Sometimes all it takes is a simple reminder to make you realize you don’t care about something.
I was checking my email this morning when I received a notice from the company that provides our satellite radio service reminding me about the upcoming Grammy Awards show.
As I read the email a few thoughts ran through my head.
Thought No. 1: So, my life has become so pathetic that I’m reading emails from a satellite radio company.
Thought No. B: The only reason I even check my email is to delete the 345,938 emails I don’t want.
And finally.
Thought No. III: I don’t care about the Grammys.
In fact, I thought to myself this morning, I care so little about the Grammys I can’t even remember the last time I did care about them.
It’s possible, many, many years ago, when I was doing a morning radio show, I might have cared about the Grammys but I don’t know. I was one of those rare radio guys who didn’t really care much about popular music.
You have to wonder why someone would work in radio if they didn’t really care much about popular music.
Well, you don’t HAVE to wonder why someone would work in radio if they really didn’t care much about popular music. I’m just saying if you did wonder it wouldn’t be all that strange.
I remember one year Lionel Riche won a whole bunch of Grammys, and Gary Bandy, my radio partner, who did care about popular music wondered-on air-if maybe the reason Lionel won so many Grammys was because, at the time, he was a spokesperson for Pepsi which was a major sponsor of the Grammy Awards that year.
I also remember, a few minutes later, Gary getting an angry phone call from the station’s general manager who reminded Gary that Pepsi was also a major sponsor of our radio station which quickly brought an end to the on-air Lionel/Pepsi/Grammy debate.
I don’t how it is now but back then, in radio, stuff tended to roll downhill.
But even then I don’t really remember caring about the Grammys.
See, I long ago reached the age where I not only didn’t recognize the musical guest on Saturday Night Live but most of the time, I didn’t even recognize the host.
It’s sort of like the first time you discover you’re older than your doctor.
Sigh.
I’m an old person is what I’m saying.
But really a person my age probably shouldn’t care about the Grammys. Caring about music award shows is the stuff of young people. When you’re a young person you should care very deeply about things such as the Grammys and the Oscars and all the other award shows.
The reason young people should care about the Grammys, the Oscars and all the other award shows is because there will come a time when young people aren’t so young and they will discover they can’t remember when they used to care about things like that.
Last Sunday night my wife talked me into watching the Golden Globes awards show. I really didn’t want to watch the Golden Globes but since there weren’t any sports on TV, I figured “What the hell. Why not?”.
Then, after a few minutes, I remembered why not: I don’t care about the Golden Globes.
But I watched anyway. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were the hosts and I like them so watching the Golden Globes wasn’t horrible. Besides, they gave an award named after Carol Burnett to Norman Lear. I like Norman and actually met him years ago when he spoke at one of my broadcast classes at the University of Kansas.
So, you know, we’re practically family.
Even though I enjoyed parts of the Golden Globes I couldn’t bring myself to care about them. I recognized some of the people passing out the awards but I didn’t recognize many of the shows, or actors, who won the awards.
But, again, that’s OK.
My wife actually cared about a lot of the shows and people who got awards. See, when our 23-year-old daughter Emma is home, she and my wife binge-watch a bunch of shows via some sort of streaming device we pay for but I don’t use.
My wife and Emma tell me I would really enjoy some of the shows they binge-watch but I don’t know.
I don’t get binge-watching. My wife and Emma will spend all night binge-watching an entire season of some show.
My wife and Emma: We binge-watched the entire season of (Name of some show I don’t care about) last night.
Me: Why?
My wife and Emma: Because.
Me: I see.
But, as always, I didn’t see. It seems to me, if you watch an entire season of some show in one night, you’ll have to wait another year to watch the next season.
That would be like me sitting down and eating an entire year’s worth of baby back ribs at one time.
Sure they might be good but at some point, you have to just walk away.
So anyway, if you’re interested, the Grammys are on TV sometime next week.
Oh, and if Lionel Riche wins anything don’t tell Gary.