I Have a Confession to Make

I'm going to admit something here that I've only told to a handful of people. I've only confided in these select few because it's a bit embarrassing for me, but after confessing, the majority of them react with something along the lines of, "Ohmygod meeee tooooo!" and we are forever bonded. So I feel confident coming clean now, because I know I'm not alone, and there's nothing to be ashamed of.

You ready? Okay, here goes:

I like watching CBS Sunday Morning. And truthfully, largely because I really enjoy the 60-second nature segments at the end of the program. (Yeah, I said it -- program.)

In case you're unfamiliar, CBS Sunday Morning is a show geared toward old people. I envision the people other than me who watch it do so shuffling around in a bathrobe, possibly even with a walker, possibly even in a nursing home. The host is Charles Osgood, an 80-year-old with a fondness for bow ties, and who also can be found on that other old-person favorite, the radio.  Segments largely focus on the arts, and the likes of Ben Stein and Mo Rocca contribute, though I often wonder if your average viewer even knows who these two are outside of the show.

Shocked? Yeah, I always am too when someone else admits an admiration for the show that's only a year older than I am. (It first aired Jan. 28, 1979.) Perhaps even more shocking is how we all quietly confess that we actually make an effort to be in front of the TV at that designated hour each Sunday morning. And while I won't out anyone here publicly, let's just say my kindred run the gamut from the 20-something you'd never expect was even up at 10 a.m. on a Sunday to the guy who could knock the lights out of 90 percent of the population in a single punch -- and would enjoy doing it. 

But just as I'm not alone in being a person under the age of 75 who regularly watches the show, nor am I alone in being able to explain why we find the show enjoyable. They don't ask hard questions of their interview subjects, and I often find the segments to be a bit behind the times -- literally. I often find myself thinking as I watch, "Oh, how cute. The Times wrote about that three weeks ago."

So while I can't say for sure, I happen to think the enjoyment in watching the show goes back to that comfort thing, like we're spending Sunday morning with our grandparents over breakfast.

Not that I ever did that. But it sure sounds nice. Particularly if fancy bow ties are involved.

Photo: 1337x.org

I wonder: What "old person" show do you enjoy watching?

What Your Email Address Says About You

Mine, evidently, says that I'm old. 

I remember way back when, not quite at the dawn of the Internet but close enough, spending a good amount of time crafting what I thought was the perfect email address. This email couldn't just be my name, because that is boring. And I'm a writer. And it couldn't involve numbers, because I at least had the foresight to know that cementing my age or graduation year in my email address was something I would one day regret. No -- my email address needed to be clever, and so it was.

I envisioned prospective employers seeing this email and thinking, "Wow, this girl is so talented. I must hire her now." But these days, this email I spent all that time crafting invites cackles instead of compliments on my creativity. Apparently my email address is showing my age.

I don't use Hotmail, or even AOL (and I won't lie, I kinda judge people who do). I use Yahoo!, and apparently that is "old" enough for some people, usually those in the Y generation, to snicker. "You don't use Gmail?" they say, somewhat condescendingly. "I have a Gmail," I reply, always defensively, "but it's mostly filled with spam because I never check it."

You see, I explain to these Gmail groupies, I created the email when Gmail was first on the market -- you know, back in the day when you needed an invite to even create an account -- and I didn't click with it. I like to keep a very clean and organized inbox, and Gmail's then-lack of folders and all this business about "archiving" didn't appeal to me. I liked Yahoo's folder system, so I stuck with it. And that was fine by me. Until now.

Now that I'm back on the job market, the last thing I want is to be judged by my email address. And so I've forsaken my Yahoo!, which has so far treated me well, for Gmail. Things are going okay. I've learned to enjoy "Send and Archive" (helps me keep a clean inbox), though I do still miss my folder system (sorry, labels just aren't the same).

I haven't completely abandoned my Yahoo, though. I'm holding on to it in the hopes that one day it will be considered vintage and in vogue, and all those who once snickered at me will think, "Wow, if only all the Yahoo! email addresses weren't used up, I could be cool like that girl I remember with the really creative email address who clearly spent a long time crafting it."

Photo: StepbyStep.com

I wonder: Do you judge -- or have you felt judged -- by your email address?