I must live under a rock. I have no idea what the hell is going on most days. And then I get laughed at for being such a dingbat. I mean, I’m fifty-five. Is that old? I don’t feel old. Well, I do moan when I bend over to pick things up. Ok, I’m old.
But, I always thought that I was with the times. My mother-in-law used the word “dungarees” for jeans until the day she died. My mom favored, “pocketbook.” I don’t think she ever used the word, “purse.” I thought I understood contemporary slang. Nope. Not at all.
It all started with me overhearing one of my kid’s friends saying something about watching MTV Cribs.
MTV Cribs (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I think this was like when it first came out circa 2000. Well, hell, I thought they were talking about singers who had children. Seriously. I really did.
“I didn’t know that Moby had children?” I thought I was really with it because I knew who Moby was. I got laughed at. Then it was explained to me that cribs=homes.
“That’s stupid.”
“You’re stupid.” My daughter laughed at me. Well, I guess I was. It didn’t get any better. I sure as hell had no idea that “hooking up” meant having sex with someone. How casual people are speaking nowadays. I heard this on tv one night:
“So, did you guys hook up last night?” Back in MY day that would have meant “So, did you guys meet somewhere last night and then go to the movies or something?” And yet, my daughter is the one who scoffs at me because I still use the phrase, “Are they going together?” Well, hell, back in the 70′s that meant going steady. What the hell is wrong with that?
So, now I am getting really made fun of at the school where I teach because I didn’t understand “That’s what he said.” WTF are you talking about? Evidently, I often say things that my perverted co-workers laugh at and then insert that comment. I didn’t know why. And that made them laugh harder. I mean, why say that after I talk about the snow fall from the night before. “I only got an inch or two last night.”……that’s what she said. It took me a while.
My biggest misunderstanding came from the History Channel show, American Pickers. Just a few months ago, after talking about heading out to go antiquing, someone asked me if I ever watched American Pickers. I thought that was a pretty random comment, considering we were talking about antiques.
“No, to be honest, I am not a real big fan of Country music.”
Yeah, so they laughed. Hell, I didn’t know it was about guys hunting around barns and whatnot for antiques and collectibles. I thought it was about people playing fiddles and banjos. Seriously.
So, it was no surprise that I didn’t understand my two friends when we were leaving dinner last night and they were laughing and making motions with their arms like a “raise the roof” motion. I drove up to them and rolled down the window.
“Padiddle!” They both yelled and then laughed. “You’re headlight is out, Vickie.” Of course, it doesn’t pay hanging out with girls in their late twenties when I am in my mid-fifties. I realized I have no idea what the hell is going on. So, I just laughed.
So, when they read this blog post, they will laugh again because I am just so clueless about Padiddle. I had to look it up on Wikipedia:
“Padiddle is a night-time travel game with the objective of earning points by spotting vehicles with a burnt-out headlight. You must say “Padiddle” and hit the ceiling of the car as fast as you can, while driving.”
So, Sheena and Erin were laughing because it is a game that is supposed to be played in the car while traveling. I thought they were laughing at me because I just bought this car and it already had its headlight burned out. I guess that makes me feel better…….. No, don’t feel better. I’m still a dingbat.
I don’t remember my kids ever playing “Padiddle.” I sure as hell didn’t teach them. And if they played it and I don’t remember them playing the car game, then I have bigger problems than not knowing what things mean.
I am too old for this shit. Why can’t we just keep playing Slug Bug?
Posted by hollybernabe on August 7, 2012 at 1:02 pm
My hubby, my daughter and I still play slug bug. It’s actually annoying sometimes, because it’s a Game That Doesn’t End. I’ll be walking down the street, happily chatting with Willow and next thing you know, my fingers are tingling from the monkey bite my daughter landed on that special spot on my arm that makes everything go numb. Either that, or the arm gets a nasty charlie horse and I’m cursing under my breath and shaking it off. How she finds those spots every time, I don’t know. She’s good.
Maybe I could convince her to switch to Padiddle. We don’t even have a car, anymore, so we would have to air-mime it like your friends were. It would be far less painful of a game…
Posted by Elyse on August 5, 2012 at 9:30 am
On behalf of all 55 year olds, I think it is safe to say that it is them not you, not us. Recently when speaking with my 21 year old son and his friend, they responded to some good news by saying “dank.” I could tell that they meant it in a good way, and responded “when did ‘dank’ lose its meaning of cold, dark and smelling of mildew into something positive.”
We never did stupid things with language when we were their age. Cause we were too busy feelin’ groovy.
Posted by Jumping in Mud Puddles on August 9, 2012 at 9:08 am
LOL..we were busy feeling groovy…cuz we were tuff.
Posted by susan bouclin on August 4, 2012 at 2:13 am
I think you should be more concerned you’re not concerned you used the term “…and whatnot”.
Posted by marinasleeps on August 2, 2012 at 12:16 pm
Yeah I didn’t know about Padiddle.
I still don’t know what it means.
But anyways… slug bug!!!
Posted by Jumping in Mud Puddles on August 2, 2012 at 12:18 pm
That makes two of us…lol