Old School !!!

Was at the pro club( for those out of town this is like one of the best gyms ever ,I think definitely the largest one in the country ) the other day listening to some tunes on my phone and ordering a coffee at the coffee shop.

Some pixie haired, barely legal, girl rings me up and then remembers what she learnt at orientation viz, be friendly and chat with the customers. “What’re you listening to”? , she manages to trill in a sing-a-long voice while smiling at the same time ( I tried this later at home and managed to scare the dogs). Um Led Zeppelin I mumble back. The girl clearly has no idea what I am talking about. This is a tense moment in her young life, faced with the absolute knowledge that hour(s) of training will not help now , she resorts to the safety play…”Oh Old School nice”, and of course I wittily retort “nope just means I went to school a long time ago”. We both laugh although once can detect a certain strain in my hahahaha. And then as I leave it strikes me , “old school” is not code for “cool” or “the way things ought to be” etc, its actually just effin code for OLD. AS IN makers of fast cars , aftershave, cologne, sexy leather jackets, cigarettes, and alcohol no longer think you are a key demo. AAARRGGGH.

And then I start thinking about other such insidious phrases that sound great but really mean “This is LIFE…. bend over”

For example “Work Life Balance”, what a charming phrase bringing to mind a well rounded life, the aggressive go-getter at work taking time to listen to a piano concert recital perhaps , or the passionate yet ethical worker who also whips up a souffle in the evening for a quaint old school ( see what I did there ) dinner with the kids. Wunderbar Wunderbar…

There is however a small catch. When a company ( specifically the recruiter or hr person or your boss ) talks about work life balance…… they are not talking about the same person !

Its genius and despicable wrapped up in the cloak of fiduciary responsibility. Added bonus it shows they care ..

Oh well the coffee was kinda nice though and if I try really hard someday I will have no work and no life …. balance is very hard