J Geils Band “I Do”

Aging, and realizing you are aging, is a process of crossing thresholds and passing landmarks. I crossed a threshold this winter.

I was in conversation with an unnamed co-worker. Our music tastes have plenty of overlap, though I am slightly older. I felt we were peers on many levels, until she read a concert listing and asked:

“Who is J. Geils?” And she mispronounced Geils, so it rhymed with “miles.”

She’d never heard of them. Yikes.

Growing up, The J. Geils Band was one of my favorites, so a part of my life I could not imagine that a music fan who had even the tiniest bit in common with me, wouldn’t know who they were.

Then I realized: The last time The J. Geils Band had a Top 40 hit was when “I Do” came out in 1982.

My co-worker is a college graduate, but wasn’t even born in 1982!

I am apparently more than slightly older.