SCBWI Writing Prompt: 80s

When You Look Back And See Life With Fresh Eyes

A brief look back at the decade of 1980s

The 80’s was a decade of change and transformation for me. I was in Chicago when it started and in Houston when it ended.

With the election of Ronald Reagan came the recession in 1981, and along with it a brute realization that in corporate America, you are easily dispensable if you are earning more that they think you should. Never mind that you received that pay by making the company ten times as much in profits.

I left Pizza Hut when I realized that it was either on my terms or theirs. I went to work for a five-star restaurant as a waiter, after having worked as General Manager for Pizza Hut. The restaurant was in a hotel, and shortly after I started, they promoted me to Room Service Manager.

In 1985, someone who knew my history with Pizza Hut recruited me to work for Godfather’s Pizza. From Chicago, I moved to Austin, Texas. After less than a year, I left them to work as a waiter again, this time at Red Lobster.

While I was at Godfather’s, my boss introduced me to the world of personal development with a gift of Lead the Field by Earl Nightingale. That opened up a whole new world for me.

It was in Austin that I met my wife. She was visiting with her best friend, who happened to be my business partner at the time’s sister-in-law. After one year of long-distance romance, we got married, and we moved to Houston to start a new life in 1987.

By the end of the decade, I was in the process of reinventing myself. Writing and entrepreneurship were the interests at the time. I took up some writing courses, wrote a couple of Children’s stories, started a writer’s guild, and opened up a weekend business. Which led us into the 90’s and the beginning of a family life with children.

This story was in response to the SCBWI daily prompt on which Amy Marley got me hooked. Thanks, Amy. Today’s prompt: 80s

Here are some stories from others who are also playing along.

Amy Marley’s Haiku about the 80's

Indra Raj Pathak dubbed it a decade of innovation.

Saloni Joshi’s free verse on More or Less.

Watch it on YouTube

As always, thank you for reading and responding.

More about me:

Rasheed Hooda is a published author and a regular contributor to ILLUMINATION, a writers’ community on Medium where writers support each other.

He is a self-proclaimed weirdo who lives a Freedom Lifestyle and writes about related topics — Travel (a top writer), Personal Growth, Freedom, and entrepreneurship. (Get the Newsletter)

“You can let others tell you what it means to be successful, or you can decide it for yourself.”