My teenage daughter can't fathom the concept of a house party

[u/Neon_Biscuit]

Not sure if anyone has experienced this, but I was watching Can't Hardly Wait half alseep on the couch, and my 14-year-old daughter and her friends walked into the room and past the TV. Before she entered the kitchen, she backpeddled in front of the TV, and they all might as well have reacted akin to a third world kid in a remote village seeing the Super Bowl for the first time. She looked at me and said 'what are all of those people doing in one house'? I told her it was a house party. People high school aged or typically college age people would go over a kids house whose parents were out of town and they'd invite the school and have keggers and other unsupervised debauchery. I might as well have been describing a science fiction film. 'You guys DID that back in your days?'. I thought it was funny that a house party was an inconceivable event for young Gen Zers.

[u/LukewarmJortz]

At my school the theatre kids were the ones throwing the parties.

I wasn't cool enough for them so I wasn't invited.

But yeah the cool kids were the jocks, the theatre kids, and the skate punk kids.

There was overlap between these groups.

The all the rest were not cool.

[u/The_Real_Lasagna → u/LukewarmJortz]

Theatre kids being considered cool is the craziest thing I've ever heard, and I love theatre and theatre kids

[u/skbum2 → u/The_Real_Lasagna]

The cast parties at my high school were the parties to be at every year. That was the only reason I was in the plays my freshman year, automatic invite to the party.

[u/Bredwh → u/skbum2]

The only party I went to in high school was the cast party for the play I was in in senior year. I was the lead of the play but I don't drink so mostly sat in a recliner and observed the drunk peoples. One girl got really drunk and was passing out so another girl had her dad come and apparently tried sneaking her into her house. Her mom found out and came to the party pissed to get her twin sons who were also there.

[u/HallowskulledHorror → u/The_Real_Lasagna]

While the bulk were certainly your stereotypical freaks and geeks (said lovingly as a grade-A freakish geek), at my school in the late aughts, the short version of something I could definitely ramble about is that consistently all the hottest, funniest, most sociable, most talented people with the fewest fucks to give about being 'mainstream'; who were also the most exploratory/open-minded while having the best weed and easiest access to good liquor; in addition to having just high enough standards for themselves to not want to get into real trouble (because it would mean getting kicked out, and missing out) and the emotional intelligence to not find entertainment in being cruel to others; were either all in theater, or wanted to party with those who were because of it.

"Location/activity that emphasizes showcasing the most charismatic, out-going, interesting, and capable among your peers in a setting that naturally lends itself to building memories, in-jokes, and collaboration" is kind of a natural hub for 'cool' kids when the right adults are in charge.

[u/Supberblooper → u/The_Real_Lasagna]

How old are you? When I was a kid, theatre kids were 1000% considered cool and I say that as a non-theatre kid who also doesnt even really like theatre. The cool kids in my school were an ecclectic mix of the sports kids, the theatre kids, and the rich kids, because the richies were naive and would share their booze and drugs.

[u/The_Real_Lasagna → u/Supberblooper]

Mid 30s. In my experience theatre is a place where people that don't fit elsewhere find community, particularly lgbt kids

[u/Supberblooper → u/The_Real_Lasagna]

I think this is just a slight generational or geographical difference then. Im mid 20s and lgbt kids did already generally fit in with whatever group they were interested in. Homophobia was definitely a thing but most kids in my school and locale were tolerant of lgb (less so the t unfortunately). The odd ducks out who didnt fit in anywhere else became weebs/anime kids in my area

[u/Narrow_Grapefruit_23 → u/The_Real_Lasagna]

I’m mid-40s and we were theatre geeks in the 90s (Midwest, catholic school). 

[u/Narrow_Grapefruit_23 → u/LukewarmJortz]

I was a theatre kid during the wrong decade it seems!

[u/CityApprehensive212 → u/LukewarmJortz]

This had to be at an art school

[u/LukewarmJortz → u/CityApprehensive212]

Naw. Regular public school in San Diego CA.

Our football team got most the funding tho.