"Is that a record??? "


I guess I just found out today how out of touch I am with the rest of the non-audiophile world. I went to the local USPS office to return a damaged LP. I still had the package it came in from Acoustic Sounds, which had 'LP' written on it in several places. So the Postmaster says to me incredulously "Is that a record???!!!" . I calmly say "Yes". The woman in line behind me says "Reeeally!!!...one of those plastic thingyyys???". Again, I repeat my reply, "Yes, it's an LP".
Postmaster: "Wow! I had no idea they even made them anymore."
Me: "Yes, they still make them".
Woman: "Are you serious?"
Me: "Yes, they still make them. In fact, more today than even 10 years ago."
Postmaster: "You mean they still make NEW!! records???"
Me: "Yes."
Postmaster: "What kind of music do you buy?"
Me: "Mostly Jazz".
Postmaster: "Why do you buy them?"
Me: "Because they sound better than cd's."
Postmaster: "I've heard that before, but all of my old records sound like crap."
Me: "Well you do have to take care of them."
Postmaster: "I thought I was taking care of them....I guess I wasn't".

Now I'm not trying to start another vinyl vs. cd debate, been there done that. It just blew my mind that here are two folks around the same age as me, late 40's, who were stunned to find out that vinyl was still availible. I mean I guess I don't expect everyone to know this, but I was a bit taken back by their appearant shock. You'd have thought that I drove up in a Hudson automobile wearing a Fedora hat.

Am I THAT out of touch? I feel like a ostrich with my head in the ground listening to tunes.....out of touch with the real world............

Cheers,
John
128x128jmcgrogan2

Showing 1 response by sharpnine

I have gotten that too, when returning a record via UPS. People seem astounded and curious. I got some of that same treatment for a couple years when I started driving a new mini cooper (people kept telling me "I used to have one of those in the 60s, do they still make them?").

I got back into vinyl (after a 20 year hiatus) not because people my age (middle age) were into it, but because I noticed all the young people were getting into it. My son (20 at the time) had roommates his age who only listened to vinyl. I went on to discover how all the DJs were still doing vinyl, the local record shops were mainly selling to a young crowd. I was also reading hi-fi magazines (something the young people definitely don't do) and realizing the great sound quality of vinyl. Now my son and I are both vinyl fanatics, although our tastes in music differ considerably.

These days, vinyl seems in a real resurgence. A local CD shop that had long since dumped vinyl now has devoted a good chunk of their shop to vinyl, and other shops have expanded their vinyl collections. They say they are thankful for vinyl because CD sales are gradually going away. Nobody cares about CDs when they can download. You can't download vinyl. I predict most music shops will be gone in ten years, with only the vinyl shops remaining. Everything else will be downloaded or more likely just streamed live on demand.