Relevance

I've noticed a trend in my life experiences and a tendency in my thinking over this past three years. I really don't get it. No matter what "it" is, more likely than not, I cannot relate to what is going on. I feel like a crotchety old person when I say this: the world has become very strange, and seems to be getting stranger.

I grew up in the 1950s and 1960s. They were not a golden age for me by any means. People 'like me' who refused to hide their nature were, at the very best, made fun of. While some things have become better over the past half century, other things have crept in and, as I say, I don't get most of it.

K and I moved during the summer, and, for a variety of reasons, we do not have broadcast television now. We might not have it until next year, we are told. I'm sure for most North Americans, that prospect would be horrifying. The feeling here is close to relief. This situation will provide an excuse when others ask about some topic I would rather not be talking about - "oh, sorry, (Canadians always manage to work in 'sorry') we don't have cable where we live". Don't get me wrong - I have my news links that I can check whenever it seems a good idea. There is an election here in Canada this week and I know all about it - but only what I want to know about it. When some "expert" starts trying to tell me who not to vote for (that is the way it is done now; vote for the least repugnant candidate), I can just move on to the next item or close the news feed.

I have no idea whether the program about serial killers, Criminal Minds, is still on the air or what even-more-violent depiction of American life has taken its place, but a search for "tv program about serial killers" yielded fifty-one such. In that nation where in 2017 almost 40,000 were killed by a gun, how can anyone believe this sort of program doesn't contribute to the problem? But as I say, I don't get it.

I don't know what actor got the sack on what program. Reality tv is no longer making me think the average person is incredibly stupid and gullible. Yes, I know - it isn't real, it is just for fun. Tell that to those 'average people'.

Speaking of reality, does it take being alive almost seventy years to have noticed that storms are more severe than ever? Winds are stronger on average. Does it really take a sixteen-year-old from Sweden to raise the alarm? It amazes me to see how the media can pay so much attention to irrelevancies and so little to the future of the planet. I don't get it at all.

I don't know what horror is being exploited by the networks this season. Is it vampires this year or the undead? Or has that reality star, the American President, managed to make real-reality more horrifying than anything a screenwriter can imagine? Come to think of it, the Donald and his crew might be trying to arrange for folk like me to be the next horror television theme.

Don't get me wrong - I have great empathy for people of intelligence who are still hooked by media. It might be interesting to know who is leading in the baseball standings ... oh, right ... the playoffs. In the end, though, I won't remember who won a month after it is over. I used to like watching hockey, but have no idea who played in the Stanley Cup final this year (professional hockey's North American championship), let alone who won.

If you made it this far, all of the above is just to prepare you for an important revelation about this blog and its blog-mistress. I have come to question its and my relevance. Sad, but true; my life is about a lot of other things that have nothing to do with my history. And yes, that is as it should be. 

A good friend is working in the current election for the Green Party. No, we don't expect Elizabeth May to be the next Prime Minister of Canada, but someday the young people will vote and who seems to care about their future? There are important things to be done for, and by people like me who don't get it. 

When it comes to our television situation, fear not, our vast DVD collection is getting some use. And on the topic of this old blog, I'm still here, ready and willing to answer any questions you might have about what it was like back in the old days.

K, would you pass the Geritol™, please?