Did you hear about A-Rod's wife? A-Rod would be Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees. Him you've heard of, yes?

Anyway, there was his wife pictured on the front page of yesterday's New York Post (where else?) sitting in the family section at Yankee Stadium wearing a tank top with a familiar two-word obscenity across the back.

Occasionally I run into something that tells me I'm out of step with the pop culture. This is one of those moments.

Have we reached the point in our history (by the way, Happy Birthday, America!) when this sort of thing has become fashionable?

We're not talking about a garment worn by street punks. Given A-Rod's pay grade, I'm guessing Mrs. A-Rod (Cynthia) does most of her shopping at high-end emporiums. OK, even if she picked it up at one of those fun shops along California's Venice Beach (where I've noticed a few pieces of apparel emblazoned with, shall we say, off-color sayings) or some such place closer to home, did she actually think there was nothing wrong wearing it to the ballpark? Heck, even the Yankees draw the line on that. They've long had a policy prohibiting bad language on clothes or banners. (The Associated Press reports today that the team's general manager has since spoken to Mr. and Mrs. A-Rod.)

I feel like the grandfather in "Moonstruck" who cries, "I'm so confused," when he can't follow what's going on in his family.

Understand, I've been in the newspaper business a long time. I was in the National Guard. I go to the movies. I read books. I grew up on the streets of the Bronx, for heaven's sake. I've heard these words before. Yes, I've even used them. I'm not offended as much as I am dismayed about some of society's trends.

By most definitions, Mrs. A-Rod's choice of tank top was a bad one. Why didn't she know that?