Friends, this is one of the best emails of all time.
If you were born between 1965 and 1977 (give or take a
year or two) you will certainly enjoy this as much as
I did. Don't skip a line.
I am a child of the 70's & 80's. That is what I
prefer to be called. The 90's can do without me.
Grunge isn't here to stay, fashion is fickle and
"Generation X" is a myth created by some over-40
writer trying to figure out why people wear flannel in
the summer.
When I got home from school, I played Atari 2600. I
spent hours playing Pitfall or Combat or Breakout or
Frogger. I never did beat Asteriods. Then I watched
Scooby-Doo. Daphne was a goddess, and I thought
Shaggy was smoking something synthetic in the back of
the MysteryMachine. I HATED SCRAPPY.
I would sleep over at friend's houses on the weekends.
We played army with G I Joe figures, and I set up
galatic wars between Autobots and Decepticons. We
never beat Rubik's cube, unless you count taking off
the stickers. I got up on Saturday mornings at 6am to
watch bad Hanna-Barbera cartoons like "The Snorks",
"Jabberjaw", "Captain Caveman", and"SpaceGhost". In
between I would watch SchoolHouse Rock (Conjunction
junction, what's your function?)
On Friday night, Daisy Duke was my future wife. Did
your Dad turn from mild-mannered Bill Bixby into the
"Incredible Hulk" when he got upset? At the movies
the Nerds got revenge on the Alpha Betas by teaming up
with the Omega Mu's. I watched Indiana Jones save the
Ark of Covenant.
I wondered what Yoda meant when he said, "No, there
is another".
Ronald Reagan was cool. Gorbachev was the guy who
built a McDonalds in Moscow. My family took vacations
to South Florida and collected Muppet Movie Glasses
along the way (we had the whole set). My siblings and
I fought in the back seat. At the hotel, we found
creative uses for Connect Four pieces.
I listened to John Cougar Mellencamp sing about Pink
Houses and Jack & Diane. I was bewildered by Boy
George. I was a "Wild Boy" for Duran Duran. MTV
actually played music videos. Nickelodeon played "You
Can't Do That On Television". HBO showed Mike Tyson
pummel everybody except Robin Givens.
I drank Dr Pepper. I'm a Pepper, you're a Pepper,
wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too? Shasta was for
losers. Tab was a laboratory accident. Capri Sun was
a social statement. Orange Juice wasn't just for
breakfast anymore. Bacon had to move over for
something leaner. My mom put a thousand Little Debbie
snack cakes in my Charlie Brown Lunchbox and our world
was the backyard and it was all you needed.
With your pink portable tape player, Debbie Gibson
sang back up to you. Everyone wanted a skirt like the
material girl and a glove like Michael Jackson.
Today, we are the ones who sing along with Bruce
Springsteen and the Bangles perfectly and have no idea
why. We recite lines from Ghostbusters and still look
to the Goonies for a Great adventure. We flip
through T V stations and stop at the A-Team and Knight
Rider and Fame and laugh with the Cosby Show and
Family Ties. "Whatyou talkin' about Willis?"
We hold strong affection for the Muppets and Gummy
Bears and why did they take the Smurf's off the air?
Afterschool Specials were about cigarettes and
step-families. The Polka Dot Door was nothing like
Barney. Aren't the Power Rangers just Voltran
reincarnated? We are the ones who still read Nancy
Drew, the Hardy Boys, the Bobbsey Twins, Beverly
Cleary and Judy Blume.
Friendship bracelets were ties you couldn't break and
friendship pins went on shoes. Pegged jeans were in,
as were unit belts and layered socks and jean jackets
and JAMS and charm necklaces and side pony tails.
Rave was a girl's best friend; braces with colored
rubberbands made you rad.
The back door was always open and Mom served only the
red kool-aid to the neighborhood kids. You never
drank the New Coke.
Entertainment was cheap and lasted for hours. All you
needed to be a princess was high heels and an apron.
The Sit'n'spin always made you dizzy, but never made
you stop. Pogoballs were dangerous weapons, and
Chinese Jump ropes never failed to trip someone.
In your Underoos you were Wonder Woman, Spider Man or
R2D2. In your treehouse, you were king. In the 80's
nothing was wrong. Did you know the president was
shot? Did you see the Challenger explode or feed a
homeless man? We forgot Vietnam and watched Tiananmen
Square on CNN.
We didn't start the fire Billy Joel.
In the 80's we redefined the American Dream, and those
years defined us. We are the generation in between
strife and facing strife and turning our backs. The
80's may have made us idealistic, but it's that
idealism that will push us and be passed to our
children-the children of the 21st Century. We had
neighborhoods where in the day we could play
kick-the-can, ring-o-levio, "guns", and all of the
things that made us "Grownup".
There was always that one field that could be used for
either baseball,football, or just a place to hang out.
That was my field of dreams, Mr. Costner. At night we
would play flashlight tag, and we could trick-or-treat
at night without the fear of being killed. We loved
orange race tracks...that was until our mother
realized she could smack us with them.
We collected Cabbage Patch kids, and their ugly
offspring Garbage Pail kids. We collected football &
baseball cards, but it was because we wanted to be
the first in the neighborhood the have the complete
set. We playedwith He-Man and Skelator. Going to get
a Happy Meal on Saturday with Mom or Dad was worth
waiting the
other six days of the week. Was Green Lantern the
coolest superhero or Aquaman? "Wonder-twin powers
activate!"
"Hey, my mom will take if your mom picks up!"
This is what growing up in the 70's & 80's was all
about! So if you are reading this and it ALL hits
home then you do indeed have a heritage or a
generation. This is what makes us the most unique
generation of all.