Vantage point

The bands marched into Brady Street Stadium, full of energy and enthusiasm.  The stands were packed for the day long IHSA Marching Band competition.  Well, half the stands were packed.  The stands facing east were chock full, while the stands facing west were empty.

Was it violating some social norm to sit on the other side?  Was it just not a good idea since the bands all orient themselves to the judges facing the other way?  Was it even permitted?  Was someone going to stop me from sitting alone on the “wrong” side?

All good questions, that I dismissed.  I had seen the show from the “correct” side a half dozen times, and this was Colin’s last performance of his high school career.  The tallest kid with the biggest drum, somebody who knows a thousand times more about marching drill than me had him and the rest of the drumline in the background for most of the show.

But background can just as easily be foreground, if social convention matters not.