
Dave Barry: The Greatest (Party) Generation - jseliger
http://www.wsj.com/articles/dave-barry-the-greatest-party-generation-1424965599?mod=trending_now_5
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wtbob
I just have to quote the meat of the matter:

> My parents had a large circle of friends, and just about every weekend,
> throughout my childhood, they had cocktail parties, which rotated from house
> to house. I loved it when the party was at our house. Dozens of cars filled
> our driveway and lined the narrow dirt road we lived on, and dozens of
> couples poured into the house—the men in suits and ties, the women in
> dresses and heels, everybody talking, shouting, laughing, eating hors
> d’oeuvres, smoking, heading to the lineup of bottles on the kitchen counter
> to pour another drink.

> My sister and brothers and I would lurk on the edges of the party, watching
> the show, until we got noticed and sent off to bed. But we didn’t go to
> sleep; we’d sneak back and peek into the smoke-clouded living room to watch
> as the party got more boisterous, the sound rising to a joyous roar.
> Sometimes the partyers sang, pounding on our upright piano and belting out
> popular songs, or parody songs they wrote, sometimes on the spot. They’d
> give each other elaborate gag gifts, and sometimes put on skits or little
> musical shows, complete with costumes. They held theme parties—charades
> parties, talent show parties, parties involving scavenger hunts. They’d hire
> a dancing instructor to teach them the mambo, the cha-cha, the twist,
> whatever was popular. The parties would go late into the night; the next
> morning, the living room would be littered with empty drink glasses, loaded
> ashtrays and, occasionally, a partyer or two snoring on the sofa.

I honestly can't imagine what it must be like to live in a _society_ like
that. It sounds wonderful, much better than the mass fragmentation I think we
all live in now.

