A musical blast from the past fills the Breen household
”
What are you, 16?
”
This is what my wife asks me when I listen to my music too
loudly in the car or in the shower.
Usually, I say ‘thank you’ when she asks me this because she
must mean that I am showing my young and vibrant side. Then she
clarifies that she means that I am being immature by listening to
my music like a teenager would.
A musical blast from the past fills the Breen household
“What are you, 16?”
This is what my wife asks me when I listen to my music too loudly in the car or in the shower.
Usually, I say ‘thank you’ when she asks me this because she must mean that I am showing my young and vibrant side. Then she clarifies that she means that I am being immature by listening to my music like a teenager would.
I like listening to music in the car or when I’m taking a shower and I’m not going to apologize for that. Is it acting like a teenager to blast music while I’m driving? Yes, because that is what I did when I was 16 and that’s what my 16-year-old son does.
Back in the day, my friends and I would pile into my Dodge Ram mini-truck and cruise San Benito Street every Friday and Saturday night, our windows down and the stereo up. We might be blasting a radio station or we might be cranking a favorite band from the cassette player.
It was loud and we felt free.
Now that I’m 42, I only cruise San Benito Street if I’m on my way to work or to Progresso’s for dinner. I don’t feel quite as unencumbered as I did when I was in high school, but I still like to listen to my music when I’m in my truck.
When I’m by myself, I have no concerns about picking a radio station that appeals to the varied tastes of my family. My wife likes country or Christian rock. My sons like R&B and rap. I like different things depending on my mood.
Sometimes I want to keep it slow and easy when I’m driving, so I listen to KBAY or some other soft rock station. At other times, I want to hear hard-hitting rock or bass-thumping rap. Much of the time, I like to go back – way back – and enjoy an 80s flashback.
I know enough to turn down the music when other people, particularly my wife, are in the car. I still like what I like, however, and those who are along for the ride have to put up with my varied musical tastes as well as my voice – or lack thereof.
There’s something about having music playing when I’m in the shower that makes the clean-up process more enjoyable. I think it’s the same concept as when a person listens to music while working out – the beat helps them move quicker and pass the time.
Lately I’ve been plugging my cell phone into some speakers and playing music in the bathroom while I’m taking a shower. It’s my personal time and I like to listen to some tunes while I’m getting ready.
Unfortunately, I’m often getting ready at the same time my wife is getting ready, which means that her 42-year-old “16-year-old” is playing his music over the sound of one of her television shows.
“What are you, 16?” she’ll ask again, hoping that I’ll turn down my jams.
I sometimes do, because compromise is the hallmark of a successful marriage, but sometimes I walk around the corner, check out what she is watching on TV, and ask her a simple question:
“What are you, 16?”
She might be watching Jersey Shore or Gossip Girl or Pretty Little Liars, all of which have young, teen-oriented casts. I know this because they feature commercials for acne medications and hair products.
She usually gets the point. And then she gets her way when I turn down my music so she can watch her shows.
So we both like to take a break from our adult lives now and then and listen to music or watch a program that takes us back to high school for a few moments. Ten minutes later, we are telling our 16-year-old to turn down his music because we can’t hear ourselves think, and we are back to being adults.
“What are you, 16?” my wife says through my son’s door, instinctively.
Luckily, his music is too loud for him to answer.
Adam Breen teaches newspaper and yearbook classes at San Benito High School and is a reporter for The Pinnacle. He is former editor of the Free Lance. He can be reached by e-mail at ab****@pi**********.com.
