I wonder who at the New York Times sat down and said, “we should really pick Frank Bruni for the op-ed page because it doesn’t have enough snobs.”
All of you have been there, on the outside of some mass-market craze or niche obsession that seemingly two of every three people you know won’t shut up about, their exuberance a sort of reprimand for what you’re missing.
Maybe you never dipped into the “Star Wars” series, the “Star Trek” canon or anything galactic. Maybe you skipped “Seinfeld,” like the rebelling friend of mine who dismissed it as “the intelligent person’s ballpark wave,” or Jonathan Franzen, who demanded more patience than critics let on. Maybe you never bothered with Radiohead and then Vampire Weekend; in-line skates and then Uggs; Napster and then Facebook; the iPhone and then the iPad.
If you’re one of the rubes who actually happens to enjoy pop culture, I hope you understand that Frank Bruni is better than you. I’m looking forward to Bruni’s next column complaining about young people and their dungarees.