You know you grew up in the 1980s when....

[Jenny]

OMG! LOL This is SO me! :D

You know you grew up in the 1980s when....

-You know what "Sike" means.

-You know the profound meaning of "Wax on, Wax off."

-You know that another name for a keyboard is a "Synthesizer."

-You can sing the McDonald's Big Mack,Filet-o-fish, quarter pounder, and French fry song.

-You know who Mr. T is.

-You know who Fat Albert is. And who was old boy with the pink mask?

-You ever wore fluorescent, neon clothing.

-You could breakdance, or wish you could.

-You wanted to be The Hulk for Halloween.

-You Believed that "By the power of Greyskull, you HAD the power.

-Partying "like it's 1999" seemed SO far away.

-You thought that Transformers were "more than meets the eye".

-You knew that knowing is half the battle.

-You wanted to be on Star Search.

-You can remember Michael Jackson when he was black.

-You wore a banana clip at some point during your youth.

-You remember the garbage pail kids, and owned some.

-You knew what Willis was "talkin' 'bout."

-Rut row raggy. and Zoinks.

-You HAD to have your MTV.

-You actually thought "Dirty Dancing" was a REALLY good movie.

-You remember when ATARI was a state of the art video game.

-You owned any cassettes.

-You were led to believe that in the year 2000 we'd all be living in space.

-You know what leg warmers are and probably had a pair.

-You wore biker shorts underneath a short skirt and felt stylish.

-You wore your Izod shirt with the collar up.

-You had a Swatch Watch with the Swatch Guard.

-Your Legos collection started with the free sets in a Happy Meal.

-You remember when Happy Meals came in a box, not a paper bag.

-You remember when Saturday Night Live was funny.

-You had Wonder Woman or Superman underoos.

-You know what a "Push Up" ice cream is.

-You had to come in the house when the street lights came on.

-You had to change into play clothes after school.

-You owned, or knew somebody with a Commodore 64.

-You hated Scrappy Doo.

-You recorded songs off the radio with your boom box.

-You wished you had a light saber.

-Somehow you still know all the words to songs played on VH1's "Big 80s"

-Your arm was full of rubber bracelets.

-You have ever said, "Gag me with a spoon."

-You have ever wondered what happened to Saturday morning cartoons.

-You had to get up to change the channel, or had one of those noisey "clicky boxes".

-You can still sing 1 to 12 from the Pinball machine song on Sesame Street.

-You thought the Thriller video was pretty cool.

-You remember the first time you went in to a video store to rent a movie.

-Canadians watched...Romper-Room, Mr. Dress-up, and the Friendly Giant - remember the teeny weeny furniture you wished you had?!

-You wore those wide, colorfull shoelaces.

-Quiet Riot's "Come on feel the noise" was the best song - ever.

-You know where "I want my two dollars" came from.

-You still cannot go in to the water because of that damn movie Jaws.

-El Debarge's "Get a beat to the Rhythm of the night" plagued the radio every hour.

-You remember life before minivans and SUVs.

-Cars...Gremlins were cool - Pacers were not!

If you can identify with at least half of this list then you, my friend, are a "Child of the 80s".

[TheLoneGunman]

I suppose it is more embarrassing to wake up in bed with a girl and reminisce about those times and then realize that she wasn't born until the early 80's...

It is worse when she refers to you as an "older guy" but such is life...

[Speedfreak]

Well, I live some of my most important years in the 80s as I was only 11 when the 80s ended.

HAHAHA
-You can remember Michael Jackson when he was black.


Most of those I can relate to.

Some that I hate to admit or that I CAN'T relate to:

-You ever wore fluorescent, neon clothing.
I had something, a shirt I think, in neon pink. Damnit. What was I thinking.


-You wanted to be on Star Search.
No...I didn't want to be on it, but I watched it and really liked it.


-You wore a banana clip at some point during your youth.
What the hell is this?

-You were led to believe that in the year 2000 we'd all be living in space.
Sort of.. Maybe flying cars, at least. :D

-You know what leg warmers are and probably had a pair.
Saw them, but didn't have any.

-You wore biker shorts underneath a short skirt and felt stylish.
Well, of course not. Don't let the neon pink shirt fool you

-Your Legos collection started with the free sets in a Happy Meal.
Possibly, don't remember

-You remember when Happy Meals came in a box, not a paper bag.
That stopped that long ago???

-You had a Swatch Watch with the Swatch Guard.
Nope.

-You had to come in the house when the street lights came on.
I don't think it was exatly like that, maybe just when it got dark

-You owned, or knew somebody with a Commodore 64.
Not in the 80s, I knew someone later that had one, though. I had the best console at it's time: Atari 7200. Hell Ya!!!

-Somehow you still know all the words to songs played on VH1's "Big 80s"
Well, not all the words, but I can probably recognize many songs

-Your arm was full of rubber bracelets.
Uh... no.

-You have ever said, "Gag me with a spoon."
Uh..No

-Quiet Riot's "Come on feel the noise" was the best song - ever.
Better, yet... Twisted Sister - "We're not going to take it"

-You know where "I want my two dollars" came from.
That is sooooo familiar, please tell me.


If you can identify with at least half of this list then you, my friend, are a "Child of the 80s".
YES, I am.

[ironchef]

ahem.. or you're in your 20's :)

god, what a bad decade that was. i've tried to completely block it out of my mind for fear that i'd put on some wigwams and walk around with my black hightops untied

[DoPeY5007]

Originally posted by TheLoneGunman
I suppose it is more embarrassing to wake up in bed with a girl and reminisce about those times and then realize that she wasn't born until the early 80's...

It is worse when she refers to you as an "older guy" but such is life...




damb I know what you are talking about!!!!.....

thats me right now!!!...


hehehehehehe

[oblongmelon]

the worst part is ALREADY BEING GROWN up in the "80's and STILL KNOWING WHAT SOME OF THAT STUFF IS..*groan*...

[hapoo]

i can relate to more than half, and most of the ones i dont relate to are cause they're female biased. ahhh memories :)

[DizzyT]

Geez, thanks a lot guys... I feel very old right now... I can recognize like (remember saying like all the time?) everything on the list!

[theorangeone]

Originally posted by Speedfreak
-You know where "I want my two dollars" came from.
That is sooooo familiar, please tell me.
[/B]

better off dead, one of the best movies ever made!

[LPMiller]

I want my 2 dollars comes from the movie Better Off Dead, a classic Savage Steve Holland film.

[Rocket2Fun]

ahhh the memories
thank you jenny... that put a big smile on my face
i think my favorite one is the Comodore64 I still remember when my dad bought me and my bro's one... that thing was sooooo pimp... people would beg to play it
Do you guys remember all the really "cool" games came on cassets?
Man I wish I still had that thing... I wonder where it went...

[LPMiller]

The galaxy rangers?

"Ramrod will now take navigational control"

Is a line that always, always made me laugh.

[OC]

Originally posted by ironchef
ahem.. or you're in your 20's :)

Wow, someone that knows how to use "you're" and "your"! How non-illiterate of you. :thumbup:

The 80s rocked for me. Fun music, MTV still played music videos, the beach in Santa Cruz, and my first girlfriend... Ah, memories.

Thank you Jenny.

-OC

[hapoo]

Originally posted by overclocked
How non-illiterate of you. :thumbup:

-OC


Shouldn't that be "How literate of you"??

[cruelpupet]

Dude...I still have most of my garbage pale kids cards somewhere

[Mighty Man]

Ramrod: Wasn't that Sabre Rider?

[Nanotech9]

-You know who Mr. T is.
heck yeah!

-You know what a "Push Up" ice cream is.
Hey, I remember those from over in spain :)

-You owned, or knew somebody with a Commodore 64.
Ohhhh yeah!, and California Games was THE coolest game(s)!


wow, I grew up in the 80's, but I missed sooo much being over in spain. They were still in the 60's :( Damn, and I missed all the good music too.

[LPMiller]

Originally posted by Mighty Man
Ramrod: Wasn't that Sabre Rider?

hell, might have been. I try to block a lot it.

[Speedfreak]

Voltron!!! (http://home.socal.rr.com/speedfreak/Voltron.wav)

[Edited by Speedfreak on 05-29-2001 at 10:37 PM]

[Speedfreak]

Doogie Howser!!!! (http://home.socal.rr.com/speedfreak/DHOWSER.wav)

[m0j0]

members only jackets
the facts of life
duran duran
kajagoogoo
berlin (still good :P )
depeche mode
def leppard
ozzy! (that non-randy-rhodes-having bark at the moon....sheesh)

[Speedfreak]

Anybody remember the cartoon movie "Dot and the Kangaroo"?

[hapoo]

this is probably early 90's but does anyone remember a cartoon about a girl who had a koala who was from some other dimension or some shit, or was i just smokin' something?? Personally my favorite cartoon as a kid (3- about 7) was Thundercats, After that it was all about Duck Tales!!! LaunchPad Mcquack Rules!! :D

[Rocket2Fun]

Depeche Mode will always be awesome
Duran Duran is still "new"
Chicago has the best love songs
U2 was young
Red Hot Chilli Peppers was young (man those guys look old)

Nobody knew what Ska, Punk, Trance, House, or Jungle was...
I don't even know if people on this forum will know what they are...
Windows were still the things that kept out the cold and had glass in them
Apple2Plus seemed so high tech with it's 16 shades of grey
Microsoft wasn't a bad word
everyone knew all the commands for DOS (man I always hated DOS)
You played Commander Keen on your friend's "HIGH TECH" computer
You thought that a 10meg HD was huge... who would ever need more?
and on and on

[Nanotech9]

and to think somebody migh have mentioned that a 400GB drive was more than anyone would ever need... learn from the 80's ppl!.... someday, someone will be installing their "new" 40terrabit drive and be wondering how anyone will have a use for the "new-tech" 200octabit 1cm square drive. :D

someday they'll invent a time portal, and I'm gonna go back and visit the 80's all over again.

[welfareloser]

Originally posted by theorangeone

Originally posted by Speedfreak
-You know where "I want my two dollars" came from.
That is sooooo familiar, please tell me.


better off dead, one of the best movies ever made! [/B]

amen! still love it. had a great 80s soundtrack, too

OMG!!!! dot and the kangaroo!!! that was a horrible, annoying cartoon and i remember it well! wasn't there a song about the damned kangaroo hiding in his own pouch during a thunderstorm? i hated that one. and a character called funny bunny... how gag-me-with-a-smurf is that?

gnarly.

[styleee]

Originally posted by Nanotech9

-You owned, or knew somebody with a Commodore 64.
Ohhhh yeah!, and California Games was THE coolest game(s)!




THAT GAME ROCKS! just this weekend i was playing hacky sack with some friends, and i was telling them how when i was younger, i wanted to be a pro hacky sacker. just like on california games :)

but my favorite game for the commodore 128 (we didn't have a 64) was MONTEZUMA'S REVENGE. it was the bomb diggity.

:laugh:

[evil-will]

ahh ..the 80s does anybody remember:
the cartoon - siver hawks or battle of the planets?
When 8 bit Nintendo was "soo cool"
spiked hair
and the rubiks cube ??

[DizzyT]

Heard the rumor that Mikey died from eating pop rocks and drinking coke?

anyone else rush home to watch General Hospital?

[OC]

Originally posted by hapoo

Originally posted by overclocked
How non-illiterate of you. :thumbup:

-OC


Shouldn't that be "How literate of you"??

Technically yes, but by using "non-illiterate" I'm implying that others (that can't use your and you're correctly) ARE a bit illiterate. If I had used "literate" it would have still been a compliment to ironchef, but the left-handed insult to others would have gone missing.

Yes yes, I know that "illiterate" is not really the right word to use to for simply not using "your" or "you're" correctly, but I think you all get the point. And besides - it was a joke, people, k? K.

We now return to our regularly scheduled thread.

-OC

[OC]

Originally posted by Speedfreak
I had the best console at it's time: Atari 7200. Hell Ya!!!

Hell yeah! Remember the game Star Raiders? It rocked. I'd love to find a PC version, or an emulator and ROM image.

I once built my own controller for the thing that sat in my lap. Figured out the pinouts of the connector and everything and it worked great. I still have my 7200 and some games, but no controllers.

-OC

[Edited by overclocked on 05-30-2001 at 10:36 AM]

[Jenny]

Doogie Howser and Facts of Life. Man o man! LOL I loved those shows! You can still catch Facts of Life on reruns, but I never do. And if anyone knows where to see Doogie, let me know!

[Rocket2Fun]

I miss watching Gilligans Island and The Beverly Hill Billies... not really sure if those were 80s shows... but I sure had fun watching them during the 80s

Anyone remember where Nano Nano is from?

[chrissy]

No! You forgot the best show in the 80's!!!!

The Greatest American Hero!

:)

[TheLoneGunman]

The LoneGunman fulfilled one of his dreams by acting on Doogie Howser. In fact, he played a lone gunman (actually there were other gunman too..) but he wasn't a very good shot as he was all bloody and Doogie needed to fix him...

Anyway, it was that episode where he dreamed he went back into Civil War times...

I was also featured on such 80's classics as LA Law (Lawyer who always hung out in a strip club), Matlock (reporter who dogged Matlock), and several other shows.

[OC]

Originally posted by Rocket2Fun
Anyone remember where Nano Nano is from?

Mork & Mindy. Shazbot.

[chrissy]

how about Flashdance?

I went through two copies of that soundtrack!

VH1 had a special on it this afternoon... fitting :)

[Rocket2Fun]

ok here's another one
Anyone remember seeing the first Police Academy movie and thinking it was hilarious?
Man back in the days sex and violence ruled the movies

[Jeffbx]

Wow - M.U.L.E., Lode Runner, Castle Wolfenstein (NOT 3D!), Ultima II... now THOSE were games!

Ahhh, the good 'ol days....

[Speedfreak]

Airwolf (http://www.80stvthemes.com/ra/AIRWOLF87.ra), anyone? :)

[Loki]

When did they stop putting happy meals in boxes? I don't remember the switch ever happening. CHEAP BASTARDS!!!

[plutarcho]

Remember the most pressing questions of the day:
Who shot JR?
Where's the beef?
Will the Russians nuke us?
Wouldn't it be really cool if Red Dawn really happened?
How "bad" do I look in my roller skates with the floresent green wheels and checkered shoe strings?

Life was good when you could blame your energy crisis on the Middle East and anything else that went wrong on the Russians.

Now the most pressing questions:
Who is the father of Rachael's baby?
Who let the dogs out?
Will the Russians meet their payroll?
How bad "do" I look in Rollerblades at my age?

[OC]

Has anyone mentioned Square Pegs yet?

-OC

[chrissy]

NO! and for good reasons! :)

[AWM]

Very ironic, I was just talking with my wife and something reminded of those tennis shoes, called Rooz I think. Or kkanagroos. You know the ones with the nifty little pocket somewhere on them? She denies anything about.

please confirm!?

[evil-will]

I had a pair of those!!! They're called kangaroos. they had a little zippered pocket on the side . Oh damn, did anybody ever own those Puma sneakers in suede ? remember, after you wore them your socks would be all blue. damn the 80's where did our fashion sense go .

[chrissy]

Yep. Kangaroo's! Had a pair in.... 84-85 for school. White with red trim... the pocket held my lunch money. :)

[theorangeone]

Originally posted by evil-will
I had a pair of those!!! They're called kangaroos. they had a little zippered pocket on the side . Oh damn, did anybody ever own those Puma sneakers in suede ? remember, after you wore them your socks would be all blue. damn the 80's where did our fashion sense go .

my sister still has and wears black suede pumas.

i used to wear my spot bilts with pride, and my canvas nikes. not to forget the jelly shoes when i was being girl like.

[evil-will]

Apparently all the 80's stuff is coming back into style. I recently saw some kids wearing Pumas and the Adidas shell top sneakers. I wonder whats next, perhaps big hair and high tops with tapered jeans that are cuffed.

[yippiekiyeh]

Karateka-One of those games well enjoyed.
You can't forget the NES with ROB.
But Before that, Colecovision! Woo Hoo!

And if you knew everyone from the Brat Pack, that would include you as a child of the 80's.

[Thunder]

Here's an email I got:


Just in case you weren't feeling too old today, this will certainly
change things. Each year the staff at Beloit College in Wisconsin puts
together a list to try to give the faculty a sense of the mind set of
that year's incoming freshmen. Here is this year's list:

> > > 1. The people who are starting college this fall
> > > across the nation were born in 1980.
> > > 2. They have no meaningful recollection of the
> > > Reagan Era and did not know he had ever been shot.
> > > 3. They were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War
> > > was waged.
> > > 4. Black Monday 1987 is as significant to them as the
> > > Great Depression.
> > > 5. There has been only one Pope. They can only really
> > > remember one president.
> > > 6. They were 11 when the Soviet Union broke apart and
> > > do not remember the Cold War.
> > > 7. They have never feared a nuclear war. "The Day
> > > After" is a pill to them, not a movie.
> > > 8. They are too young to remember the space shuttle
> > > blowing up.
> > > 9. Tianamen Square means nothing to them.
> > > 10. Their lifetime has always included AIDS.
> > > 11. Bottle caps have always been screw off and plastic
> > > 12. Atari pre-dates them, as do vinyl albums.
> > > 13. The expression "you sound like a broken record"
> > > means nothing to them.
> > > 14. They have never owned a record player.
> > > 15. They have likely never played Pac Man and have
> > > never heard of Pong.
> > > 16. Star Wars look very fake to them, and the special
> > > effects are pathetic.
> > > 17. There have always been red M&M's and blue ones
> > > are not new. There used to be beige ones?
> > > 18. They may have heard of an 8 track, but probably
> > > never have actually seen or heard one.
> > > 19. The Compact Disc was introduced when they were 1
> > > year old.
> > > 20. As far as they know, stamps have always cost about 32 cents.
> > > 21. They have always had an answering machine.
> > > 22. Most have never seen a TV set with only 13
> > > channels, nor have they seen a
black-and-white
> > > TV.
> > > 23. They have always had cable.
> > > 24. There has always been VCR's, but they have no
> > > idea what BETA is.
> > > 25. They cannot fathom not having a remote control.
> > > 26. They were born the year that Walkman were
> > > introduced by Sony.
> > > 27. Roller-skating has always meant inline for them.
> > > 28. The Tonight Show has always been with Jay Leno.
> > > 29. They have no idea when or why Jordache jeans were cool.
> > > 30. Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave.
> > > 31. They have never seen Larry Bird play, and Kareem
> > > Abdul-Jabbar is a football player.
> > > 32. They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.
> > > 33. The Vietnam War is as ancient history to them as
> > > WWI, WWII or even the Civil War.
> > > 34. They have no idea that Americans were ever held
> > > hostage in Iran.
> > > 35. They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are.
> > > 36. They don't know who Mork was or where he was from.
> > > 37. They never heard: "Where's the beef?", "I'd walk
> > > a mile for a Camel," or "de plane, de plane!"
> > > 38. They do not care who shot J.R. and have no idea
> > > who J.R. is.
> > > 39. The Titanic was found? I thought we always knew
> > > where it was.
> > > 40. Michael Jackson has always been white.
> > > 41. Kansas, Chicago, Boston, America, and Alabama are
> > > places, not groups.
> > > 42. McDonald's never came in Styrofoam containers.
> > > 43. There has always been MTV.
> > > Do you feel old yet?

[hapoo]

First of all, that was probably writen in 1998 since it says
". The people who are starting college this fall across the nation were born in 1980. "

Second, I was born in 82 and out of that whole list there was probably only 5 i couldn't relate to, you would have to be pretty damn ignorant or live in the middle of no where to not know some of that stuff.


[edited due to my stupid typing] :disa:

[Edited by hapoo on 06-10-2001 at 01:32 PM]

[oblongmelon]

..all the Iranian guys were a big hit at the clubs-with their dark sultry looks, tons of gold, ballbuster white pants and REEKING of POLO cologne. Many a friend of mine lost their resolve to men named HAMOUD!

[hapoo]

:heh: rofl....what???

[chrissy]

WE ARE NOT THE LOST GENERATION ~ Author Unknown

Friends, If you were born between 1967 and 1977 (give or take a year or two), you will certainly enjoy this as much as I did. Don't skip a line, read this when you have time to take it all in.

I am a child of the 70's and 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 someover-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 Dodge'em Cars or Frogger. I never did beat Asteroids. Then I watched "Scooby Doo." Daphne was a Goddess, and I thought Shaggy was smoking something synthetic in the back of the Mystery Machine. I HATED SCRAPPY.

I would sleep over at friends' houses on the weekends. We played army with G.I. Joe figures, and I set up galactic wars between Autobots and Decepticons. We stayed up half the night throwing marshmallows and Velveeta at one another. We never beat Rubik's cube, unless you count taking off the stickers. I got up on Saturday mornings at 6 a.m. to watch bad Hanna-Barbera cartoons like "The Snorks," "Jabberjaw," "Captain Caveman," and "SpaceGhost." In between I would watch "School House Rock." ("Conjunction junction, what's your function?!")

On Friday Night, Daisy Duke was my future wife. I was going to own the General Lee and shoot dynamite arrows out the back. Why did they weld the doors shut? 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 the Covenant, and 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 summer 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 like throwing them in that big air conditioning unit.

I listened to John Cougar Mellencamp sing about Little Pink Houses for Jack and Diane. I was bewildered by Boy George and the colors of his dreams, red, gold and green. I was a "Wild Boy," Duran Duran. MTV played MUSIC videos. Nickelodeon played "You Can't Do That On Television" and "Dangermouse". Does anyone remember the "Banana Splits?" HBO showed Mike Tyson pummel everybody except Robin Givens, the bad actress from "Head of the Class," who took all Mike's cashflow.

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, and 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 and everyone wanted a skirt like the Material Girl and a glove like Michael Jackson's. Today, we are the ones who sing along with Bruce Springsteen and The Bangles perfectly and have no idea why. We recite lines with
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 and Punky Brewster and "What you talkin bout Willis?" We hold strong affections for The Muppets and
The Gummy Bears and why did they take the Smurfs off of the air?

After School Specials were about cigarettes and stepfamilies. The Polka Dot Door was nothing like Barney, and aren't the Power Rangers just Voltron 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 - preferably hightop velcro Reebok - And pegged jeans were in, as were unit belts and layered socks and jean jackets and JAMS and charm necklaces and side pony tails and just tails. Rave was a girl's best friend; braces with colored rubberbands made you rad.

The backdoor was always open and Mom served only 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 and in your treehouse you were king. In the 80's, nothing was wrong. Did you know the president was shot? Star Wars was not only a movie. Did you ever play in a bomb shelter? Did you see the Challenger explode or feed the homeless
man? We forgot Vietnam and watched Tiananmen's 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 not turning our backs. The eighties may have made us idealistic, but it's that idealism that will push us and be passed to our children-the first children of the Twenty-first century. We had neighborhoods where in the day we could play kick-the-can, "guns" and all of the things that made us Grow Up.

There was always that one field" that could be used for either baseball, football, homerun derby, or just a place to hang out. That was my field of dreams, Mr. Costner.

At night we would play flashlight tag. Just like we could trick-or-treat at night without the fear of being shot and killed. Just like our guns had caps or "lasers". If we didn't have the Jessie James guns we could just get a rock and smash the caps on the ground! We loved the orange race tracks ...that wasuntil our mother realized she could smack us with them.

We were the kids that not only collected Cabbage Patch kids, but their ugly offspring-Garbage Pail Kids. We too collected football and baseball cards but it was because we wanted to be the first in the neighborhood to have the "complete" set. Sports were important, but not near as important as
Friday/Saturday Night's Main Event with of our favorite WWF wrestlers. We loved to imitate their moves..until someone got hurt.

In our neighborhoods we played with He-man and Skelator. Going to get a Happy Meal on Saturday with dad or mom was worth waiting the other six days of the week. No, we are the furthest thing from a lost generation.

Does going to arcades on Saturday, getting carpooled to football with your best friend, eating fruit roll-ups, having birthday parties at McDonalds or Godfather's pizza or Noble Romans where you could make your own pizza express you are lost?

How many people melted their army figures that were given to them by their parents. Was Green Lantern the Coolest Super Hero or Aquaman? "Wonder twin powers activate!" How's about coming home at night and separating your candy into: The cool stuff, the homemade stuff, and the pennies...how's about the candy that came in that awful orange and black wax paper? Did you ever try it? Do you remember the one house that had a sign in the candy bowl that said, "Take One." How many did you take if you liked it? Were you desperate one year and as a teenager you trick-or-treated?

Our generation had character and heart. We played with real baseballs and "Putt putt for the fun of it." "Hey, my mom will take if your mom picks up!" Could you ever really beat Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom...How's about Adventure? Did you have sliced oranges or grapes for your half-time
treat? How's about the hot dog and coke after each football and baseball games? Star Crunches? Whippy Dip? Twinkies? Ho-ho's? This is what WE are all about!

So if you are reading this and it ALL hit's home then you do indeed have a heritage or a generation. This is what makes us the most unique generation of all.

[Jenny]

God, I miss being a kid. Life was so much simpler then! No bills, no responsibilities. :) Loved that crabbie!