Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Fathers and sons and ringtones

I was waiting on line in Barnes and Noble. The lone cashier, thirty or so, was talking to the customer at the register about the Nook. The cashier said that he was resolved to acquaint himself with every new development in “technology” — which no doubt meant end-user digital technology. The one thing that he didn’t want, the cashier said, was to turn into his father. Why, it took his father a month to figure out how to add different Lady Gaga ringtones to his phone for different numbers.

Sigh. A good son would not let his father fumble for a month setting up Lady Gaga ringtones. A good son would at once dissuade his father from adding even one Lady Gaga ringtone to the phone. It’s so inappropriate.

[Waiting on line in a chain bookstore these days makes me sad. I hear the World of Tomorrow laughing at me.]

comments: 2

Adair said...

Michael, I am curious about "on line." Is this New York usage? I bow to you in all things grammatical! (And in all things literary, cinematic, musical, and televisionary, too!)

By the way, I agree about Lady Gaga ringtones, but, I have to admit, I was quite surprised to hear how well she sang with Tony Bennett. She held her own! At tmes, she even sounded like Keely Smith in her range and expression. She ought to switch from pop to Jazz.

Michael Leddy said...

Adair, yes, I was going for the New York on.

No disrespect to Gaga! That duet is fine. I wonder if such a switch would bring the audience along.