I’m really not old-fashioned, I’m just old

By Dan Barber

I recently read in the news that many of us “baby-boomers” are trying to relive the 60s. What’s wrong with that? Many generations have “borrowed” something from previous generations… it is just called “retro” which according to the dictionary means a style from a previous time that has been revived.

My daughter, who was born in the mid 70’s recently told me that some of the clothes that she buys for her teenaged daughters are the same style, pattern and colors that she wore as a teenager. When I have suggested to her a source in the past where she can get shoes or clothes on sale, I’m told, no, those shoes, clothes or underwear are not stylish enough for her kids to wear. I’m clueless when it comes to style! It is the main reason that I never buy clothes, shoes or underwear for anyone except myself! It is much easier to hand the grandkids a card with money in it so they can buy their own “retro” fashions.

I see children today walking down the street thinking that they are really fashionable with their spiked Mohawk multi-colored hair wearing a black trench coat with the outside temperature here in the Mojave Desert hovering around 110 degrees in the shade… I think holy-cow an alien from a planet whose average daytime temperature must hover around 220 degrees!

Then there are the gangsta wanabes, rappers or real hoodlums who wear bagging pants with the waist hanging about knee level. They also think they might look tough, but in fact they are just easier for law enforcement or fans to catch in a foot chase. Every generation is tagged with some kind of phrase or word to describe them, if I was to label this generation in the future, I’m afraid the only phrase that comes to mind is the “doo fuss generation.”

I would also probably have to label myself as a doo fuss  because when I was a teenager, the style I was wearing was a tight white t-shirt and jeans with the cuffs about 6 inches above the sneakers with any neon-colored socks, the hair style was a "flat top with fenders" I saw this disturbing image in a recent old home movie! By the time I graduated from high school, the fashion was bell-bottomed pants… maybe that’s why I joined the Navy, because of the trousers.

My favorite satellite radio channel plays music from the 60s, when my daughter borrows my vehicle I find the radio channel reset to the music from the 80s!

I swore when I was younger I would not bore anyone with stories from the “good old days,” but guess what I sometimes catch myself boring my grandkids and others with stories from the “good old days!” I only do this with love, because I am trying to explain an example of why they shouldn’t or should take some course of action… maybe I should just make them read some of Aesop’s Fables!

Don’t call me an old-fashioned man; just call me “Retro-Man”… maybe I’ll get a tight XXX-Large white t-shirt with that stenciled across the belly.