Generation Gap

Watch out Norman! The second Terminator is right behind you! (Photo by Kathleen Ballard, Los Angeles Times — Wikipedia Commons)

Me: Hey teenager. Did you hear the news? Norman Lear died.

Nephew: Who?

Me: Norman Lear. He made One Day at a Time and The Jeffersons.

Nephew: Are those old movies or something bruh?

Me: No those aren’t movies. He was a TV producer. He created All in the Family.

Nephew: What’s All in the Family? Is that the one where the black hipster kid is always like ‘Did I do that?’

Me: That was Family Matters, and Family Matters wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for All in the Family. Norman Lear was revolutionary. Before him TV was all 1950s suburban nonsense, with husbands and wives sleeping in separate beds. Archie Bunker changed all that.

Nephew: I thought you said his name was Norman Lear?

Me: It was Norman Lear! Archie Bunker was the father on All the Family. It was a big deal!

This is the picture that comes up when you type ‘Archie Bunker’ into Unsplash. Clearly they are on my nephew’s side. Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash

Nephew: Whoa no need to get salty bruh. What was the big deal about him?

Me: Well he was uh . . . grumpy. And he didn’t let anyone sit in his chair, and uh . . . they talked about the war.

Nephew: In Ukraine?

Me: Ukraine didn’t exist. It was the war in Vietnam.

Nephew: Oh World War II.

Me: World War II was the Nazis! God don’t they teach you anything in school?

Nephew: I literally only take regular history this year. Next year I’m taking Ancient Civ though, so we’ll probably talk about the Nazis.

Me: The Nazis aren’t ancient! They were eighty years ago!

Nephew: Exactly. Nobody from today was alive back then.

Me: Norman Lear was! I’m just trying to tell you that Normal Lear made Archie Bunker and Archie Bunker was groundbreaking.

Nephew: So he had like old people clout because he sat in a chair and talked about Vietnam? Sounds…