ANN ARBOR, Mich. – A recent Friday night in Ann Arbor was one of those work nights when I really wished my wife Corey was with me.
Corey is one of those people who would rather dance than just about anything else, and she would have marveled, as I did, at the scene on the dancefloor.
The saying goes that you should “dance like no one is watching.” It’s the best way to give in to the joyful abandon that music can provide. And that’s what I saw at Ann Arbor Happy Hour at LIVE.
It’s often jokingly called “The Geezer Happy Hour” but to be honest, I didn’t see anyone who qualified to be a geezer. Geezers are stodgy, crusty, incalcitrant and cheerless, and none of those words would describe a single person attending Happy Hour.
It took all of about ten minutes to understand the success of this long-running Friday night tradition. It is such a happy place. And because they are all so familiar with the vibe, the music and the company there is no “feeling out” process.
Many in the Happy Hour crowd head straight to the dance floor as if they had found a swimming pool on a hundred-degree day. And I detected no protectionism, no exclusivity; these folks enjoy seeing newcomers because it means their evangelism of music, dance, and happiness has worked on yet another soul.
And, best of all, I saw a whole lot of people dancing like no one was watching. They were finding joy, and that’s a pretty good Friday night.