"Are you guys excited?" Ms. Jeanette (Shellie's mom) asked. We
were in Aunt Julie's Honda Accord starting off the three and one half hour
drive. It was your typical road trip; a pit stop here and there. 
            We were about halfway there when we say a maroon car driven by 
a teenager. There was a lady in the passenger seat and another one in the 
back along with two younger girls. Jeanette, being such a quick thinker, 
made a small sign from notebook paper the read "HANSON." When we caught up
with the car, she showed it to them. They replied with excited nods. When 
our cars stopped right next to eachother at the stoplight, Jeanette found 
out that they were from Bonifay, Florida, and they were going to the concert
also. That got me really pumped. I didn't scream or anything, but I was more
excited than I was before. 
             Finally, it was 3:00 PM EST and we were at the Days Inn. Aunt 
Julie went in to check us in. Five minutes later, she was back in the car, 
and thoroughly pissed. 
             "They won't have a room ready for another thirty minutes," she
informed us. So, we went to find the amphitheatre. 
             "It's supposed to be really easy to find. It's only five minutes
away." Aunt Julies famous last words. We drove all over downtown Atlanta 
trying to find that God forsaken building. Finally, before returning to the 
hotel, we got directions from a gas station cashier. It turns out that we 
should have turned on I75, a road the we had passed a million times. So screw
us. 
             After refreshing ourselves at the hotel, we returned to our great
amphitheatre hunt. We found it much easier this time. We waited in line after
line of cars trying to find a parking space. While waiting, we saw two mothers
and their little boys who held up signs saying "We're here so our moms had an
excuse to come!" I thought that was cute. 
             So, we finally got parked and organized, and we made our grand 
enterance into the crowd of girls. Thousands of girls. Nineteen thousand to be 
exact. Nineteen thousand girls all waiting to catch a glimpse of our beloved 
blond hotties. We were four of them. Me, Shellie, Jeanette, and Aunt Julie 
were now waiting to see Hanson too. We patiently waited in our spot in the 
line. 
             While waiting, we met these two ladies that had brought their sons.
From my understanding, they were from Atlanta. They were really nice. We talked
about all kinds of stuff. 
             Finally, they opened the gates. We heard screams of excitement and
our line moved on. It still took us a while to get in the gate, but it was worth
all of that crap in the end. 
             We marched up the stairs onto the open lawn where we were going to
sit. There were already a ton of girls seated on the lawn, but not many in the
chairs. We reached our covetted spot, at the very top of the hill where we could
see over everyone, and got situated. Not long after we got settled, some small 
girls and their mother sat beside us. The one sitting beside me pulled out her
fifteen dollar *gasp* program and began to look at it. I oculdn't help myself;
I scooted over and looked at it with her. Of course, I introduced myself. I'm
not as rude as people make me out to be. It turned out that her name was... well,
for the life of me I can't remember her name, but she was from Savannah, GA, and
she liked Zac just like me! I thought that was cute. She had made two huge signs.
Knowing these things, as  I do, I thought they had made very good callages. 
             Little by little, the amphitheatre was filled up. Soon, I looked out
over lawn and saw a sea of girls. I could hardly walk through it; the crowd was 
so thick! About every five minutes, one of the guys was peek out from behind the 
stage or from behind the door leading to backstage and each and every time you
would hear the first few rows scream, then it would lead to the next few, and 
finally to the lawn, but it never got to the top of our perch. I never screamed
when all the idiots who thought they saw them did. I thought it was pointless.
All I wanted to do was listen to the blessed Aerosmith CD that was blazing from
the speakers. I think all the other girls had other things in mind.
             Finally, Admiral Twin came out on stage. More screams from the girls
arose. They weren't half bad. They sounded kind of like Everclear meets Greenday
meets Barney. They were pretty cool. After every single song, the girls screamed.
Maybe because it was a moment closer to seeing Hanson. One doesn't know what goes
through ditzy pre-pubesant girls' heads. One just doesn't know...
              Anyways, finally, Admiral Twin was done. We waited and waited... and
waited for the little trustees people to set up stage for Hanson. After it was all
set up we still had to wait a while for Hanson. Then... it came! Hanson came out 
and the sound of the screaming girls was tremendous! It was indescribable! One 
can't imagine! They made my bad ear go almost completely deaf. 
              Hanson opened up with, of course, "Gimme Some Lovin." I was still 
sitting on the ground, binoculars in one hand, my bad ear in the other. I was a 
site to see. After that, they played "Where's the Love." Finally, Jeanette coaxed
me off of my perch to dance around a bit. I was up there the rest of the night. I
don't think I ever sat back down.        
              My concert experience wasn't all fun and games. It made me thinhk a lot. 
I looked out over the sea of girls, most with sappy love posters. I began to think about
my "obsession" with Hanson. I thought a lot. I came to the conclusion that It *wasn't*
an obsession. Hanson is just a band I like. And, in particular, I like Zac. I even thought
I might have a chance at like going out with him or somthing. Now, I know. I know that 
I'll probably never meet Hanson. I know that I have no chance with any of them. I know
that they have no advantage in the game of life either. It doesn't make me sad anymore
like it used to. I learn to deal with reality. That night, in the middle back lawn of the
Coca-Cola Lakewood Amphitheatre, I realized that Hanson is just a dream.