I like to think that I will never outgrow my immaturity. I only masquerade as an adult because it pays the bills. I try to spend as little time as possible as a grownup.

Working at a college has helped with that. Sure, the job requires pretending I have evolved beyond my teenage years, but I get plenty of opportunities to hang out with students and remember why my college years played such an important role in my life.

Unfortunately, one of those opportunities recently reminded me that I can only cheat the calendar for so long.

A student group held a battle of the bands event a few weeks ago. I usually don’t like to give up my Friday nights at home, but I like music so planned to attend. Besides, I had a going-away happy hour for a friend earlier in the evening and was nearby when the music started.

My first sign of trouble came when I walked in the room. I know I like to act a lot younger than I am, but I immediately realized I stood out in the crowd. When I saw some fellow staff members, I hugged them for making me not feel so old.

I almost never act like this. I’m the guy who still cranks up the music, who still wears shirts from college because they have sentimental value, who thinks that two bowls of Cap’n Crunch make a fine dinner any day of the week.

I didn’t let the feeling get me down. I figured I would feel better once the music started. I have pretty broad musical tastes so I could get into almost everything the students threw at me.

Wrong again. I don’t want to sound like a bitter old man, but what is it with these kids today and their rock and roll?

I can honestly describe one of the bands as the sound of chaos and mayhem. I remember when I was growing up and adults would criticize AC/DC or Guns and Roses as incomprehensible. Those guys are practically Mozart compared to the group I saw.

The other three bands I saw were OK. One started off their set with a cover song, which made me want to scream. You don’t show off how good you are by playing someone else’s music

I didn’t see the last five bands that played because it was Friday, and I had an hour-long ride home. I didn’t need to get in bed early or anything like that, I just needed to be back at my house.

Surprisingly, I could hear fine the rest of the weekend. I worried I would end up completely deaf after the chaos band, but I recovered quite nicely.

The students I talked to thought that band was as bad as I did so that made me feel a little better. In the end, the winning band was “the only one that didn’t scream,” one student told me. So maybe I had misjudged these students all along.

Or maybe I’m still as immature as I was before the event. I hope so. I like things better that way.