I Got a Rock...

Am I getting old? The answer, apparently, is a resounding yes. A fact hammered into me last night during a viewing of the holiday classic, "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown", which I watched with Perfect Wife and the 2 kids.

I love this special, as  does everyone, I assumed. I was wrong.

While I watched and marveled at the cool graphics and laughed at all the parts I always laugh at, the kids were bored to  tears. One left halfway through, the other stayed because she had heard my raves and I think she was waiting for something "good" to happen. Or maybe she was humoring me.

When I expressed my disappointment in the kids' reaction to PW, she said that maybe the show was too "old fashioned" for  them. How can that be?! This is PEANUTS for crying out loud! Everyone (I assumed) knows/loves these characters! Their appeal crosses over all generations! Is Shakespeare old fashioned? Is Mozart? Are the  Three Stooges?!

On reflection, I decided, yes. Maybe there is no such thing as "timelessness". Each generation has some cultural icons that they embrace, that the next one rejects, or just doesn't get. This may explain why my Mother could never get me to enjoy "I Married Joan". Someday perhaps, our children may wonder why their kids aren't into "Spongebob" re-runs.

It's sad. One thing is certain. We won't be watching "Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein" this year!