Dear Crabby, Should I Learn to Dance?

Dear Crabby, I have never learned to dance, but my wife keeps asking me to try it. Should I give it a try?

Sincerely, A.K. Ward

 

Dear Mr. Ward

This is definitely an area I can relate with. I have never been all that interested in dancing and Mrs. Crabby has had to coerce me in that direction on a few occasions. The first time was just before our wedding. She knew we would be up in front of 300 family members who would expect us to know how to slow dance. So, we took some lessons at our local community center. We were supposed to learn the waltz, the foxtrot, and swing dancing. By the third week, I was feeling pretty good out there. The instructor showed us this great move for swing dancing and I really got into the groove! I was holding Mrs. Crabby’s hands and swinging back and forth like a dancing machine. Next thing I knew, the instructor ran over to us and told everyone to observe our dancing! I was so excited I started to swing our arms higher and harder! It was at that moment that the instructor loudly announced, “This is a perfect example of what not to do! This is what we call the Teapot Couple!” Our excitement quickly faded as we sank back in embarrassment. Thankfully, we did learn a few steps and I managed to fumble through the wedding dance just fine. It wasn’t until years later that I was asked to enter this territory again – this time by my daughter. She wanted me to take dance lessons for her wedding so she and I could do some crazy jazzy dance for the Daddy-Daughter Dance.  I ended up training with one of her friends for a couple months before the wedding. I was so bad, the girls said they weren’t sure the plan was going to work after all. I pushed through and told them I would do just fine. Well, the big night came and we started our routine out on the dance floor. The idea was to start real slow and sweet, then bust out into this funky chicken kind of routine half way through. We were doing great until the sound system failed and the music stopped. My daughter stopped with the music, but not me! Not having music didn’t bother me one bit. You see, I can’t pick up rhythm anyway, so I had just memorized the steps. So, there I was stepping through my moves in a silent room while everyone was cracking up. Oh well, if you can’t make people laugh at you, what good are you? Or maybe it’s “If you can’t laugh at yourself, what good are you?” I never remember. But as far as your dilemma goes, I say to give it a try. I would have missed out on many opportunities if I had waited till I felt like doing it. Get out of your comfort zone and move those hips while you still can! Good luck.

Sincerely, Dear Crabby

 

Stuck in a rut? Need some biased advice from a crabby old baby-boomer? Ask DearCrabby@RochesterMedia.com