Generational espionage
After watching countless Seinfeld reruns, I’ve come to the conclusion that my grandparents are in fact, real life versions of Jerry’s fictional parents. Morty and Helen, meet Virgil and Sally.
In an episode that aired the other night, Jerry’s father made a trip to the doctor. At the reception desk, he was given the standard form to fill out while he waited. After complaining loudly about the required information, he balked at the request for his blood type (or something similar) and handed the form back to the nurse saying, “You got my name, you got my address, that’s enough”.
My grandparents generally display a similar attitude when it comes to filling out forms of any kind. Asked to fill out a financial form, my grandmother once commented, “they just want to find out how much money I’ve got”. I tried to find out who “they” were, but she wasn’t sure. The only thing she knew was that whoever they were, they damn sure weren’t going to find out how much money she had.
My grandparents retired from the working world a number of years before computers truly took over. Because of this, they are mostly clueless as to how things actually work. Of course, this didn’t stop them from becoming fairly wealthy. I suppose that can be partially blamed on good financial management, but I haven’t been able to figure out what that phrase means so I’ll have to get back to you. Regardless, they are dinosaurs from a different age, a time before personal computers and instant communication became as common as a desk and chair in the workplace.
I’d be interested to know how they behaved when they were younger. Is this aversion to giving out personal information generational? Or, will I have a fear of the system to look forward to after I pass the age of 65? By that point, won’t I have realized that anyone trying hard enough can pretty much find out my life story anyway? Or will that part of my brain be replaced by whatever makes my grandpa wait until the last minute to press the brake pedal?
Time will tell.
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