This morning as I was doing dishes, okay, putting them in suds to soak, I had a little tune stuck in my head. I don’t know how it got there, those earwurms are insidious little things. Anyway, it was the little jingle they used to play at the drive-in theaters, let’s all go to the movies, let’s all go to the movies, so I sang it for my son who looked at me like I was a weirdo. He’s a weirdo, anyway again, I said the last time I could remember hearing it was maybe when I watched Grease.

He reminded me he has yet to see the song and dance spectacular we call Grease, I never said I was a perfect parent. He then started naming off other movies he’s never seen, including Footloose. I’ve made a few parenting mistakes, I admit it. I apologized and told him we’d check Netflix. This is when his brother walked in and asked who Kevin Bacon was. Did I raise these kids? This led to a lengthy discussion of the many roles of Bacon, which led to the logical and inevitable arrival at Bacon numbers.

Next thing I know, they are at the computer checking The Oracle of Bacon to find out the Bacon numbers of their favorite actors. Apparently Benedict Cumberbatch has a Bacon number of two which reminded me of when I met Dirk Benedict, better known, to me at least, as Lieutenant Starbuck of Battlestar Galactica fame. The old one, the original one, the bestest, most cheesy, one – so we typed in his name.

His Bacon number is two which would then, by my calculations, make mine three. Score. I’m not a particularly huge Kevin Bacon fan, but knowing my Bacon number is for some reason extremely satisfying. My son is right, I really am a weirdo.

Crystal R. Cook

*The Oracle of Bacon does not personalize anything, I added the arrow and my name –