an Adult is Not Fun

   I know the title is a little strange, especially after I've written a column on how I like being an adult. It is true. I do like being an adult. Like all things though there are times when it isn't much fun.
   Near our house is a church that has a Mid-East festival every year. They have music, dancing, things to buy, ethnic food for sale and tours of the church. We've attended most of the years we have lived here.
   We went yesterday. We bought ourselves a sample platter of food to eat and sat down in the big tent where the tables were set up. They had music playing through a sound system. I'm not sure if it was Lebanese or Syrian music. I know that is had an interesting beat much different from music in Europe and in the United States. I don't know really how to describe it.
   While we were eating I was tapping my foot. I couldn't help it. The music was contagious. The dance floor was empty except for a few small children running around. There was another young girl a little older than the rest on the dance floor. She was wearing a t-shirt and a skirt below her knees. She was dancing and twirling around in time to the music. Her long dark ponytail sailed in the air as she twirled.
   I watched her for a few minutes and then turned my attention back to my food. When I looked at the dance floor again, she was still there.  She must have left the dance floor because she was now wearing a small scarf with metal circles on it tied around her hips like the dancers that perform at the festival. She was still dancing and twirling a little bit, but she would also stand and jiggle her hips a little bit like the older dancers do.
  I was just a little bit envious of her. When I was her age I would have been out there dancing to the music. It would not have mattered to me if I was alone. If I was moved to dance I would dance.
  Now that I'm a grown up it is a different story. I really wanted to get out on that dance floor and dance to that wonderful music. However, once you reach a certain age, you just can't do things like that. Especially in public where there might be former customers of mine. You just cannot get up and dance on empty dance floors.  Beside that the music wasn't from my culture so dancing to it might be considered offensive.
      That's what I mean when I say that sometimes it's not fun to be an adult. There are more rules to follow and the stakes are a little bit higher when you don't follow them. You have to care what other people think. You can't just do whatever you want even if it is something as harmless as dancing on an empty dance floor.
   Oh well..... maybe I can find out what that music is and get it on You-Tube. Then I can dance to it at home as much as I want and whenever I want....