The grocery store by my house plays appallingly bad 70's rock (o.k., I know that's redundant) and when I got to the checkout counter this morning the teenager/20 something checker asks me if I know who the band is that's playing. She tells me the song is called 'Renegade'. I'm ready to cry right then and there, on so many levels. And it's not even 8:00 a.m. yet. Not only do I have to suffer the indignity of looking like I'm old enough to know who did that song but I'm also old enough that I can't for the life of me remember who. I tell her I know the song and I knew who it was back in the day but I have no idea now, senile old lady cannot remember. Or maybe I actively blocked the memory of that awful band and song, yeah, that's it, I'm too hip to know. Yeah, right. Anyway, she says no worries, my dad will know. Ouch. What did I ever do to her? In fact I'm standing there bagging my own groceries and I always sign my credit card slip quickly and keep her line moving right along and bring my own bag most of the time. Maybe she's bored and has fun messing with the people having mid-life crises?
Of course it bugs me all the way to work what band is that and the best answer I can come up with is The Eagles. That's my answer to all those 70's songs that sound like that-The Eagles-because they all sound alike and The Eagles is the only band name I can remember. I could not tell you the name of a single Eagles song right now but every bad 70's rock song I assume is The Eagles. My second choice is Styx, same reason as the Eagles but I thought of them second. Thanks to the magic of the internet the answer is...Styx. I'm going to go reserve my place in the nursing home now. Hopefully they won't pipe bad 70's rock into my room.
Ouch! That hurts. It's bad enough when they call me m'am. If it helps any, I wouldn't have been able to remember the band name either.
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm looong past the calling me ma'am point. I suppose I should be happy it was only a 70's song and not some 60's hippy song.
ReplyDeleteStyx! Ha ha ha.
ReplyDeleteI got called ma'am the other day. I'm not even 40 yet...
Several teen-aged girls once told me I reminded them of their friend's mom. That shouldn't be surprising because I am in fact old enough to be their friend's mom, but it sort of stung because I never bothered to have kids (it all seemed like too much drama for me) so I never before thought of myself in the "mom" category before. I console myself by thinking their friend's mom is really hot ...
ReplyDeleteMy first crisis like this came wayyyy early, when the 3rd star wars movie came out. A young punk clerk was stacking star wars figures on a shelf when I asked for help. He said sure in a minute, and while I stood there waiting, he asked "Do your kids like star wars?" I felt SOOO old all of a sudden. And I was only 27 at the time.
ReplyDeleteI was just talking with a friend yesterday about a similar thing; I was mentioned on the phone as "a lady I work with" and it stunned me. I mean, not that I don't think I'm well-behaved, but "lady" isn't how I think of myself. And then I got to thinking, well, what am I? A "woman"? Nah, my MOM is a "woman". I'm a... uh... what? What do I call all the females of assorted ages with whom i do agility? "The women with whom I do agility?" "The ladies with whom I do agility?" Nope, it's "the people with whom I do agility." I dunno, "woman" and "lady" sound so grown up, and I'm just... not... really... old enough.
P.S. I'm more worried about when young folks start telling me that I remind them of their grandmother.
ReplyDeleteAnd then I got to thinking, well, what am I?Easy-'Crazy Dog Lady'. At least that's what I am.
ReplyDeleteWell, maybe. But I don't really think of myself like that, either. I'm just a normal person whose main hobby at the moment happens to involve dogs. But that doesn't make as compact a sound bite. ;-)
ReplyDelete