Zeitgonst...

There is a point in time where pop culture is no longer your culture. When the zeitgeist has passed you by. When these kids today are the kids of the kids you first these kids todayed...

You just aren't the target anymore.

(Insert generic GenX whine about never really being the target because of the abundance of Boomers here)

You find yourself spending more time on specialty stations than the Top Ten channels. You don't get the jokes in movies or television shows anymore. You absolutely can't keep up with the current correct language or prevailing thoughts.

Your kids have stopped sighing and rolling their eyes when you speak and now just give their siblings or partners that small "what are you going to do?" smile.

You're old.

And that's okay.

I was telling Brent about something last week (I can't remember what because I am old, and because it wasn't terribly important) and he had no idea what I was talking about. I said that it was because he's not online as much as I am. I still pick up a few things, but since I'm not terminally online anymore I don't pick up as many. There are entire movements and outrages and redemptions that pass by without me ever seeing them.

And that's just great.

There is so much to be worried about right now. Important things. Things that matter. That I just don't have the bandwidth to worry about...whatever it is that people are worrying about today that they will have forgotten about tomorrow.

And I am okay not understanding why something like 6,7 was driving parents crazy last spring but is apparently over and done with now and there is something else just waiting to take its place. I'm still trying to figure out why that flossing dance from like ten years ago (?) was such a big deal.

Okay, I'm not. It's because kids are like that. They do things just for fun until their parents start doing it and then it's OVER.

There is great comfort in not having to worry about what is currently in style. What everyone KNOWS you should be wearing, eating, saying. Thinking.

And there is even greater comfort in knowing that the things I'm outraged by aren't decided by public opinion. My moral center is pretty well set. There might be current events that I will speak on but my outrage isn't moved by who is doing the thing I find appalling. It's just because it's appalling.

I'm not "the moment" I'm past that point.

I AM ETERNAL!

Okay, I'm not that either but it really seemed like it fit there.

I'm past the point of caring about trends.

But I'm not past the point of caring. And that's the line we all have to walk.

We are basically seven weeks away from the midterms. Make sure your registration is up to date. Make sure you have a plan for voting. Make sure you follow through.

It's not a trend, it's a necessity.