Back to the 80s
SCBIW May Challenge Prompt for Day 24 — the 80s
What do you think of when you think of the 80s?
I think of a couple of things.
First, I think of the job I had which started with the beginning of the decade and continued to the end of it. It involved learning new technology and ended with the PC coming on the scene in the office and lab environment where I worked. Who would have guessed back then that every desk would have a PC on it now? In those days, my desk was one of the few with such a machine. It took a lot of justification to obtain it.
Men sported bushy hair styles and long sideburns. Women had large hairdos and wore some interesting clothes.
TV Shows
And who can forget: ALF, The A-Team, Cheers, Family Ties and The Golden Girls? And one of my now-favorites: The Lawrence Welk Show.
I’ll have to admit that Lawrence Welk wasn’t high on my list of shows to watch back then, but now I enjoy watching it every Saturday evening right after dinner when PBS airs reruns of it. I love the Big Band sound and the band members all dressed in matching, colorful suits. The ladies, too, all wearing matching dresses and gowns.
And who can’t love Arthur Duncan and his tap dancing? I even enjoy the lively polkas played on the accordion.
Watching that show takes me back to the 80s, a foggy time in my past. For me personally, it contains some sadness — my father passed away in 1983. He had been in declining health for several years, so it was not unexpected, but still it was a blow to my mother and me.
Biking
I can remember bits and pieces of that decade, like the 150-mile bike ride (the MS-150) from St. Paul to Duluth Minnesota that I rode in 1988 to support the MS Society. That was the year I got my Raleigh 21-speed and began riding seriously. I put on more than 2,000 miles that summer.
I also biked from St. Paul, Minnesota to La Croix, WI, about 120 miles, to raise money for a local hospital.
Later, I biked with a small group from Sheboygan, WI to Washington Island and back, a 5-day trip with great views along Lake Michigan and Green Bay.
Some Key Events
- Chernobyl (1986).
- The Challenger Explosion (1986).
- Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (1989).
- Fall of Berlin Wall (1989).
Major Movies
- E.T. …
- Return of the Jedi (1983), $309 million.
- The Empire Strikes Back (1980), $290 million.
- Batman (1989), $251 million.
- Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), $245 million.
- Ghostbusters (1984), $238 million.
- Beverly Hills Cop (1984), $234 million.
- Back to the Future (1985), $210 million.
Five things popular in the 80s
- Sony Walkman.
- Air Jordans.
- Garbage Pail Kids.
- Rubik’s Cube.
- Fisher Price Cassette Player.
Books
Since this is a writing group, we can’t forget some of the great books that came out of the 80s:
- Raymond Carver What We Talk About When We Talk About Love 1981
- Alice Walker The Color Purple 1982
- William Gibson Neuromancer 1984
- Sandra Cisneros The House on Mango Street 1984
- Larry McMurtry Lonesome Dove 1985
- Don Delillo White Noise 1985
- Toni Morrison Beloved 1987
- Tom Wolfe The Bonfire of the Vanities 1987
- Stephen Hawking A Brief History of Time 1988
- Salman Rushdie The Satanic Verses 1988
- Amy Tan The Joy Luck Club 1989
Politics
Ronald Reagan occupied the White House during most of the 80s (from 1981–1989). The Gipper favored Supply-side economics and the “trickle-down” theory that was dubbed “Reaganomics.” His Presidency was somewhat marred by the Iran-Contra Affair:
In November 1986, it emerged that the White House had secretly sold arms to Iran in an effort to win the freedom of U.S. hostages in Lebanon, and then diverted money from the sales to Nicaraguan rebels known as the Contras. ~~https://www.history.com/topics/1980s/1980s
Such was the 80s.
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From a previous SCWBI prompt:
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