Recently a friend was at the house and noticed copy of The G-String Murders in stack of books, said "That's gonna be an easy read" or something like that meaning it's a casual read for pleasure or entertainment and not serious. "Yes," I replied. "Was written by Gypsy Rose Lee. I'm just finishing reading her autobiography, Gypsy, now. It was the basis for the musical of same name." AND there it was, the unknowing look and nod to the left and right. "I don't know who that is," came the reply.
I explained, briefly I hope, who she was. But that didn't help and we didn't discuss further. To what point would we have continued? I found the bio, the author, and I hope the novel interesting because I know who Gypsy Rose Lee was.
I've had similar experiences when I refer to something from theater (only because I've done a little of it and I've always cared a lot about that part of the universe) and people will look at me blankly--they don't know what I'm talking about. And, when they refer to football, hockey, car races, and dozens of other areas, I don't get it. It's about what we're exposed to and, therefore, have some knowledge of.
I look at stuff on line or in the news today and don't know who 'those people' (meaning some level of celebrity status) are. That is certainly a generational issue; I could know who they are but haven't found out and, maybe, don't care. No doubt others aren't interested in stuff I'm aware of.
Whatever the source of an esoteric reference, sometimes we ain't communicating.
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