Un-cool

For Christmas of 2005, I bought my 15 year old daughter, Grace, an electric guitar that she coveted.  I was happy to be able to get this for her, not just because she had been playing my vintage guitars, but to be able to get her something that I knew she would like.  She had taken classical guitar lessons, but her interest in this guitar signaled a major shift in musical style.

Though she loved the guitar, my musical preferences were un-cool.  I was a dinosaur, with my liking the Stones, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, etc.  It didn’t help that I liked some current stuff too, like R.E.M., Cake, and Wilco.

A few days after Christmas, Grace was in her room listening to Green Day.  I had heard their songs on the radio and thought they were catchy. So, I poked my head in and asked if I could listen.  She said, "Sure".  After a few minutes, I asked, “Why don’t you play these songs on your new guitar?” She looked a little puzzled and gave a smart ass response: “Because I don’t know how to play them.” I thought, “Here’s my chance.  Maybe I can show her some stuff.”

So, I grabbed the guitar and started picking out “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and then a couple of other songs. She said, “How did you do that?”  And I explained how she could listen to a song and pick out the notes and then play the chords that go with those notes.  She was skeptical, so I just kept playing. Eventually, she took the guitar from me and started to play.

I remember that day, since it was one of the few occasions where I had an opportunity to teach my teenage daughter something which was of interest to her. She never uttered a word to me, but I could tell by her expression that she thought that I was, sort of, cool, even if it was for only a couple of hours.   

__________

I wrote this for the Trifecta Writing Challenge Week 40 Writing Challenge, where are supposed to write a composition using the word “dinosaur” in the context of something which is large, out-of date or obsolete.

Your comments are appreciated.