These days, people call anyone that likes a boyband a teenybopper. Why? So what - I'm a Backstreet Boys fan. Does that mean that I'm a teenybopper? Hell no!

I think that a teenybopper is defined as someone that will stand in the freezing rain to MAYBE catch a glimpse of Nick Carter's head. They will cry when they see the guys on TV. If they ever met them...forget it! They would pass out on the floor. None of the above describe me. Not even during my obsessive phase.

When I see the guys on TV (either now or during my obsessive phase), I sit and listen. Sometimes, I make comments or make fun of what they're wearing or what they say. Whenever the video for "More Than That" comes on, I sit there and laugh at their outfits. I would never stand in the rain to catch a glimpse of Nick Carter's head. I'd rather spend my time in the rain shooting roks. If I met the guys, I'd be calm. I wouldn't act any different than I normally do - I'd be my strange, hyper, crazy self.

When I was obsessed, I thought it was ok. I didn't freak out when I saw them; I didn't hate people that bad-mouthed the Backstreet Boys. If someone said something negative about them, I let it go in one ear and out the other. If someone said something that was just plain ignorant, I'd set them straight. I didn't think that that made me a teenybopper. I was just a fan. So when someone called me a teenybopper, I lost it.

It made me stop liking the Backstreet Boys for a while. I hated thinking that I was being classified wirh the people that I despised. I had to step back for over a year and a half and think. The questions that kept coming up bothered me. If you are obsessed, are you a teenybopper? Can you be a fan and not be obsessed?

After much thought, I realized that people don't think. They don't think that people can be obsessed and not be a teenybopper. I also realized that I can be a Backstreet Boys fan and not be obsessed.

So, anyway, I don't care for teenyboppers. I, personally, would rather like the Backstreet Boys on the side and focus most of my attention on my schoolwork, athletics, music, and writing. I wonder sometimes what these hardcore teenyboppers are going to become when they get older. Professional Backstreet Boys fans?

Copyright Kentucky Girl 2001