Yesterday, while riding a bus, I eavesdropped on the 60ish-year-old busdriver’s casual bitching about how the world today isn’t nearly as good as it was in his day.

Having lived in Florida for the past decade and a half, I’m well-acquainted with this spiel.

But what I considered the kicker: When asked what he misses most about his golden age, he said (paraphrasing):

“When I was a kid, on Saturday nights, I’d go to my grandma’s house, and we’d watch “Gunsmoke”. And then, at either 11 or 11:30 — depending on what channel you watched — “Sea Hunt” would come on. Lots of good TV back then.”

This is his cherished memory — oldie-moldy TV shows? That he can still watch now on some channel or other? I’m not averse to television nostalgia; I grew up on hours of the stuff. But that you would cite the medium as an example of how life was better way back when — pathetic.

It was The Goo Goo Dolls who sang something about “the reruns all become my history”. Sucky song, sucky band, but it looks like they nailed this one.