I should've spritzed on some Bengay to fit in

On Friday night, I got a call from my dad who asked if I felt like being spontaneous. After spending 157 hours in my house last week avoiding the cold, yes, I felt like being spontaneous.

It turned out a family member had tickets to the symphony and my parents would be happy to watch Madeline for us if we wanted to go. The performance started in two hours.

I had split pea splatter on my sweatshirt that I may or may not have slept in the night before. I was so in.

And that's how Joe and I found ourselves surrounded by Cadillac owners in fur coats on Friday night.

I really love going to live performances of any kind. Operas. Plays. Musicals. And I didn't think I was the only one in my generation who enjoyed the symphony.

I'm still convinced I'm not alone. But since evidence proved Joe and I were the only 20-somethings within a two-mile radius of the theater, I am apparently the only member of my generation who is thrilled to go to the symphony at 8 p.m. on Friday.

But we already know I'm old in spirit.

Anyways, it was a night of Ella Fitzgerald with jazz singer Patti Austin. I waited the whole evening in vain to hear "At Last." While thinking about it yesterday, I remembered that Etta James sang "At Last," not Ella Fitzgerald.

Hey, I never professed to be a music expert; I just enjoy listening to it.

The audience, however, was filled with music experts who knew exactly when to "ooooh!" and "ahhhh" at the right moments. The conductor would announce, "This next arrangement is by Billy So-And-So," and the entire auditorium erupted into hushed "oooohs" and smatterings of polite, golf claps.

Billy must be a big deal.

Joe and I missed every single chance to "ooooh" at the appropriate moment and, believe me, we really, really tried once we realized that was the cool thing to do.

If your grandparents recently mentioned two ignorant 20-somethings who attended the symphony with blank looks and never "ooooh-ed" at the right moment, just know they're talking about me.

Despite our lack of blending in with the crowd, it was a wonderful, last-minute date night. The orchestra sounded gorgeous and Patti Austin had a beautiful voice. She was also a fantastic storyteller who shared snippets of Ella's life in between songs.

The only downfall was the two loud people near us. We had a shouter and a hummer.

When Patti shared that Ella never did drugs, the shouter yelled, "I KNEW IT!" Apparently, he was very proud to already know Ella never did drugs. He shouted many other things too.

And the hummer, sitting directly behind me, knew every song and wanted to share that with us.

I'm just glad I restrained myself enough to not demand, "AT! LAST! AT! LAST! AT! LAST!" at the encore which would have definitely proved my ignorance to everyone. As if not "ooooh-ing" at the right moments didn't already make that clear.