Those Telling 8th Grade Conversations...

We all know what's important in middle and high school - the music you listen to! The music you listen to determines who your friends are and who you hang out with. Just admit it. You know it's true.

Case and point:

First day of 8th grade Algebra, I turned around to the girl behind me and asked, "Do you like MxPx?" (or I might have said The Hippos...)

I didn't know this girl. I had no reason to really be friends with her. As far as I knew, all we had in common was Algebra. But, she said yes and we started an instant friendship: Hangin' out, going to the skate park, button making parties, going to the movies, going to shows. Oh, so many shows... and we're still friends to this day. We were roommates for a while in college, I introduced her to her husband (kind of), and we were even in each other's weddings! Who knows, if she would have said, "Who?" instead of her enthusiastic, "Yes!" our lives would have been so much different...

It's fun to now be on the outside of those very funny and very telling "what bands do you like?" conversations. I love walking around class, eaves dropping, in hopes I'll over hear a hilarious 8th grade conversation.

I got a new student yesterday which is prime time for those conversations. You know the first thing kids do is look at what she's wearing. Is it a band shirt? Is she wearing skinny jeans? Any girly accessories? Then, once they've decided if her style matches theirs, they can move in for the kill and ask the very telling questions...

Girl in class: So, what kind of music do you like?

New girl: Metal Core.

Girl in class: Oh, cool what bands?

Metal core?! My response would not have been, "Oh, cool what bands?" It would have been more like: "What?! Hahahahahahaha. That sounds hilarious and possibly awesome. Are the songs just all screaming about wrestling?...Do you have a lot of angst?"

So, I guess they're meant to be friends. They both like...metal core.