Monday, January 7, 2013

Jackson, Jordan; Potato, Potahto

Remember this niece? Well, I have another gem of a conversation.

Her older sister, who is now officially a teenager but has been acting the part for over seven years, apparently is a music snob.

But not in a good way.

In a way that makes me want to shake some sense into her.

Or sit down and cry at what society and music is doing to today’s youth.

She abhors anything that is not country or Taylor Swift.*

No, I’m not sure how I’m related. I think some genetics went terribly wrong. It may be a defect, passed down from her father** but is ten times worse because she’s a young girl in America today.

I should be glad she isn't a Beibs fan, right?

No matter, I’m determined to similarly educate my niece(s) to the finer things in life, namely good music.

But I digress.

My seven-year-old niece, her teenage sister, and I somehow got on the subject of Michael Jackson. I believe the seven-year-old brought it up. Her older sister promptly told me that she didn’t like his music, which I don’t think is even possible. But that was after the following conversation.

Me: Do you even know who Michael Jackson is?
Teenage Niece: No.
Seven-Year-Old Niece: Yes.
Me: Really? Good for you. Who is he?
SYON: Yeah, he’s a basketball player.

If I wasn’t in a small clothing store at that moment, I probably would have laughed a lot louder and longer than I did. Which would be a lot.

It reminds me of the time my older sister (who was at least 16 at the time) casually mentioned that Louis Armstrong walked on moon.

Yes, he walked on the moon, trumpet in hand.

I like to think he was also singing “What a Wonderful World.”

*Taylor Swift is categorized by herself because I believe TSwift has abandoned whatever country roots she may have had as is evident by her last album.

**At least her father likes other genres, specifically rock, and can appreciate decent music. Nevermind the fact that we had to educate him on how to correctly pronounce Chopin and Tchaikovsky when he joined the family. He fits in just fine now.

1 comment:

Andrea said...

You're absolutely right- it's not possible. She's probably just heard he was a freak, and is in that oh-so-delicate stage in life where she does not dare like the products of weird people, lest people think she, herself, is weird. You should let her listen to a good song of his that not a lot of people recognize as Michael Jackson's work, and ask if she likes it. Recommendation: Say, Say, Say. It features P McC in it, so, bonus. (This was back when they were friends- pre- MJ song-buying betrayal.) Yes, niece, he was a freak. But he was a rockin' singer/performer. And that's okay.