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“Back in the Day”
Is it just me, or are we, like, getting old?
That saying, “back in the day,” makes me cringe every time I hear it. It wasn’t long ago that I began to hear my contemporaries use it. I think it might have been at a high school reunion. It scared me to death. You know why?
Because it ages us! Like most baby boomers, I don’t like to be looked upon as old, let alone older than I am. Like TAB, Oldsmobile, PanAm, even Blockbuster — those entities are gone. We’re not!
At the surface level, it seems to be a pretty benign expression. It’s just another way of saying long ago. But are we old enough to be using a statement like “long ago”? Given the span of the universe, our world, or America, we are but nits.
I’d liken it to an oldies station’s particular set of music. (Does anyone listen to the radio anymore?) Nowadays (a choice word given this topic!), songs from the 90s may be an oldies station’s format.
How could the 90s be old? That’s the decade that alternative music found its footing in musical history. I’m sorry, but acts such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, or Soundgarden are not old!
