During my daily (hourly, who am I kidding) perusing of Facebook, I came across a post made by a friend of her adorable offspring with a witty pop culture reference fitting the picture. I have come across several posts like this from my friends in their early twenties who have children. These posts have often made me think to myself that children of my generation are lucky to have parents who are so good at making witty references, unlike our own parents. Then I thought to myself, “My parents made pop culture references when I was younger, why did I not think they were funny?” Well, they were not funny simply because they were not my generation’s pop culture references. Maybe, just maybe, my parents were actually quite witty and not lame and boring, as I was under the impression they were as a child. Maybe we are all doomed to have our children roll their eyes at us when we crack jokes like “Yo, James, I’m really happy for you and Imma let you finish but…”.
This particular thought process reminded me of my dad, who often tried hard to show me that he was really “with it.” This was perhaps because he had been quite “with it” in his younger days. I’m sure there is nothing quite like being knocked down a peg or two by your thirteen year old daughter rolling her eyes at you like you live under a rock and I am quite certain I will get to experience this myself one day. One particular instance that comes to mind is from a time when I was really into the Canadian band, Billy Talent, and could often be heard playing their music loudly in my bedroom. This prompted a discussion one day with my dad in the living room about their music. It was going really well until dad commented that he really liked his work. At which point I rolled my eyes and made sure that dad was well aware that Billy Talent was not a MAN but a BAND.
Perhaps my favourite memory though, is from when my dad went through a Shaggy phase and started playing “You’re My Angel” and “It Wasn’t Me” on repeat for the better parts of 2000-2002. I can’t quite remember how both my parents and I ended up discussing the lyrics of, “You’re My Angel,” but I ended up getting into an actual argument (not a discussion, an argument) with them over the line, “closer than my peeps you are to me.” My parents were under the impression that when Shaggy said, “peeps,” he was referring to his “peepers” or his eyes. I burst out laughing and proceeded to inform my parents that Shaggy was definitely not referring to his “peepers” but rather his “peeps” or his friends. My parents scoffed at me as if referring to your friends as “peeps” was completely ridiculous and somehow referring to your eyes as “peepers” was not, especially when you are a Jamaican-American rapper.
When I was a teenager, I was often quite annoyed with my parent’s lack of pop culture understanding. Now I look upon those memories fondly and with an inkling that my parents might just have been enjoying themselves in those situations. With that knowledge in mind, I look forward to when I have children of my own and can make jokes and references that will cause them to give me “the look” and subsequently roll their eyes at me.
Housecoat Commentary 