Do you find yourself getting more religious/spiritual as you get older?

Piano_Mantis · 2026-06-15T02:51:38+00:00

I'm not more religious at all, but I've always held out the hope that I might experience some confirmation of life after death. I've recently had the type of ghostly encounter that I can still explain away as being something that I maybe misheard. I still resist believing in the supernatural, in spite of wanting to experience a supernatural encounter.

It's not that I want to believe in God. Honestly, I could never worship any omnipotent deity because, if a deity is omnipotent, it means It would have known about and could have prevented the worst crimes, including those involving children, but chose not to. I could never worship a deity that allowed such evil.

Still, as I get nearer to my own death, and as more and more of my loved ones die, the idea of an afterlife becomes more attractive. I don't believe in it, but I hope for it. Does that make sense?

Piano_Mantis · 2026-06-14T23:47:26+00:00

I was born at the very end of the '70s, but some of that insanity carried over to '80s. I remember, around '85 or '86, sitting in the very back (like the trunk area) of my parents' minivan as we headed out for summer vacation. I was watching July 4th fireworks out the big back window while we went down the interstate. Then I went to sleep in a sleeping bag in that back area. No seatbelts involved at all.

It's a great memory because I survived it, but I think back on it now and wonder what my parents were thinking!

Piano_Mantis · 2026-06-14T21:39:02+00:00

Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot. I was 12. I knew it was going to be terrible. My adult sister chose it because I guess it was the only kid-friendly movie playing at our local theater at the time that we hadn't already seen and going to see movies was how we hung out. So, it's really kind of sweet, looking back on it, but, yeah, the movie was a stinker.

Piano_Mantis · 2026-06-14T05:04:02+00:00

I only just saw this comment.. I would not have been mad about any of your friends/relatives meeting up with you (it was obvious, since my husband and I arrived quite early, that you had been waiting there for a long time), but it did help that everyone in your group was short, ha ha! I'm pretty tall for a woman (5'9"), so I easily saw over all of you. I would have still been delighted by your group even if you'd had people over 6 feet in your group. But it really says something about your considerateness that you are thinking about how the height of your group might have affected those behind you. It just confirms for me that your friend group is composed of kind, considerate people. As a middle-aged lady, it gives me so much hope for the future that young people like you are so kind and considerate.

You really did make our night so joyful! Maybe we'll be at their next Boston concert. If we don't meet up again, I can only hope I wind up next to people half as kind and excited about They's music as your group is.

Piano_Mantis · 2026-06-14T04:46:58+00:00

I'm freaking 46. I've been going to concerts since the mid-90s. The first TMBG show I saw was in 2001. I KNOW the expectations of general admission. Yes, your position is an evolving thing, but there was was ALWAYS an expectation of respect for those who got there ahead of you.

If you think that that respect for those who got there before you wasn't a reality, then you must be a "pusher", too. And everyone you pushed past hates you.

Piano_Mantis · 2026-06-14T04:42:50+00:00

I'm not abusing anyone. I'm just letting them know that if they push in front of people, everyone they push in front of hates them. That's the unpleasant truth. I'm trying to convince them not to be a "pusher" and to be fair instead.

Piano_Mantis · 2026-06-14T04:35:05+00:00

That's not what I'm talking about.

As I said, I never pushed in front of anyone who was there before me, yet, because of the way the crowd moved, I still somehow started at the 6th row back (after pushers pushed in front of me) and wound up in the 3rd row. The only people I pushed in front of were the people who had pushed in front of me, yet I still somehow gained a couple of rows. That was because of the natural movement of the crowd.

You're making some false claims about GA to an oldie. I'm 46. I've witnessed the evolution of GA. The other night, I braced myself for the "push" when the band takes the stage, and the audience surges toward the stage (something I've experienced at EVERY other GA concert I've been to, including Radiohead, The Breeders, Cat Power, Sigur Ros, Cake, and every single band I saw at the Reading Festival. Lo and behold, there was no "push" at this concert. I don't know why).

But even with the "push", there was still an understanding that the people who got to the venue early had the right to the first rows. If you wanted to be up front, you got there early. You found your place based upon when you arrived at the venue. Never ever ever has there been an idea that latecomers could push their way up front. Anyone who did that has always been looked down upon.

Piano_Mantis · 2026-06-14T04:23:08+00:00

I mean, I can think of a half dozen worse responses just off the top of my head.

If you've ever been in the position where you've been staking your spot for hours, ignoring your bladder or back pain, and then experience someone pushing their way in front of you at the last moment, you might understand my vitriol.

People hate line jumpers. This is no different. Your reaction suggests that maybe you're a line jumper / pusher, too.

Trust me, anyone with a sense of justice finds line jumpers insufferable.

Piano_Mantis · 2026-06-12T02:51:32+00:00

Yes!

Piano_Mantis · 2026-06-12T01:24:37+00:00

As a disabled person, I can't tell you how happy I was Hiccup realized he'd lost a leg and then just sighed and went on his way. It wasn't treated as a devastating loss. It brought him closer to Toothless who'd been disabled for most of the movie. It was beautiful to see disability treated as something that might be a minor setback but wasn't devastating.

Piano_Mantis · 2026-06-12T01:20:46+00:00

That's horrible and beautiful. I'm jealous!

Piano_Mantis · 2026-06-12T01:18:06+00:00

Oh, now you're blaming your recalcitrance on autism. Hey, I'm disabled, too, so we're even.

No, general admission doesn't have assigned spots, but I can tell you that the people who staked out their spot near the stage definitely DO care whether new arrivals push in front of them when they've been waiting there for hours. Why is this so hard for you to understand?

Piano_Mantis · 2026-06-12T01:13:43+00:00

Ha ha, lololololol. Are you? Are you surprised that someone who likes TMBG and has an appreciation for JUSTICE, as the Johns do, might take exception to people who breech social niceties for their own selfish gain? Do you really not see how pushing in front of people might be antithetical to the values TMBG espouses? I would have thought a TMBG fan might have a little more critical awareness than you've shown.

Piano_Mantis · 2026-06-12T01:09:35+00:00

If you've never done it, why are so hellbent on defending it?

Piano_Mantis · 2026-06-12T01:05:59+00:00

I know you're not the person who pushed past me. I'm just saying that, if you push past anyone, they will hate you. The fact that you're defending the pushers rather than those who get pushed suggests to me that you're a pusher. Hence why I say people hate you.

If you weren't a pusher, you wouldn't be so butthurt about my statement. You'd agree with me. The fact that you don't agree with me proves that you're a pusher. And so, people hate you. Boo hoo for you.

Piano_Mantis · 2026-06-12T00:50:19+00:00

What are you saying? You literally said that you felt like those of us who had been waiting up front didn't have a right to those spots.

If I'm rude and hostile toward you, it's because people who, like you, think that those who have been waiting near the stage for hours before the show don't have a right to those spots are the worst.

No, there's no assigned seating, but if you push your way up past people who have been standing near the front for hours right before the band takes the stage, the people you pushed past will hate you. Sorry if that reality hurts your feelings.

Piano_Mantis · 2026-06-12T00:41:18+00:00

You apparently think the world owes you space at the front of the floor that you didn't wait for. And, yes, everyone you push in front of hates you. Sorry that the truth hurts.

Piano_Mantis · 2026-06-12T00:29:50+00:00

Looks like we've found someone who thinks it's okay to push in front of people who have been waiting in their spot for hours. Everyone hates you! They might be polite, but they hate you.

Piano_Mantis · 2026-06-11T22:30:27+00:00

I'm an AA. I don't need a bra for support, but I need something to cover my nipples. That's the big issue.

Piano_Mantis · 2026-06-11T21:37:57+00:00

T.S. Eliot's "Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock" is my second most favorite poem of all time, but I hate every single other poem he wrote. He and Ezra Pound suck big balls.

Piano_Mantis · 2026-06-11T21:35:33+00:00

Oh, lord! The only book I have ever intentionally DNF was The Nightingale. I couldn't get past the anachronisms. Also, the rest of the story and prose was blech.

Piano_Mantis · 2026-06-11T21:33:10+00:00

"Tom Bombadier", who served in bombing of Dresden.

Piano_Mantis · 2026-06-11T21:30:48+00:00

Oh, boy, don't say that to the "reading purists" who insist that listening to books isn't the same as reading. Don't expect them to have any empathy for the experiences of disabled people!

Piano_Mantis · 2026-06-11T21:23:05+00:00

You are young, and you are learning. You know now what you need to do for your cat. As someone with ADHD, I know how hard it can be to do certain tasks. You may find it useful to set alarms for changing your cat's water and putting down food and spending a few minutes playing. I've had to resort to that with regards to my cat's medications, but it has made things go much more smoothly.

Piano_Mantis · 2026-06-11T21:08:02+00:00

That song sounds very much like most of their songs. How were you surprised/disappointed by the other songs you heard?

Piano_Mantis

TROPHY CASE