Becoming Older

It's official, I'm getting old. This morning on my way to work, I heard the local "semi-oldies" radio station play Love Shack. As the dj introduced it, he said, and I quote, "Here's an OLD classic from the B-52's." Then they followed it up with "classics" from U2's The Joshua Tree. Needless to say, by the time I made it to school, I was starting to feel a little blue. In a fit of desperation, I quickly turned it to The Point, the alternative station, to see how out of touch I really was. Ah, sweet relief, a song from 311 followed up by The Urge! I'm not so old, they're still playing the music I listened to a few years ago on 105.7! Yay!! Then the dj comes on and refers to the selections as "classics"! ARGHHH!!! Fast forward to later this morning. A student who is shall we say, a bubble-gum chomping, hair-twisting, preteen comes into the room to deliver a note to us. We have the radio on to a "current" station that is playing Gwen Stefani. "Um, who is this?" (student) "It's Gwen Stefani." (Me) "OH MY GOD! You know who Gwen Stefani is?" (Student) "Yes, I know who Gwen Stefani is." (Me, very patiently) "Isn't this song, like, from some, like, musical-thingy?" (student) "She sampled and changed a line from a song from the musical Fiddler on the Roof." (Me, to a student who has that glazed look in her eyes) "Oh, are you sure this is Gwen Stefani?" (student) "Yes, I'm positive." (Me) With a puzzled look, the student responds, "But you're OLD!"

In the movie Parenthood, there is a great scene where Diane Weist's character is dealing with her rebellious children who just don't get that she used to be a teenager. In the scene, she says a fabulous line that goes something like, I was at Woodstock! I peed in a field! After today, I can relate!