I began to gig in jazz clubs in my late teens back when I lived in Los Angeles. I had decided to eschew college in pursuit of a career as a jazz musician – a decision that has netted me upwards of hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. I was having a great time practicing 5-6 hours during the day and gigging at night.
One unfortunate byproduct of this situation was that I was invariably the youngest person in the club by over ten years. Not being in the cocoon of college made it difficult to find a girl close to my age to date. Where was Tinder when I needed it?!
Fast forward 40 years and all of the practice paid off. I’m gigging most nights, and I play at an extremely high level. However I’m now often the oldest person in the club by over 15 years. Somewhere up in heaven Rod Serling is having a good laugh.