You really never think it’s going to happen to you. Suddenly, you find you have lost touch with modern society and much of what you know is passe. Just like growing older, having to wear glasses, and getting gray hair, this all seems to have happened overnight.

I’ve written before about the disgust of  my kids when I start humming a song and tapping my foot. Then I make the mistake of saying “Have you heard this song? It’s my new favorite.” My three older children have different degrees of disgust in their voices when they tell me they have indeed heard the song. Then, they let me know the song has been out for about two years.

Even the baby, age 5, was riding in the car the other day and began singing along to a song I had never heard. “How do you know that song?” She went on to tell me she’d heard it on her friend’s car radio when riding back from preschool.  She was in preschool LAST year. So again, I’ve discovered a song that is no longer on the charts and most people have already heard it.

I spend most of my time listening to the oldies station, which I have finally accepted.  You see, when I moved to the St. Louis area 26 years ago, the oldies station was playing songs from the “1950s, 60s and 70s.”  Now, only the 70s and 80s are being played. But in any case, I listen to tunes from yesteryear and rarely know the new songs unless they are wildly popular.

I have eccentric tastes in TV, too. Although most people think I’m odd, I admit to being hooked on a British television show that has been on the air for 50 years. I have watched most episodes online, although they are being pulled from the internet now due to worries about copyright infringement. I doubt there is anyone around here who is a fan, but I’d be excited if there were.

So, needless to say, my television viewing is spotty. I sometimes watch a game show with my kids. I’ve seen a few current shows, but never from beginning to end. Much of what I watch consists of news and a few reruns of “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “The King of Queens.”

Surprisingly, I like to read TV Guide. I rarely watch TV, but I like to read about it. I was looking the other day and looked at one of the features near the front of the magazine.  It was the top 25 shows of the week. I read the list. Sure, I’ve heard of many of the shows, but I have watched only a few. I’ll admit, there were some shows on that list I’d never heard of.

You would think that something making a “most popular” list would be widely known by most people. I’m wondering how many other busy, working parents are in the same boat I’m in.

I was not surprised to see that many of the most popular shows were reality shows and shows about relationships. In this day and age, our most important relationships are with our smartphones. We still long for human relationships and watching them on TV seems to be filling some type of void, even if it is partially.

The top 10 shows from the year I graduated high school included shows like “The Cosby Show,” “Family Ties,” “Murder She Wrote” and “Miami Vice.” It seems like only yesterday.

I’m wondering how Angela Lansbury would do these days in her own reality show?