Today Was Yesterday

The kids didn’t like it as much as my lovely wife and I did. Maybe because the music was before their time. But, honestly, the music is before my time as well. I was born in the mid-60’s. But, the greatest band in history was already on their way to being a world changing phenomenon.

And my daughter liked Bohemian Rhapsody better. And Freddy Mercury and Queen were not that far removed from John, Paul, George and Ringo and The Beatles.

But, it wasn’t just the movie “Yesterday” that we saw today. We actually traveled back to yesterday to see it.

With the decreased travel, and Russia’s recently concluded price war with Saudi Arabian oil, the price of gas is lower than it’s been in years. The demand for gas is at a 52 year low. It was $1.94 at our local gas station. Even lower elsewhere in the country.

Another sign that we are living in an older age.

But, it was the setting where we saw “Yesterday that really gave me a feeling of being a kid again. We saw it at a drive-in theater.

But, this isn’t your parents’ (or grandparents’) drive in.

Our local theater, Water Gardens, has transformed itself from a traditional movie theater to a drive-in.

For one thing. We were confined to our cars. We were only allowed out for “emergency bathroom trips.” I’m not sure I wanted to know what constituted an emergency. We told the kids to go before we left home.

If you had to go to the bathroom, you needed to use an online app to schedule it and then stand in line at stanchions which were six feet apart and wait your turn. The bathrooms were sanatized between each use.

We bought our tickets online too. And concessions were ordered online as well.

And we didn’t have those clumsy speakers hanging in our windows. Instead we tuned our radio to 88.9. At least those of us in Lot 1 did. There were multiple screens set up around the complex. Each one had its own frequency.

Fortunately, my kids decided to take a separate car. That left my lovely wife and I to share our big roomy Suburban all alone.

I’ve seen the movie before. My lovely wife had not, but picked it based on my recommendation. If you are familiar with the movie, the main character, Jack, is one of the only people in the world who remember the songs of The Beatles. He spends much of the movie trying to figure out what his new reality looks like.

That struck a chord. We also are plunged into a new reality. Unlike the people around Jack, we all understand what’s happening to us. Well, maybe we don’t understand it, but we at least know our world is changed.

So, we sat there watching a screen, listening to the radio, eating popcorn and peanut M&Ms. It’s a new world. Today is part futureworld, and part yesterday.

Stay safe.

Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.

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