Life sure has changed

Last weekend a couple of lady friends and I are out on the town. Or so we think. The husbands have been left behind for a few hours to fend for themselves. I remember when we used to be out stocking them, tracking them down like feisty, rabid hunters.
Things are different now; let me set the stage for you. We are idling in the drive-thru lane at Taco Bell. The clock on the dash reads 9:38 pm. Someone mentions that it's getting pretty late, we better hurry back to watch our chick-flick before it gets really late and we won't be able to stay awake through the entire movie. We concur with a nod and m-hmm in unison.
In nearby traffic a small 2 door car rigged with cheap flashy rims haphazardly attempts a u-turn, overshoots the corner, and rams the curb going way too fast. Stunned and shocked, we gasp very dramatically. How dare these young hoodlums drive so recklessly. We never did. It's obvious the car has blown a tire and the driver, feeling sheepish no doubt, pulls over to inspect said damage. A bent rim, I speculate. Does insurance cover that? Oh shush, I think to myself, only old people think about insurance at times like this. We crane our necks to get a load of this intense action. It's the most exciting thing that will happen all night. We'll repeat the story later to the one who sacrificed all the action to stay back with a sleeping babe. How ever will we calm down for a movie now?
I'm crammed into the back seat of a new SUV, sandwiched between 2 car seats. It's cool, but I'm child-locked in and I think I'm sitting on some kind of stuffed cartoon. I don't dare to check just in case it's not. Plus, I'm not wearing a seat belt and it feels rebellious, but not the thisisgoshdarnfun rebellious, the guilty kind of rebellious that actually stings a little. I used to never rarely feel that. Like the time we were supposed to go down to St. George for student council camp, but when we got there we didn't feel so much like student counciling, got our own hotel room, went to Vegas and had the time of our lives. Not even one tiny ping of guilt during or after that charade. But in this no seatbelt situation, I'm really living on the edge.
Back in the drive-thru it dawns on me. We routinely used to hit this same Taco Bell at roughly 2:00 am, and order our weight in diet coke, chicken quesadillas, and nachos slathered in greasy synthetic cheese sauce. And boy were those calories good. But this night, I don't order anything because I've already exceeded my daily carb intake, so no thanks I'll just stick with my diet water. I high-five myself silently for making the more responsible choice because it is after all, organic water, and it says so right on the bottle. We used to really go out on the town. Paint it red, the whole bit. Back then at 2:00 am, the night was a puppy, and we were well on our way to real excitement wherever or whatever that used to be. Either I can't remember, or I'm choosing to forget. At the time, it didn't seem to matter. We were the party, and everything else was our entourage.

Life sure has changed.

However the more I think about it, I really wouldn't have it any other way. Past or present.