I LOVE McSweeneys but I must WARN YOU, there is some satire ahead. If you are a super literal person, you might not want to read further if you might be offended by someone being offended about your age, or being “older.” Disclaimer aside, I have been on the older side of youthful mocking and criticism for the crime of being older and I’ll provide some examples after this quote.

You, woman with the long grey hair, dancing right in front of the stage, don’t do that, what you’re doing there. It’s not good. And you, next to her, same thing. I know the music is good, but this is no way to respond. They are like wizards casting a spell on us. You should be mesmerized, rocking hypnotically, but you are doing some weird kind of twitch…Mcsweenys in “an open letter to the aging hippies dancing at the tinariwen concert“.

Here in Portland, Oregon there are plenty of aging dancing hippies at nearly every concert except maybe the hardcore punk scene. Even still I have experienced ageism the now politically correct term to describe prejudice and stereotyping of older adults, but it can also be reversed in essence where everyone is stereotyping everyone else based on age and a host of other traits and attributes. Wikipedia defines ageism as:

Among them were prejudicial attitudes towards older people, old age, and the aging process; discriminatory practices against older people; and institutional practices and policies that perpetuate stereotypes about elderly people.

I AM that old woman with white hair dancing like a dervish near the front of the stage. It feels great to get out with other people (I still mask, covid is still a thing) and move my body to live music. I see people of all ages when I go to a show and that helps me to not feel conscious or “out of place.” I have several friends my age or older, so older than 66 years old and they too are doing what they’ve been doing their entire lives, dancing in public. 

That includes Tinariwen (Vancouver Folk Festival 2011)