Another Moment in the Life of the Aging

I am plagued by the burning desire of cool. I know deep down I am cool. And yet, of the many activities and interests I have and am a participant, very few are actually constituted by the masses as hip. But coolness is relative, no? Isn't coolness something two people, with different likes and dislikes, can share, even if these two ventures are seemingly opposites? Perhaps they are, perhaps they are not. I, however, know that I am cool...mostly. Or am I? I'm not so confident anymore.

Today, I discovered that Best Buy now sells vinyl in store. What a great day for corporate electronic stores! I have a feeling this new addition to their inventory isn't to entice purists like myself to shop there (I was already in the store after all). Rather, I suspect the move is to capitalize on the growing indie craze that is hitting popular music. The only music for sale that would be deemed indie was The Shins album Oh Inverted World. Other than that, Best Buy just had a lot of Metallica, Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, rap reissues. I did pick up (because of the $12 price tag) the reissue of the first Bad Brains record Bad Brains . Buying vinyl in the age of digital music has a hint of nostalgic-cool to it.

This diatribe does not serve as the purpose for my post, though. As I checked out, one young man and his coworker helped me complete the transaction. The one making the sale asked me the usual information, as I was paying for my debit card. But his pal, the younger of the two, inquired why I would buy a record. His first question befuddled me:

The Younger Best Buy Employee: "So you have a vinyl player?"
Older, Cynical Elitist-Type Customer: "Do you mean a turntable?"
The Younger Best Buy Employee: "Yeah."
Older, Cynical Elitist-Type Customer: "Yes, I do."
The Younger Best Buy Employee: "Cool."

[Silence]

The Younger Best Buy Employee: "My sister just buys records to use as decoration on her walls. It's pretty lame.
Older, Cynical Elitist-Type Customer: "Yeah. Well, if she collects the vinyl [for a hobby], then it's alright."
The Younger Best Buy Employee: "No, she just hangs them on her wall."
Older, Cynical Elitist-Type Customer: "Yep, that's pretty lame."

[End Scene]