Jul 5, 2023 3 min read

I saw an ad for a television show the other day that feature grandparents and grandchildren answering trivia questions about pop culture from each other’s generations. It made me laugh because it reminded me of two recent incidents where there clearly was a generation gap between me and the other person with whom I was talking.

The first interaction happened last week at work during a somewhat stressful day covering severe weather at my television job. Once it was wrapping up, I breathed a deep sigh of relief and jokingly said to my colleague, “Calgon, take me away!” My coworker looked at me with a puzzled expression and let out a nervous laugh. “You don’t know what that means, do you?” I asked her with a chuckle. Indeed, she did not. Given that she is a good 20 years younger than me, she wasn’t familiar with the old Calgon bubble bath commercials about plunging into a wonderfully relaxing tub to soak away all of your stress and worries.

The second conversation that clearly demonstrated a generation gap also happened at work with another younger colleague about a month ago. We were laughing about some sort of situation that didn’t seem to be very well-organized. I said, “Wow, that looks like the Keystone Cops!” Again- I was greeted with a puzzled look and a blank stare. “You don’t know what that means, do you?” I asked once again with a laugh. Now, the Keystone Cops were way before even my time, but I remember my parents and grandparents using the reference and somehow must have learned about them or maybe saw an old clip on TV of the fictional, wildly incompetent slapstick police detail featured in silent films between 1912 and 1917.

Situations like those always make me laugh and especially so when it’s the other way around and I have no idea what the younger generation is talking about or referencing. Sometimes it’s fun to learn the latest slang words or find out what the teens and tweens are saying instead of cool, rad or awesome. I especially love to watch some of the awards shows like the Grammys or MTV awards to see just how far out of touch with current pop culture I really am right now. Sometimes my husband and I will see something advertising a list of different performers or guest stars and we’ll look at each with a shrug and say, “I have no idea who any of those people are!”

I do my best to try to keep up with the cool kids and stay as in the loop as possible with current technology. Then again, other times I just put away my smart phone, read a book or a magazine or take a nice hot soak I the tub with a glass of wine. “Calgon, take me away!”

Kristin Emery can be reached at kristinemery1@yahoo.com.