my father the communist

i was in san francisco this weekend visiting my uc berkeley-bound brother. while window shopping in chinatown, my mother disclosed to me that, as a teen, there was nothing my post-cultural revolution father wanted more than a maoist red cap. as a person who thinks way too much about radicalism and liberationist movements, i always find it interesting how one culture's norms can become another culture's revolution. my father has more in common with american capitalism than with pseudo-marxist college students. he probably just wanted to look cool.

transcript of a very strange conversation i had with the bro

him: i've been getting into this band called coconut records. have you heard of them?
me: no.... [discerns from wikipedia that it's fronted by jason schwartzman]. wow. you're so hip.
him: thanks. apparently the frontman's an actor too.
[silence]
me: ... you know he was an acclaimed actor first, right?
him: whatever.
me: have you seen rushmore?
him: is that a movie?

have i fallen into that age of making references that younger generations do not understand?