The biggest star I’ve never heard of is heading for Dundee.
Stampy Cat, followed by millions thanks to his online gaming videos, is due to speak in the city on November 30.
Who? Don’t ask me. I’m not his target audience. But I recognise what he and others like him represent: generational divide.
My children watch a ton of online gaming stuff. As a responsible parent, I monitor what they are doing, but, as a bewildered and grumpy parent, I do my best to ignore it, too.
It’s a well-established tradition. A new generation becomes obsessed with a thing and the previous generation, although well-meaning, just wants it to go away.
My kids aren’t Stampy Cat viewers but the Minecraft and Lego Dimensions videos they watch whenever I turn my back are in the same vein. I won’t pick on anyone in particular but I suspect these new stars are specially chosen, by a shadowy cabal bent on driving parents crazy, for their annoying voices.
One guy shouts “Oh jeez!” a lot and, frowning, I find myself wanting to ban him. I mutter and I hate the whole thing. I’m old.
Somehow, when I wasn’t paying attention, I turned into one of those 1950s dads who was terrified of Elvis and demanded TV cameras only show him from the waist up. Somehow, I’m the same as those parents who demanded the Beatles get haircuts. I might as well be writing headlines about how the Sex Pistols will destroy society.
Our world now is fast-paced and fractured. As we focused on hand-held devices instead of each other, we created communities that no longer depend on geography. Our connections come from shared interests, via online feeds and the gulf between generations is wider than ever.
That said, it’s worth doing what those pelvis-fearing dads never did. I’m trying to pay attention and get into what my kids are into, at least a little. I even read some My Little Pony comics. They were good.
However, I can’t wait until my children are teenagers, angry at nothing in particular and ready to smash the system. Then we’ll have something in common.