When I tell people that I write a weekly column, they often ask “What is it about?” And I usually say, “It’s kind of like ‘Seinfeld’; it’s about nothing.”
So, it was interesting to me when a reader stopped me in church recently and said he liked my latest column. “But,” he said, “I feel compelled to tell you it was a lot like ‘Seinfeld’ — a whole lot about nothing!” I laughed because here was a guy who “got it”!
In one of the early episodes of the show, Jerry and his friend George go in to “pitch” a show to some TV executives. George explains the concept of the show saying, “Nothing happens on the show. You see, it’s just like life. You know, you eat, you go shopping, you read. You eat, you read, you go shopping.”
So the “show about nothing” was really a show that dealt with everyday life. Not much happens on most days of our lives, right? The real secret of the success of that show was not in its plots, but in its witty dialogue.
The show was driven by its humor and an occasional superficial conflict — like the “Soup Nazi.” And the characters were unique. Where else would you find a guy like Kramer? Or Newman?
But, no matter how unique the characters were, the show was basically just about the everyday lives of those characters. They became involved in the lives of others to provide some flimsy plot lines, but it was basically about “nothing.” Sort of like this column, right?
“Seinfeld” was extremely popular for about nine years and actually had an impact on the language. The show made use of several catchphrases that became pretty popular, including “Yada, yada, yada,” and “Not that there’s anything wrong with that!”
The concept of giving someone else a present you’d received was given a name by the Seinfeld crew; “re-gifting” is a commonly used term now. “Double-dipping,” referring to the practice of dipping a chip into the salsa for a second time, came from George.
There’s a whole lexicon of the terms, code words and recurring phrases popularized by the show in Jerry Seinfeld’s book, “Seinlanguage.” It’s fun to read if you were ever a fan of the show.
So, yeah, how would you describe this column? In the 18 years I’ve been doing this, the column has metamorphosized from a weekly treatise called “Backstage,” which was about theater and the arts in the area, into a space for me to spout off about almost anything that comes to mind: language and words, childhood memories, commentary on things going on in the world, golf, sometimes theater and art, bragging about my grandkids, whatever.
This column today is a good example of what I’m talking about, right?
It’s “about nothing!” My friend Rick was absolutely right when he made that analysis.
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