"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
I am 37 years old and have been collecting clean and enjoyable 33 1/3 rpm lps for the past 20 years. Well, most of them are clean and enjoyable. Yes, when I was a child the folks had a Zenith hi-fi with a pair of 8" full range drivers and a decent Shure cartridge. It amazed me that that kind of sound came off of that spinning piece of wax, dug out by a little "needle"! Then came 8tracks and cassettes(good God help us, we were all fooled)! After the introduction of cds... well the cds sucked too, and down deep we all know it's true, can somebody say "my ears are bleeding". I left out reel to reel because even though the sound was great, that was just not mainstream stuff that everyone had. Anyway, my point is, there are probably lots of other thirty-somethings out there like me who love the liquorice pizza too!
I just had an interesting experience. A friend came over for a hifi listening session. This was a new experience for him as he had not yet experienced a proper high resolution audio system before. When I took the first LP out of the sleeve, he was shocked!  "Wait, you're playing records?!  I thought you would have CDs in a fancy stereo like this.". He was impressed by the vinyl. Ironically, I do not own a CD player.
There is a vintage furniture/clothes/knickknack shop in Vancouver, WA (across the Columbia River from Portland, OR) I visit about once a month. When I was there this week I noticed a lot more vendors (each of whom has an area on the floor) offering LP’s. Mostly the usual 70’s/80’s dreck, but some good stuff too. Some of the LP’s looked like they had never been played. Customers at Barnes & Noble would have a hard time not noticing the increasingly large racks of new LP’s the store is (presumably) selling.
Meantime, if I had a Hudson, I'd drive it.  I have vinyl and tubes and a 60-year-old Alfa Romeo and a Leica M3 instead.
Mmmm, Love Leica M3...
i miss my Leica!
but I have a turntable, so that's keeping me going!