Rant #3,860: Framing Youth

In many ways, I absolutely hate being an adult.

Too much responsibility, too much work to be done, too much dealing with reality.

And funny, those are the exact reasons why I love being an adult, too.

But two recent occurrences have brought me back to those days of my youth ...

And my present adult status, too.

As I was putting this Rant together, I heard of the passing of someone whose loss signifies the end of an era.

Oh, he probably won't be eulogized in any major obituaries in the newspaper or online, but his passing kind of hit me where it hurts--

Right smack dab in my heart, mind and soul.

Sidney Kibrick died at age 97 late last week, and if you don't know who he was, you must not be a Baby Boomer like me.

Kibrick was the last surviving featured member of the cast of the classic "Our Gang" series of comedy shorts, and his passing closes the book on perhaps the best movie series ever created.

He played "The Woim," sidekick to Butch, the bully, in the series, and while none of the shorts centered on him directly, he was featured whenever Butch was there, terrorizing Spanky, Alfalfa, Buckwheat, Porky, Darla and the rest of the "Little Rascals" in stuff that was funny as could be.

While these shorts were created when my parents were kids, the Baby Boomers latched onto the films when they came to television in the early 1950s, and we watched them regularly through the early 1970s, when public taboos took over and these films left the airwaves.

That was the beginning of another chapter for these films, as they migrated to midnight movie showings, then to VHS tape, to DVDs, and finally, to streaming services for all to watch whenever they wanted to.

And I certainly went through all of those cycles with these films, which are still funny 100 years after some of them were made.

Kibrick--whose brother Leonard was also a member of the Gang--was omnipresent in these films during the middle to later era of their existence, and his character--a bully several steps below the often acerbic Butch--was simply part of the fun.

I found out only recently that Sidney and his brother Leonard were among the few Jewish actors in the cast, but even before I knew that, there was a place in my childhood memories of the two Kibrick boys as lovable bad guys in the series.

Woim, R.I.P., you done did good.

And another thing that brought me back to my youth happened on Monday evening, when my son and I attended a WWE pro wrestling event in Brooklyn's Barclay Center.

I was born in Brooklyn, and spent the first year or so of my life living on Avenue N in that borough, or not too far away from where the arena stands.

But what brought me back to my youth is simply attending such an event, and doing so with my son.

I have been a pro wrestling fan for over 60 years, when Bruno Sammartino ruled the sport, and even with it becoming a global phenomenon, it is basically the same sport that I remember--

1-2-3!

Yes, I am getting bit long in the tooth in attending these matches--in our area, I was probably at the very least 20 years older than anyone else I saw in our section, all the way at the top of the arena, the last seat in the last row--but I still could have fun, even with the hassles of getting there, getting in, getting T-shirts, getting food, etc.

(And it is all mighty pricey too.)

But when I ask my son, "Did you have a good time," and he tells me, "Yes," it literally wipes all of that away.

It brings me back to my youth, and also solidifies my presence as an adult and as a parent.

Who knew that "The Woim" and pro wrestling could weave itself into one, but it did.

I had a great childhood, my adulthood has had its ups and downs, but let me tell you--

I don't think I would trade either one for anything else.