Old Man, Lady Gaga, and the unexpected

In her email newsletter, Kailua-Kona yoga teacher Barbara Uechi mentioned a video, Old Man Dances to Lady Gaga, posted on Today’s BIG Thing. I couldn’t resist checking it out.

I admit that I’m a sucker for uplifting Joe Shmoe performances. But why exactly did it make the cut? Why is it a “big thing” to see a silvery senior go all out dancing to “Poker Face”?

We expect men his age not to dance, certainly not to Lady Gaga. (If he’d performed a smooth ballroom number, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.) We expect people to behave in conventional ways, in childhood and college, in middle age and beyond. That’s why we marvel at kids who are prodigies or simply precocious. At those who return to school or leave secure careers in middle age. At seniors who run marathons, wear cool jeans, keep up with new music and high tech, or simply dance. At the unexpected.