It Just Wore Off
Frankie is my youngest son and he is COOL!
We love many of the same things. We love Science Fiction (Star Wars, Stargate, etc.), Comic Books, Big Bang Theory, and all things geek and nerdy stuff. We have a comic book collection that we treasure. Every year we go together to Comic Con in San Diego. He will take a couple friends. I love watching him go from table to table getting artists to draw something in his sketch book. He loves attending panels from anime to the Walking Dead. He knows everyone. He can pick out the writers, he knows the artists and all their work, and he even picks out YouTube stars as the walk through the convention hall. He is regularly recognized by animation fans because he has done voice over work on famous animated movies, like PONYO. He loves it and I love seeing him have so much fun.
There was always something special about the way Frankie views the world. He has a love for things that is passionate and faithful. He is intelligent and thoughtful. I am proud of him.
Another wonderful quality about Frankie is that he has a natural COOLNESS. He is just cool. He does not work for it. It is a part of him. He is drawn to things that are cool (or will become cool). He knows about cool things before others jump on the bandwagon. He loved Dr. Who before most people here in the US knew about it. He was reading Walking Dead before the phenomenon took over pop culture. He likes music groups long before they explode. He can wear a super hero costume and it is cool. My wife recently bought him a FEZ hat and he wears it everywhere. I was amazed how many people come up to him with admiration. Even in a FEZ…he was cool.
When he was around 5 years old I asked him a question.
I said, “Frankie, how did you get to be so cool?”
Frankie responded, “I don’t know Dad, I guess I am just cool.”
I continued, “I know you are cool. I used to be kind of cool but never like you.”
He continued, “Dad, you were probably cool…IT JUST WORE OFF.”
I learned several lessons that day:
- Your children are usually right about your level of cool (or lack of cool).
I never really possessed his level of the cool factor. I was a geeky kid before geeks ruled the world. I had a comic book collection before they were worth money. Now that I am older I am less cool, less cutting edge, less hip (Is that still a cool word?). I try to catch up with all the new words and fads but I am always late OR I dislike the use of the made up word (i.e. Swag, Twerk, etc.).
- Be careful what you ask your child.
They will tell you the truth even when it hurts. They have an earnest honesty that can hit your pride like an arrow.
- Cool does wear off.
If I had any cool, it has long since left me. The things that were cool when I was a kid are not cool now. My kids look at it all as corny and old. Try telling your kids that roller skating was cool. They will never understand why you waited in line for days to see Kenny Rogers (one of the best nights of my life).
Maybe it’s time to change their attitudes and remind ourselves how cool we were back in the day. Let’s bring back all of the cool stuff from when we were young. We can show our kids how truly cool we were back in the day.
One day when they come home, my wife and I will be dressed up like Mork and Mindy, on roller skates, listening to the Bay City Rollers, watching Tom Hanks cross dressing in Bossom Buddies, riding a giant Big Wheel, playing with our Lite Brite, and collecting marbles.
See kids…we are COOL!