A Few Things I Miss About the 80s

My kids love The Goldbergs, a tv show situated in the 80's.  I strongly recommend, it's a great show with lots of laughs and it both is set in the 80's and feels like an 80's sitcom.  My daughter Adaliah wishes she had been a kid in the 80's and I get it because for a lot of us it was a great time to be a kid.  Here are three things I miss about the 80's.  

 

1. I miss Saturday morning cartoons.  

This could easily have been called, I miss limited choices.  When I was a kid we had three channels on tv,  two if the weather was bad or the tinfoil ball fell off the antenna.  Now in 2021 there are 25 kids channels available in Canada, that's more channels than were kids shows in a given week growing up.  I remember first thing in the morning there was a few kids shows before the news came on.  Then there were a couple at noon time for the students who walked home for lunch.  After school had a few but I was often too busy with friends to bother.  Then Saturday morning was from wake up till lunchtime pure enjoyment.  I think my favourites were G.I. Joe and Transformers.  What were your favourites?

 

2. I miss stores closed on Sunday's

In the same way I had to explain to people me having five kids had nothing to do with being a pastor and religious views, neither does this preference.  In fact, I hated as a kid that we often had to fight to be able to play outside with friends in case we made too much noise on a Sunday.  What I miss is that almost everyone for one day a week was home or at friends.  It was like a free day for almost the entirety of society other than the handful of essential services.  The city even had a different feel to it, which we only experience nowadays with a storm or a global pandemic lockdown.  

3. I miss real community

I know most people will say they find that at church or a group they are part of and I get it that community does still exist, to an extent.  Prior to Covid we did markets and fairs all the time and I'll tell you those settings there is a real sense of community.  So I'm not saying it doesn't exist but it's not the same anymore.  When I was a kid we had BBQ, pool parties, hockey games, yard sales, and more with our neighbours.  These days most people don't even know their neighbours.  Not judging, I don't know my neighbour on the right side of my house.  Mind you they live about a quarter mile away, a country life.

 We also experienced this at our cottage where we had a week long event where everyone got together for games, competitions and parties.  It was a different time of human interaction.  We now live in a world where we talk to most people through a device rather than in person, especially with Covid.  Be honest, you have talked to your spouse or kids in the same room through your phone.  

Now let's all take a moment and realize it's fun to reminisce, but it should never shadow the present or become the place we are stuck.  I think with Covid right now a lot of us are in that place where we recall what it was like before and want to go back.  I think the sooner we all realize it will never quite be exactly the same, the better we all will be.  But take comfort, it will improve and get better just in a different way, some for the better and some for the worse.  The 80's was great but it also had it's bad side, an article for another day.  Love life and be kind.