Remembering the 80's -- Are You A Cheese Head?

Alright – I Admit It – I’m a Cheese Head

Most of us can call a specific decade our own, and fondly look back on those years. For me that decade is the 1980’s.

Looking back now, it seems pure cheese – pastel colors were in, as were leg warmers, parachute pants, and even the Parachute Club.

I grew up on 1980’s television. I remember rushing through my homework in grade eight, so that I wouldn’t miss The A-Team. I’d stay up to watch Night Rider, followed by the Dukes of Hazard. On weekends, I’d watch Diff’rent Strokes, The Facts of Life, Kids Incorporated, and who could ever forget Fraggle Rock!

“Kitt! I need you buddy!”

“Right away Michael!”

I miss those shows, even though they were so very corny.

Television represented the decade quite well – the simplicity of good old fashioned family values in standard middle-class nuclear families.

This was the decade of loving, caring families always resolving their differences. Shows like Family Ties, Growing Pains even Punky Brewster all were big on cute kids, getting into big problems, but in the end solving these problems and teaching us viewers how to resolve our own.

I even remember watching ALF and Harry and the Hendersons. Two cheesy shows with puppets as lead characters.

So that makes me a cheese head – big deal.

Hey, I grew up in the best decade.

My decade was when Michael Jackson and Madonna were not only big mega stars, but they were also relatively ‘normal.’ This was before Michael Jackson went from black man to some manila colored alien-like creature. Back before Madonna exposed herself and her sexuality on Letterman. Back then, they were only churning out great tunes.

Back in my decade, off-the-shoulder sweaters and showing a little ankle were sexy. These days, women show butt-cleavage – and that’s among the lesser of the skimpy outfits in style these days.

Life was so much simpler back then. Predators online – naw, there was no online, the Internet didn’t exist. Privacy existed, because cell phones and pagers were only carried by doctors, lawyers and the exceptionally wealthy. These days, kids have cell phones, and most carry a smartphone around all the time.

There may have only been 30 channels on television in the 1980’s, but back then, at least there was something worthwhile on some of those channels. I have over 500 channels now, and often shake my head in disgust with the lack of quality programming.

We never had to worry about terrorist attacks in Canada or the States in the 1980s. Though our thoughts of dread came from the Iron Curtain. The Cold War carried on between the super-powers of the USA and the USSR. But back then, political leaders were really leaders – and they knew better than to just go out and attack. The Cold War was mostly a mental war, each side trying to prove the other’s bluff.

These days, political leaders are more in it for themselves, or their own entertainment value, and it is really scary to think of all the military might they have at their disposal.

Yeppers – life was a whole lot simpler back in the 1980s.

Maybe that’s why there is a resurgence of 1980’s trends making a comeback. I’ve noticed some 80’s fashion is back in fashion – things like leg warmers and big hair.

Ah . . . big 80’s hair!

I had a big 1980’s doo. How I miss that too. It was wild, free and even just a little zany. But it was pretty simple too – just wild natural curls, that were prone to their windblown styling.

Wild and free – ah the 1980s.

They say history has a tendency to repeat itself – well, I’m still waiting for the repeat of the 1980s.