The Van Winkle Blues: Old Fogey

I was thumbing through a copy of US magazine during lunch today, wondering if perhaps my long winter's nap had been longer than I'd thought. I'm thinking somewhere along the lines of Rip Van Winkle's twenty-year snooze fest.

Page after page of photos of unshaven men and young women with seriously bad hair destroyed my appetite for lunch. Their names meant nothing to me, nor did I recognize their faces. I don't really care which of these poorly-groomed people is cheating on a spouse, breaking up or getting married yet again.

I was shocked by a young woman wearing $800 shoes to "the event". There was no information about "the event", whatever it was, so I am clearly way out of the loop. Another celebrity had purchased designer sneakers for $625.

Perhaps these folks are so out of touch with reality that they are unaware that those prices are obscenely inflated. At the risk of sounding like my mom, people are starving in this world. A pair of $20 shoes would leave $600 - $780 for donations that would buy tons of rice.

I follow the news, but celebrities' lives are not interesting to me. Their excessive lifestyle is appalling. I don't watch reality TV, American Idol or MTV. I may be stuck in another decade, but I'm happy with that. If the details of these people's lives are considered to be exciting enough to sell magazines, I think I will forego subscribing.

I guess it's official. I am an old fogey.