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Are you feeling old? If not, consider this:
The people who are starting college this fall across the nation were born in 1980.
The Iranian hostage crisis occurred before they were conceived.
They have no memory of a time before M-TV.
"New Wave" is their PARENTS musical generation.
Cyndi Lauper, Boy George, the Pretenders, the Kinks, the Sex Pistols -- are all old music they have heard of, if they have heard of it at all.
They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan era.
They were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged.
If they have heard the name "Oliver North," it was probably as a losing Congressional candidate, or perhaps in some obscure survey history text's reference, such as might be made to Huey Long or Teapot Dome.
Black Monday 1987 is as significant to them as the Great Depression.
Their world has always included AIDS.
Having not lived through the Disco Scare, they can romanticize the 1970s.
They see "Family Ties" as something middle aged ladies watch.
They watched "Star Wars" years ago, when they were kids -- on video.
Atari predates them, as do vinyl albums and cassette audiotapes; they may have heard of an 8-track, but probably never actually seen (or heard) one.
From their earliest years, a camera was something you used once and threw away.
As far as they know, stamps have always cost about 32 cents.
The oil crisis is history of which they probably know nothing – and why anyone WOULDN'T buy a Suburban is beyond them.
Most of them have probably never seen a real nun, even if they went to Catholic schools.
YOU ARE A CHILD OF THE 80'S IF:
- You know what a "burnout" is.
- 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 wanted to be a Goonie.
- You know who Max Headroom is.
- You ever wore flourescent, neon if you will, clothing.
- You could breakdance, or wish you could.
- You wanted to be The Hulk for Halloween.
- Partying "like it's 1999" seemed SO far away.
- You wanted to be on StarSearch.
- You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his
nose fell off.
- You wore a banana clip at some point during your youth, or
knew someone who did.
- You knew what Willis was "talkin' 'bout".
- You HAD to have your MTV
- You hold a special place in your heart for "Back to the
Future".
- You thought Molly Ringwald was REALLY cool.
- You actually thought "Dirty Dancing" was a REALLY good
movie.
- You heard of Garbage Pail Kids.
- You knew "The Artist" when he was humbly called "Prince".
- You remember when ATARI was a state of the art video game
system.
- You own any cassettes.
- You were led to believe that in the year 2000 we'd all be
living on the moon.
- You remember And/or own any of the CareBear Glass collection
from Pizza Hut.
- Or any other stupid collection they came out with.
- Poltergeist freaked you out.
- You carried your lunch to school in a Gremlins or an ET
lunchbox.
- You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the ONLY female
smurf.
- You know what a Doozer is.
- You wore biker shorts underneath a short skirt and felt
stylish, or knew someone who did.
- You ever had a Swatch Watch.
- You can name 1/2 the members of Duran Duran
- You remember when Saturday Night Live was funny.
- You had WonderWoman or Superman underoos.
- You know what a "Whammee" is.
- You had a crush on Jon Bon Jovi, or knew someone who did.
If you can identify with at least half of this list then you are
most certainly a product of the 80's!
Do You Have Enough Fun In Your Life?
1) Have you ever walked barefoot in the snow? (10pts)
2) Have you ever gone skinny dipping? (8pts)
3) Have you ever eaten a whole box or cookies or 1/2 gallon of ice
cream? (4pts)
4) Have you ever stayed up all night talking to a friend? (8pts)
5) Have you ever gone out for a midnight stroll? (8pts)
6) Have you ever eaten a flower to find out the taste? (10pts)
7) Have you ever given someone a present just because? (8pts)
8) Have you ever written someone a poem? (4pts)
9) Have you ever gone into a photo booth and made silly faces with a
friend? (4pts)
10) Have you ever left a really big tip because you were having a
great day? (10pts)
11) Have you ever paid the toll for a stranger? (2pts)
12) Have you ever stopped to help a stranger in need? (10pts)
13) Have you ever sat in an emergency room with a friend? (8pts)
14) Have you ever talked to a puppy or kitten? (4pts)
15) Have you ever tried to count the stars? (2pts)
16) Have you ever given someone a back rub because they had a bad day?
(6pts)
17) Have you ever cooked dinner for a sick friends family? (6pts)
18) Have you ever driven someone to the airport? (2pts)
19) Then kissed them good-bye and cried? (4pts)
20) Have you ever served someone breakfast in bed? (2pts)
21) Have you ever laid in the snow and made a snow angel, since
becoming an adult? (4pts)
22) Have you ever stopped your car to look at a rainbow or a sunset?
(6pts)
23) Have you ever picked strawberries and ate so many you could barely
move? (6pts)
24) Have you ever danced in public...like a park or the sidewalk?
(4pts)
25) Have you ever slept out under the stars? (8pts)
26) Have you ever kissed a complete stranger...because you won
something or just for fun? (10pts)
27) Have you ever cheered so loud for the home team that you lost your
voice? (4pts)
28) Have you ever baked fresh bread..not in a machine? (2pts)
29) Have you ever stayed in bed all day..and you were not sick? (6pts)
30) Have you ever had one full day of fun? :) (20pts)
Scoring:
Under 100 and you need to add some fun to your life
100-124 You need a bit more fun!!!
125- 154 You are having some fun now! Keep up the good work!
155-184 YOU are so much fun!!!!! Your life is full...pass it around is
my motto.
We are the children of the Eighties. We are not the first "lost
generation" nor today's lost generation; in fact, we think we know just where we
stand - or are discovering it as we speak. We are the ones who played with Lego Building
Blocks when they were just building blocks and gave Malibu Barbie crewcuts with safety
scissors that never really cut. We collected Garbage Pail Kids and Cabbage Patch Kids and
My Little Ponies and Hot Wheels and He-Man action figures and thought She-Ra looked just a
little bit like I would when I was a woman. Big Wheels and bicycles with streamers
were the way to go, and sidewalk chalk was all you needed to build a city. Imagination was
the key. It made the Ewok Treehouse big enough for you to be Luke and the kitchen table
and an old sheet
dark enough to be a tent in the forest. Your 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 the 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 the air? After school specials were only about
cigarettes and step-families, 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 and the
Hardy Boys, the Bobbsey Twins, Beverly Clearly and Judy Blume, Richard Scarry and the
Electric Company.
Friendship bracelets were ties you couldn't break and friendship pins went on shoes - preferably hightop Velcro Reeboks - and pegged jeans were in, as were Units 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 rubber bands made you cool. The backdoor was always open and Mom served only red Kool-Aid to the neighborhood kids- never drank 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 or Spider Man or R2D2 and in your treehouse you were king. In the Eighties, 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 Tiananman's Square on CNN and bought pieces of
the Berlin Wall at the store. AIDS was not the number one killer in the United States. We
didn't start the fire, Billy Joel. In the Eighties, 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 on to our children - the first children of the twenty-first
century. Never forget: We are the children of the Eighties.