We Are Old

 

 

 

There's a new show on Netflix called "The Boroughs." The internet says, "The Boroughs unfolds in a seemingly idyllic New Mexico retirement community where a grieving newcomer joins a group of misfit seniors to confront an otherworldly threat intent on stealing the one thing they have least—time."

 

A better way to describe it is to call it "Old Fart Stranger Things."

 

The Duffer Brothers are the "Executive Producers" of "The Boroughs," which leads to this question: Are they paid by separate checks, or do they both have to endorse one check?

 

Having The Duffer Brothers involved means the soundtrack to the show sounds a lot like "Stranger Things". (Think: "Dee-dee-dee-dee-dee") There's also a lot of what Ludlow Porch would call "Booger Stuff"-monsters, etc.

 

We're not done watching it yet, but it seems like a good show. The cast is pretty good. One problem: Geena Davis, who is the hawt old lady, speaks like her mouth is wired shut.  Has she always spoken like that, or was I always just slobbering over her not to notice?

 

There's a side issue of where the main character's daughter wants the main character's copy of "Born To Run".  It was 50 years ago this year that Bruce Springsteen somehow made the covers of Time and Newsweek, and you could not believe what a big deal it was at the time. 

 

 [Note to younger readers: Time and Newsweek were "news magazine" and their purpose (besides giving Richard Nixon a headache) was to review the news of the past week or to spot new trends in popular culture.]

 

 [Another note to younger readers: "Born To Run" was a good album, and Springsteen wasn't in his prophet mode yet.]

 

 [Another another note to younger readers:  I was attending Wheeler High School (School Motto: "Where The Gum Bought Yesterday Is Chewed And Placed Under The Desks Today By The Leaders Of Tomorrow") in 1975, and I promised you nobody in my class had a copy of that album until 1981.]

But one of the things that struck me about "The Boroughs" is that it is about people my age dealing with what people my age deal with.

 

The actual "Borough" is like "The Villages" in Florida, and if you have been paying attention, it is where Peepaw and Meemaw go to shake their groove thang. 

And each character in the show is dealing with their own stuff. One guy is still tomcatting around. Another is an old hippie. One has cancer. Just like my crew.

 

A few months ago, we went to a funeral of a girl I've known since I was fourteen. Someone said, "You know, we are going to be going to more of these."  Geez, don't remind me.

But that's life. One minute, you are graduating from high school.  Then college. Then you are going to weddings. Then the babies come. Then you are going to the kids' parties. Then you go to the weddings of the kids. Then to the birth of your grandkids.  You look in the mirror, and you see gray hair. Or no hair.

 

 You find yourself explaining your history to younger people like you are Abe Simpson:  "I wore an onion on my belt which was the style at the time."

You find yourself wanting to be hip and young. The problem: you are not hip and young. You are wise and experienced. That means you are old.

 

 Abe Simpson also said, "I used to be with it, but then they changed what it was. Now what I'm with isn't it, and what's it seems weird and scary to me and it'll happen to you, too."

 

You are so right, Abe.