I see London, I see France ...

The dis-oriented author is getting old. My kids are right, they have been saying this for some time. I realize that I really understand nothing about the modern world. I am in my forties. I am one of those people whose birth places me at the tail end of the Baby-Boomers and at the beginning of Generation X.

I remember being an adolescent. It is during those awkward years of the early teens when girls start noticing boys and soon after boys start noticing girls. In those days everything about the opposite sex was a mystery.

During that time of innocence, the height of sexual titillation for a young boy was not even to see a girl’s underwear, just knowing the color was enough. Remember the old rhyme, “I see London, I see France, I see someone’s underpants.” 

Today the rhyme is “I see London, I see France, Britney’s not wearing underpants!”

When I was young, even the adult world was more innocent. Though there are nude pictures of Marilyn Monro, the enduring image of her as sex symbol is from the movie The Seven Year Itch. That image, of course, is Marilyn standing over a sidewalk grate while a subway train rolls by. Her dress gets blown up and we get a glimpse of her almost boyish briefs.

I am not a fan of Britney Spears, but I was in a hotel watching Robyn & Company on CNN Headline News. I was only half listening, when anchor Robyn Meade, the former beauty queen, said something like:

Girls let’s not forget our panties.

For some reason that got my attention. Can you imagine Ted Koepel saying, “Girls let’s not forget our panties.” — if you can please seek help!

It turns out that Britney, since the announcement of her breakup from Kevin Federline, has decided to team with those other young role models, Lindsey Lohan and Paris Hilton. During the last week, Britney has been photographed three different times, exiting vehicles in a miniskirt wearing no pantes and showing quite a bit more than London and France.

Maybe it's some sort of initiation since Lohan and Hilton have also been photographed recently showing more than London and France. But really Britney, three times in one week? Now, of course; Britney, Lindsey and Paris are all adults, in age at least. So if they want to behave this way, who cares. The real problem is that for some young girls, these three are role models.

As role models, these three make me miss Janet Jackson.