So, today (while on break from studying for an exam), I was looking around on Facebook and followed a post which lead me to a man’s blog. After I read a couple of entries, I observed that he mentioned that he knows a man called Will Wheaton, and that he himself has a blog. This name sounded amazingly familiar, so I clicked on the link, and lo and behold, it was Wesley Crusher, from Star Trek TNG!!!! He looks clearly like his character grown up, and is an accomplished writer with many books/essays already published. And, some of his posts, are very entertaining!
Anyway, after reading a post from Mr. Wheaton, I got this idea: That life as a kid, when looked back, is most easily identified as a series of fads.
Take a journey down memory lane with me, won’t you?
When I was a kid, growing up in North York going to Dunlace Public School, the first thing (other than breaking my collar bone in Senior Kindergarten [another post later]) was getting the Nintendo Entertainment System or NES. My grandparents brought it up from Florida, and we were one of the first kids around to get one. As soon as it was booted up, and I held that controller or gun, I was hooked. I spent a long time shooting pixillated ducks and aiding an 8-bit Mario save the Mushroom Kingdom. This fad, still stays with me (but I’ve evolved to blasting Big Daddies in the lovely and serene Rapture).
Next, I remember the ORIGINAL Power Rangers. This thing was a monster, everybody loved it and everybody played it at recess. My greatest ambition at the time, was to be Billy, the Blue Ranger who commanded the Triceratops zord. And yes, he was the ‘nerdy’ ranger, what can I say? My parents knew even then I was a smart one.
Anyone remember POGS? I recall playing with them under the stairs at Dunlace when it was raining outside. Those didn’t last too long, did they? But wow, didn’t you just HAVE to get them? In the same vein, what about those pens that turned into other things as well? I believe I had one where the bottom and top halves could be separated and yanked apart to cause a “helicopter” to fly out.
All of these things were vitally important at the time (except for video games, those still kick ass), but now, they don’t seem that important anymore do they?
This fad example from when I was a kid does have a point, there will always be fads and always people who buy into them. They exist even now (Tickle-me Elmo anyone? What about the legend of attempting to find a Cabbage Patch doll back in the 80’s?). Just because someone else has something, doesn’t mean that you must have it too.
What fads do you remember as a kid? What about your kids now, what must they have?
Feel free to leave a post/comment with you fond memories or even horror stories of past fads.
Cheers
