Too hip for the old school

I remember as a little girl, perusing through the stacks of books my grandpa kept beside his recliner, along with his pipe, tobacco box and smoking stand. They were perfect in size and form, nothing cumbersome about them at all, and always with the yellow trim and pictures of places and things I’d never even imagined. Then like clockwork, we’d gather on Sunday nights to watch their programs, and although I didn’t always pay attention to what they were saying, it was the images that fascinated me.

If you haven’t guessed, I’m talking about National Geographic.

Theirs was the first subscription I ever bought on my own, and needless to say, when cable and satellite TV came along and offered a Nation Geographic channel, I was thrilled and now I get to sit with my own son and watch or read, as he seems to find it just as fascinating as I did (do).

But what’s up with this new “Nat Geo” crap they’ve come up with. I can’t tell you how that cuts through me each and every time I hear them say that; as if they’ve sold their soul in an attempt to attract a cool, hip new generation and it pisses me off!

In this horribly fast-paced and changing world we live in, is nothing sacred anymore? I know it’s crazy, but National Geographic was one constant that I’ve been able to count on and hold onto since my childhood and it pains me to see them conform to what they think society wants.

~ by Jill on November 4, 2007.