Achievements of our generation
Today I hiked a large section of Griffith Park behind the observatory with my kids, aged 16, 9, and 5, and the family dog. It’s about a 3-hour hike and, at times, pretty steep. Lex, the 16-year-old, insisted on wearing his new weight vest, which adds 45 lbs to your torso. (Something that Newcastle beer and Slim Jims would also do, but more enjoyably.) He is seriously into weight lifting and said his new fitness goal was to run the seven-minute mile.
“That’s nothing,” I said. “Batman ran the mile in two minutes. So did Robin.”
“He’s fictional!” Lex said, his face running with sweat. We were now over two hours into the hike.
Although I couldn’t remember the precise episode, I remember Batman turning to Robin and telling him they’d have to do that mile in two minutes or some bomb would go off. Commissioner Gordon looked concerned and Chief O’Hara was plainly aghast because Batman and Robin had just come back from running a three-minute mile in the same episode.
“Don’t tell me,” I told Lex. “I saw it. And he was about 40 years old with a paunch. And he had that heavy cape and cowl.”
These kids just don’t believe how much tougher the previous generations were. It’s up to us to keep reminding them.
After the hike, on which I also wore the vest for half an hour just to give the kid a break, I came home and bathed the dog. Then I fell asleep for an hour on the couch.