Jim and Bob

Jim had gray hair, and his posture looked a little slumped from his years. He had trouble starting the movie -- first it was the volume, then it was selecting the right movie on the DVD. The lights came on and off and then on again as he struggled with the remote. As we sat quietly, he exhausted his skills with electronics and was rescued by some others in the audience.

After the movie, the lights came on and we talked about what we had just watched. The conversation bounced around a bit and then stumbled onto a radio interview that will be aired next week.

From the back of the room, Bob asked if anyone was going to tape the interview. Bob was young, and he sat erect in his chair, glancing hopefully around the room. Someone repeated that it was a radio program on 1600 AM. He had a puzzled look on his face. He didn't know what AM radio was.

So there they were. Jim, who was probably proficient with a film projector, was stumped by the DVD and its remote. Bob, who probably publishes personal podcasts on his weblog, had never heard of AM radio and didn't realize he could get it for free.

And there I was, sitting between the two of them, shocked and slack-jawed at how I sit on both ends of that spectrum at the same time. Trudy patted my hand in sympathy.

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