leannie

i learned something new today, and it was quite fascinating. i was at the print shop, having a poster printed. the old man in charge of the shop was having difficulty figuring out what file i wanted printed. so, i walked over to his desk, and pointed out the file. he clicked somewhere on the screen, missing the file that i just pointed out to him, and opened a picture of an elderly lady dancing with an elderly man. i was like, "oh no! that's not my file. i don't know who they are...." and he laughed, and said, "oh, i know. that's my wife dancing with a friend. my wife and i are swaggers. do you know what a swinger is." immediately, i thought swaggers = swingers = sex. gross. this old man is about to tell me about his sex life. but, since this man was a lot older, in his seventies- i'm assuming- i just told him that i didn't know what a "swagger" was. and i am so glad that i didn't tell him what i really thought.

i mean really, really glad because it would have been terribly embarrassing.

but, this is what i found out. fascinating. really, it is.

a "swagger" is a person who dances to beach music. there is whole a society of them across the nation, but, most of them reside on the east coast. 12000 people are currently apart of the SOS, the Society of Stranders. According to their website, the were "Founded in 1980, the Society of Stranders (SOS) is an organization that enjoys, upholds, and perpetuates the traditions of beach and shag music, and shag dancing."

the man at the print shop told me all kinds of stories about shaggers, and i was just fascinated. for the past eleven years, he has gone to the beach every weekend to shag. it just amazed me that there was this part of of the american society that just danced, and they are elderly people too.....just amazing.....

so, yeah. i wanted to share that with anyone else who reads this.....