How in the World Did I Ever Like Country Music?

NOTE: This is not a knock against country music lovers. If that's what gets your juices flowin', then I'm not about to stand in the way.

Rather, this post is about how much a person's taste can change. At one point, not only did I like country music... not only did I love country music... but it was my favorite type of music... Today, I can't stand it.

Actually, my taste in music has sorta been a roller coaster ever since middle school. I grew up listening to oldies, because that's why my dad always played in the car. And I considered that to be my favorite. (To this day, I still like the classics, but they're not at the top.)

Then, I remember it vividly, I was in 6th grade and my teacher asked what my favorite type of music was. "Oldies," I said. My response was followed by 20 of my peers laughing at me. (true story) Needless to say, that was enough inspiration to start listening to something else, which was what everyone else listened to, Top 40.

That lasted a few years into high school.

Then, I'm not sure what happened. Maybe I got tired of Top 40 being dominated by rap and hip hop (not really my cup of tea). Maybe it was that my best friend in high school was a cowboy. Or maybe it was listening to Toby Keith's How Do You Like Me Now?! But I started listening to country almost exclusively. I listened to it all day at work. Three of the five speed dials in my car were set to country stations. And I even took my girlfriend to a Lonestar concert. I was a country boy at heart, even into my first year of college.

And then I just stopped.

Today, I mostly listen to adult contemporary, with a little bit of rock and indie mixed in here and there. Every once in a while, I'll be driving in an unfamiliar area, and I'll be searching for a good radio station and land on a country one. This happened just the other day, in fact. I'll listen to it for about 15 seconds to see what I'm missing out on, and then I change it -- mostly because I can't take it any longer. Again, no offense to my country listeners.

But isn't it crazy how much a person can change? This is just one very simple facet of everyday life, and I've done a complete 180 from six years ago. Music and other pop culture aspects are easy to look back on and see how our tastes have changed. But what about the more important parts of life? Do you ever just take some time to reflect how you're different from five years ago? Ten years ago? Or longer?

I do it all the time.

(No country music artists were harmed in the writing of this blog post.)