Sorry, I had to borrow that line from the Simpsons. Lately, I've become a bit perturbed between age gaps and the cultural differences that define them. Most of this falls under "things you encounter at line at the grocery store"

On two different occasions, I've gotten into talks with folks ringing up or bagging at Kroger's about movies we've seen. I mention "Birdman", and I get a blank look. "Nope, haven't heard of that one?" "Really, it's been out a while. It has Micheal Keaton in it." Then I get a nervous laugh and a "I don't even know who that is." I grab my receipt, groceries, and my jaw which is lying on the floor at my feet.

Today, I was waiting [[a while) in line at Meijers [[I refuse the self-scan), and you get to hear all kinds of wonderful things. So, a family with a mother who looks like Suzy Orman is buying some nice booze, and they have a nine-year old daughter scoping candy and the periodicals set out. She sees the various magazines depicted the recently departed Leonard Nimoy, and comments "Who's Mr. Spock?"

You know...back in my day [[Oh Gawd!-here he goes), we had a better appreciation and awareness of the older things. Even if my classmates weren't like this, I was raised to check out the older stuff. I was watching "Little Rascals", "Laurel & Hardy", "Marx Bros.", & "3 Stooges" religiously either rather early morning or rather late at night at the age of six [[I also knew who Spike Jones-not the director-was). I was probably one of the few ten year-olds who saw at least five Hitchcock films, knew who Ernie Kovacks was, could name the entire cast of "It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World", or point out various charactcatuers [[sic) of famous actors making cameos in old '30s & '40s cartoons from Warner Bros.-all thanks to my upbringing.

Which brings me to cartoons. Maybe it was worth having your chub series stuff afterschool [[Transformers, Voltron and the like), but better still, waiting until Saturday mornings when you could get frizzle-tweaked on Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs [[Now with purple marshmallows!) and have a four hour block three-channel cornucopia of mind-numbing cartoon nonsense to enjoy, instead of a constant stream 24/7 from a dozen cable stations. Some things [[like contacting folks face-to-face versus constantly texting/chatting about nothing. After all, there is truth to "Absence makes the heart grow fonder".) are just worth waiting and building up a charge for, instead of just perpetually giving in and indulging in instant gratifications and quick fixes.

Folks can huff and say what are the point of any cartoons [[regarded an anathema policy to a failed cartoonist like myself). Yet, I think younger generations of this Idiocracy are robbed by not seeing the old cartoons. One can learn and establish history lessons [[like the old war cartoons-"Gremlins from the Kremlin" and all that-heh heh!) or lock down their understanding of traditional music or classical pieces [[just think of how many times one has heard Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2" or ugh-Wagner "Kew da' Wabbit! Kew da' Wabbit!" thanks to cartoons?). After all, these were called "Looney Tunes".

All and all, my Andy Rooney rant is that there should be no reason in this day and age of "vast information highway" where folks can find out the silliest collected trivia about some actor's earliest work in an obscure '70s flick or commercial, that can't leave the kids of today open [[and interested) in tracing back the roots of well-anything. Why the lack of interest? Why the phasing out, watering down, shrill cheapening, and re-booting of classics [[Not looking forward to any version of Bill Condone's "To Kill a Mockingbird" or Micheal Bay's version of "Wizard of Oz"-Joel Schumacker was bad enough!)?

Any one concerned about this? Or am I going to be left hanging here? Because I would like to hear someone's input about their concerns in this area or how they notice how the younger ones don't stay up on their past.