Once you’re a band geek, you will always, deep in your heart, be one. Whether you were in band during your high school days or are still a practicing band geek, there are certain things that you will never forget.
1) You find yourself keeping in step to those walking around you, without even thinking about it.
You’ll either speed up or slowdown in order to match your steps with the people next to you.
2) You can sympathize with show ponies.
Not only are feathers annoying to have perched on top of your already big hat waving around, but they’re also a pain to keep maintained.
3) Nobody, except your fellow band geeks, understands your excitement when a song comes on the radio that you know how to play on an instrument.
Your heart skips a beat every time your favorite band song comes on the radio, and the only way to contain your excitement is to finger along in the air to it.
4) You have accidently used your cork grease as Chap Stick… and you’ve done it more than once.
Whose bright idea was it to make the two look identical?
5) You get highly offended every time someone says that marching band is not a sport.
When you can march backwards while holding a 25 pound hunk of metal in 90 degree weather, all while keeping count and exhaling all of your breath, then we can argue this point further.
6) You apologize to your instrument when you hit it off of something.
You die a little inside, and pray and hope that you didn’t dent your poor instrument, or even worse… chip your brand new reed.
7) A chipped reed can easily ruin your entire day.
ESPECIALLY when you just got a new one.
8) You sometimes still wear your neck strap 2 periods after band class ended without noticing.
You won’t notice you still have it hanging around your neck until someone in another class asks you what it is.
9) No amount of sunblock can save you from awful tan lines.
Sunburns and neck strap tan lines become a permanent part of your wardrobe, and you stop attempting to cover them up halfway through the season.
10) You have never ending “That one time at band camp” stories.
All of your non-band friends have heard all your band camp stories at least three times by now, but that’s not going to stop you from telling them again, is it?
11) You get irritated every time the football players mess up your marching field.
It’s always infuriating when you’re trying to perform in the half time show and you can’t find the yard line you have to line up with.
12) Despite the hot, long days rerunning set drills and all of the hours spent perfecting a certain melody, you would go back and do it all again.
When you look back on your band days, it’s hard not to smile at all of the wonderful memories you made and be thankful for every experience that you got out of it.