I long for days gone by . . . .

This morning while driving to work, a song from the 80’s came on the radio, one for which I had very fond memories. It immediately took me back to when I was 17 years old, and brought me back to 1985.

Life was better then.

People had real conversations, not one sentence blubs coming at you via texts and twittersphere. You called your friends on the phone and talked to them, instead of an impersonal status update on facebook. If they did not answer the phone, you tried again later, and if they still did not answer, you went and checked on them. If someone had a problem, you sat with them and comforted them instead of sending a :(. If something good happened, you celebrated with them instead of clicking “Like”.

You spent time together at Fro-Yo, Century theaters, memorial park, and the swim and racquet club. People had real friends, not internet links, and it was not a contest to see who had the most, it was all about who had the best, and as long as you had a few really good ones . . you felt like a winner no matter what anyone else had.

The music was better. That’s probably all I need to say about the music itself. But Music was also an experience. Remember sitting next to your cassette deck hoping that song you like so much would come on, so you could hit record and get a copy? What about mix tapes? How cool were those, and they actually meant something. How about saving your money to buy an album? And hanging out at the record store, seeing your friends, and perusing all your options trying decide which record to buy.

Power ballads . . . need I say more?

Dancing was cooler back then too! I remember the mind blowing experience of the first time I saw someone moonwalk. What about popping and break dancing? . . . 80’s pop stars were innovative and talented . . . today’s pop stars just go for the shock value of wearing a meat dress, or nothing at all. What about Madonna in the 80’s . . wearing her bra on the outside of her clothes was risqué, now I just wish the current pop stars would wear a bra.

As far as Television . . not only was TV a social experience, it was entertaining, and it was FREE! Sure, you had to watch commercials, but even those were better back then. How many commercials from the 80’s do you still laugh about, talk about, or remember? . . .”Where’s the Beef” . . “no, a bud light” . . “Nothing gets between me and my Calvin’s” . . “the worlds fastest talker” . . “I’ve fallen and I cant get up” . . Bartle and James, the California raisins, the list goes on and on.

People also felt oddly connected through TV. If you watched the news, odds most of your friends and neighbors were watching the same thing. Everyone talked about it the next day . . you remember the space shuttle, the Berlin wall, and all the other local and national events. Even Saturday Night Live was better then. Families watched TV together . . and sometimes even invited others to come watch a show with them!

Sure you could get cable if you wanted, but you really didn’t need it. If you had a friend with cable, you go to your friends house to watch MTV and talk about the music. Not only that . . . . MTV actually played music in the 80’s!
And the shows themselves? They were entertaining, as opposed to today’s shows which seem to go for shocking. As for sexual content . . .Sex was still sexy on TV back then . . it was a mystery . . it was the unspoken . . today its right there in front of you, and not nearly as exciting. As for shows, you had tons of options you could watch as a family and be entertained . . Cosby, Chips, Love Boat, Magnum PI, Dukes of Hazzard . . the list goes on.

Speaking of Dukes of Hazzard . . remember when Daisy’s shorts were about the most risqué thing on TV? Well compared to what we see on TV today, Daisy dressed like a nun.

I loved the movies from the 80’s. Movies in the 80’s were made to entertain, and did not require an agenda to be “original”. How many movies today are just rehashes of old movies, or politically motivated drama. Seriously, going to a movie was fun in the 80’s! All the John Hughes movies . . .how awesome were those? My teenager still likes them today. Not to mention . . Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, ET. They were original ideas, and rarely rehashes of the same old theme. Movies were way better back then.

Speaking of Hollywood and its “Stars” . . . Remember when people used to announce engagements BEFORE the pregnancy?

I believe we were more patriotic back then also. Being a US citizen meant something, and we were proud of it. I remember saying the pledge allegiance was a good thing, and not controversial. I remember when public officials and military were admired, even with their faults. I remember one instance when Jimmy Carter was President. At Regnart elementary during a school program they brought out a picture of our President, Jimmy Carter. A bunch of kids (and probably some adults) booed. We immediately got a lecture I have never forgotten . . its OK to disagree with your President, but its not OK to disrespect him. I don’t claim perfection here, but I can say I try. Sometimes I wonder if people try anymore.

Remember when the Russians were our enemy, and not everyone around us. I am not saying painting Russians as bad is a good thing, I am just saying we knew who our enemy was. There was both respect and fear in that. To be honest, I think I enjoyed the cold war far more than the terror environment we have now. Who the hades is my enemy? Who is my friend? I imagine some of the people reading this could fall in either category, and I may not even know.

I remember when going to Church was a good thing. For the most part, religions were respected not mocked. While beliefs may have been different, I always felt enriched by being around those who believed. Mormons, Jews, Catholics, Baptists, and all the others seemed to get along just fine. Sure there were differences, but there also seemed to be an underlying respect.

Now it seems that all religion is treated as bad, and those who do still believe, regardless of how they believe, are treated as though they are ignorant, hateful, stupid and misled. Some argue that we are more enlightened today, I would argue the opposite. I could go on for pages, but I am really tired of societies view on religion today. The 80’s were much better when people seemed to respect and support everyone’s decision not believe, or to believe, and to practice it however they wanted. . . and we supported everyone’s right to have differences.

On wealth . . .work was valued in the 80’s, and it was not a sin to make a few bucks more than the next guy. If you saw a rich guy, you found out what he did to get there, instead of criticizing him for it. Everyone wanted to make a buck, and they came up with innovative ideas on how to do it. Everyone worked on getting ahead, instead of complaining about not being equal.

As far as the environment, we still talk about how we are ruining the planet just like we did in the 80’s. Back then it was global cooling, this time its global warming. The biggest difference, in the 80’s we looked at what we do in our daily lives to try and make a change, now we do nothing but blame corporate entities and try and shut them down.

In the 80’s we had short attention spans, so we worked on focusing . . now we medicate. This is true of nearly every “problem”. Everything seems to be a disease now. In the 80’s if we had a problem, we changed our behavior or if it did require meds we found the right ones. Now we find a pill for just about everything. we take it, then wait 10 years to sue because of its side effects.

Getting a tan was awesome in the 80’s. You could go in the sun for more than 10 minutes and not fear that you would die of skin cancer. Also whats up with water? Is it really that impure these days? Everything has to be filtered or bottled now. In the 80’s, unless you lived next to Chernobyl or Three Mile Island, there were no worries about a water shortage, or toxins in the water supply.

Remember the neighborhood arcade? Or even the video games at 7-11? These were places to hang out. It was where people would go to play Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, and Asteroids while chomping down some really disgusting nachos. Holy cow, remember when Dragons Lair came out? And the long line to play that one? Remember the street cred that came with getting a high score, and having your initials posted on the game? While the graphics may be cooler today, and the strategy tougher . . the social aspect is totally lost. Even if you play over the internet . . its just not the same.

80’s fashion . . .well we had a style. It may not have been great, but it was a style, and it was ours. We weren’t trying to copy anyone else’s. We owned the neon colors, the pegged pants, the crazy hair, the acid washed jeans, the leg warmers, and all the other things you think of when it comes to the 80’s.

I miss the 80’s, except for maybe the shoulder pads, fanny packs, and parachute pants. It was just simpler back then. Sometimes simple in our current world can look pretty good.

If you stuck with me this long . . I hope you totally awesome/rad day!