Janus' Thoughts Develop (Ch.12f) :Meeting More Lifestylers

Chapter 12f : Meeting More Lifestylers

 

Janus was not ready to give up on this movement yet.  Two young lads was not an adequate sample from the population of Lifestylers.  Surely there were others who would have more vision and awareness, someone with whom he could discuss the movement.  He looked around while this interval continued.  There were a couple of young ladies, attractive to his view,  who seemed to be waiting, not involved in any particular conversation or activity.  He went over towards them.  Although he could well be quite shy towards women and attractive ones in particular (his social opportunities had always been quite limited),  but these were so much younger, it would not hurt him in any way to talk to them.  He steeled himself in any case to find out more about these people while he was here.  This was social research

 

‘Hello, girls,’ he said, as casually as possible.  ‘Are you enjoying the gig?’  He waited for the kind of noncommittal reaction which he’d had from First Youth and Cast.

 

‘Hi,’ they both said at once, smiling.  ‘Yes, we’re really enjoying it.  That band the Dragions were really good.  You know, the one before last.’

 

Janus had indeed seen them.  ‘Yes, I thought so too.  Very modern, very melodic, exciting too.’  These too seemed charming, the complete and opposite of the other two youths.  They were like any well brought-up “professional” women would be at their age, before the repetition of work dulled their behaviour.  That was probably what they were, just normal young ladies.  Indeed they seemed much more outgoing than the average professional woman type would be.

 

‘Carisa liked the lead singer, didn’t you?’ Laughed the other one, long brown hair, brown eyes and a slender figure. 

 

‘Well I have to admit...’ said Carisa, who had a fresh attractive face and whose hair was a similar length but slightly lighter.  These young ladies had a very open sense of humour, that much was obvious, and Janus was included in it, despite being a total stranger.  Nothing could be more different from the greeting accorded by First Youth and Cast.  Perhaps he did not look too old to these young ladies.  Likely they enjoyed attention from men and were happy to talk.  Age did not diminish the attraction of women towards men.  They probably appreciated maturity, and he was not all that much older than them anyway.

 

‘The lead singer was that guy with the big nose and the curly brown hair?’ ventured Janus, ‘Singing about lost hopes.’

 

‘Yeah, that was the guy,’ said the first girl.  ‘I don’t know what he was singing about, but he was good.  And Carissa certainly thought so.’

 

‘Thanks, Marga,’ said Carissa.  ‘I’ve admitted it now.  I don’t think his nose is too big.  It’s perfect.’

 

‘Do you ladies think of yourselves as “Lifestylers”?’ asked Janus, feeling confident that he could ask such a question without receiving a blank response.

 

Marga smiled.  ‘Well what do you think?  Are we?’

 

‘Well, I don’t know,’ said Janus.  ‘This movement is all fairly new to me so I was just wondering what you thought of yourselves.  What you think you are.’

 

‘Are you a journalist reporter then?’ asked Marga, still humourous.

 

‘I don’t work for a newsgroup, if that’s what you mean.  But I’m a sort of writer.  I am interested in this movement,’ said Janus.

 

‘Yeah, we’re sort of Lifestylers, I suppose,’ said Carissa.  ‘We like the lifestyle and the look.’

 

‘And the guys are nice,’ said Marga.

 

Carissa giggled.  ‘Yeah, I suppose that’s true as well.’

 

‘So I see you like the guys with the long hair?’ asked Janus.

 

‘Not necessarily,’ said Carissa.  ‘Some of the short haired ones are rather nice too.’  She probably thought he was flirting with her.  These young ladies enjoyed the attention.  But that wasn’t his intention.  It was a pleasant surprise however to be able to indulge in such light-hearted conversation without prior expectation.  It just showed how it was possible to get on with the opposite sex when he had the opportunity.  Normally he would not have been so forward.  The stirrings of sexual interest were present in him.  He was well aware of that, but it was not his purpose now.  He was concerned with larger implications now.  These days he had a purpose even if it might seem ridiculous to most “normal” people.  He also knew that even if he did try to flirt seriously with these two he would probably only end up wasting his time.  They were nice girls, he thought, but they were quite a few years younger than him and were more interested in the members of these bands and their followers.

 

‘So you don’t follow them for the messages they proclaim, but because you find them attractive.’

 

‘And the music too,’ said Marga.  ‘I don’t think too much about the message.’

 

‘Me too,’ said Carisa, realising that Janus’ questions were serious.  ‘I don’t think too much about the words they’re saying.  I don’t even know what they are half the time.  When I come to these gigs it’s the whole atmosphere, the men – sure, but the girls in the bands are cool too.  I get to meet interesting people.  It is the lifestyle.  To be a part of it you don’t have to  listen to everything they’re saying, just live the life.’

 

‘So what is the Lifestyler life then, ladies?  Is it just coming to  gigs like this when you can make it or is this a complete lifestyle?  I mean are you still at college or have you left normal life totally?’

 

‘Well this is the lifestyle,’ said Marga.  ‘It’s an attitude of mind.  I reckon some people give up everything normal, whereas for others, when they’re away from college they can be free.’

 

‘We’re both still college students,’ said Carisa.  ‘So does that mean we’re not real Lifestylers?  I feel that I am a real Lifestyler.  Particularly when I’m here.  But when I’m at college I still feel a bit like a Lifestyler.  I have the right attitude you know and there are little signs you can transmit.  You know in the way you wear your clothes and what you wear.  Quite a few of us at college are Lifestylers.  I think we must be Lifestylers then.’

 

‘But then,’ added Marga, ‘We’re not as “Lifestyle” as some, are we?’

 

‘No, I suppose not.  It’s a matter of degree, I think,’ said Carisa.

 

Janus was pleased to find that these young ladies were open and friendly, but as they had admitted to him they were not fully Lifestylers.  They had no intention of giving up their college courses.  They still intended to join the world of the normal worker when their educational achievement allowed them.

 

‘How many of these people are in college, do you think, and how many manage to live the real Lifestyle as professed by the leading singers?’ he asked.

 

‘Oh, I think most of them are still in college,’ said ........ ‘I don’t think there are many real Lifestylers, as you call them.  These are people who wish to express themselves in fashion and music but we don’t reject our study paths.  We must study to acquire a profession and to make a place for ourselves.’

 

The girl’s admission disappointed Janus, who had begun to hope that these young people’s unconventional dress and the liberation they seemed to find in the music meant a dedication to the principles their stars expressed.  First youth and Cast had disappointed him for opposite reasons.  They had seemed not to have been liberated in any way by the Lifestyle.  They were walled in individuals, closed to the harmony of human camaraderie supposedly expressed by the “movement”.  They were reluctant even to talk to or be seen in the company of people who were only a handful of years older.  Even more than that they displayed hostility or at least a sense of superiority over him.  Meeting those two had led him to the impression that the movement had failed to convey any worthwhile message to its followers and that it was not a genuine force for change.

 

The young ladies gave him a different view, thankfully.  They were young and naive, but polite and naturally friendly.  Better that the “movement” transmitted its positive ideas to the young than not at all.  He had perhaps been naive to think that there was any way in which the young could "“drop out” of the Modern Work Society in the way their musicians suggested.

 

‘I was under the impression that many Lifestylers “opt out” of the modern work society,’ said Janus.  ‘Are you telling me that some do but most don’t?’

 

Marga looked at him as if she had not considered the question in much detail before.  ‘I think opting out is a rare thing amongst us.  I know the musicians opt out.  But it’s easy for them.  If they’re making enough money to live on they can have a “Lifestyle” which is different but for the rest of us it would be difficult to drop out, wouldn’t it?  I mean how can a person drop out and hope to have enough money to live on?  If we don’t go to college we lose our loan entitlement.  And if we haven’t completed relevant course modules and achieved reasonable course results we cannot find employers.  Unless we have rich and uderstanding parents there is no way to exist as a drop out.  How many parents would encourage or allow their children to drop out?

 

‘I want to be able to live in comfort and have reasonable clothes,’ agreed Carisa.  ‘I could not take up the Lifestyle completely.’

 

‘But there are some who do so?  Apart from musicians?’ asked Janus.  ‘Just before I met you I spoke to two young men.  They said they were Lifestylers and did not attend college.  They were not friendly to me as you are, but I took them to mean that they were drop outs.  Actually I wasn’t able to get very clear answers out of them.’

 

Janus talked to the young ladies for a short while longer but he saw that they began to tire of serious discussion.  Carisa was here to meet a young man of her own age or, if she was lucky, a singer.  Perhaps she assumed now that Janus had another motive in talking to them, which was serious.  She perhaps came to the conclusion that she didn’t want to spend too long chatting to this older man who evidently was not going to ask her or Marga “out”.  She probably was far more interested in some of the other younger men who were closer to the Lifestyle ideal.

 

‘Anyway it’s been nice to meet you, Janus.’  Carisa remembered his name.  ‘But I think I’ll just go over and chat to some friends over there.’

 

‘Yes, nice to meet you,’ he said politely.  He had been very surprised at how long he had managed to keep these young ladies’ interest.  In the past he had rarely had so much social success with ladies of this age, particularly when he had been making a conscious effort to get to know them.

 

Carisa floated off to exchange youthspeak with other young people, joining a small group she seemed to know.  Within minutes Marga, her reserve rising because she was no longer with her friend, decided also that the time had come to move away.  Let the young people join their own social groups, he thought, accepting the inevitability of it.  A few short minutes later the next band was on stage.

 

Janus was heartened by his conversation with the two younger ladies.  Their fairly abrupt departure did not concern him.  He never expected them to want to spend the whole evening with him.  They had been happy to engage in conversation with him, and had treated him as a friend, not an outsider.  They had exchanged interesting thoughts with him.  He now felt he understood the movement better.  The disappointment of talking to First Youth and Cast had been a distraction from the real situation.  Although he didn’t yet understand how they managed to live outside the college system at their age, it was now obvious that they did not represent the normal fan of the new Lifestyle.  The average fan was a college student, much like the two girls.  They liked the music, the excitement and style of a movement which spoke to the senses and provided society and release from the work patterns of normal society.

 

Janus had seen the interviews with pre-eminent Lifestyle band members on Vidnet and he had heard the lyrics of their songs.  They gave the listener impressions of there being a choice in life.  The listener can follow the normal paths of life, obedient and controlled, or he or she could choose the alternatives, which appeared fulfilling and more in touch with human nature. It was obvious where the band members got their income to survive in an unconventional society, but how could others afford to live?  Did they live on the support of relatives, which would have been contrary to the independence espoused; or did they find the supplies they needed in some more illegal way – unlikely as crime figures had become very low in recent decades due to the pressures which society placed upon social conformity.  There was no recent increase in crime, and anyway the Lifestyle spokesmen looked down on such antisocial behaviour.  Perhaps they avoided the use of money, sharing their skills with each other  wherever possible so that jobs could be performed and existence maintained.

 

He now suspected that only a few Lifestylers could exist outside normal working society.  The “girls” were at college, others would have normal jobs.  Janus realised that the movement produced an artificial view of Lifestyle.  The promised Lifestyle was hardly possible to be lived.  It mainly existed in the minds of its creators and its adherents.  As such the Lifestyle was great entertainment and had the effect of creating desires in the minds of its adherents which could, Janus thought, affect their behaviour and attitudes.  The movement could be a force for good and for change, he thought, but it was not being honest with its followers.  Why, he thought, didn’t they tell the truth and encourage their followers to make practical use of their ideas by acting politically in some way?

 

The Lifestyle was likely to end up as entertainment rather than social movement, thought Janus.  The youth of these people suggested naivete.  Most of them had lived their lives so far in a world of study, but had not yet experienced the disappointments of work as those expectations of success or satisfaction failed to be achieved.  They didn’t yet know what they were dealing with.  Probably a good number of them still expected that the Lifestyle options were real.