You might be a child of the 80's if...

[Bindi]

You Might Be A Child Of The 80's If...

...you know, by heart, the words to any "Weird" Al Yankovic song
...the Brady Bunch movie brought back cool memories
...you remember the first time "Space: Above and Beyond" aired - it was called "Battlestar Galactica"
...three words: "Atari" "IntelliVision" and "Coleco". Sound familiar?
...you remember the days that hooking your computer into your television wasn't an expensive option that required gadgets - it was the ONLY WAY to use your computer!
...you remember "Friday Night Videos" before the days of MTV
...you ever owned a pair of "Pop-Wheels" - that handy little combination of shoe and roller skate that lasted about a year on the open market
...a predominant color in your childhood photos is "plaid"
...you're pissed that you couldn't really participate in the 60's, pissed that you were a part of the 70's, think you wasted too much time doing stupid, meaningless things in the 80's, and still have no clue what the 90's are all about
...you see teenagers today wearing clothes that show up in those childhood photos, and they still look bad
...while in high school, you and all your friends discussed elaborate plans to get together again at the end of the century and play "1999" by Prince over and over again
...you remember when music that was labeled "alternative" really was
...one of the top five questions you've always wanted answered was to Robert Smith of the Cure - "What WAS that head on the door thing anyway?"
...you were shocked and horrified at the Challenger explosion (which you were probably watching in school at the time), and yet, when someone mentions the name "JFK", the first thing you think of is "Oliver Stone"
...you, yes you, sat down and memorized the entire lyric sheet to "It's the end of the world as we know it"
...you can't remember when the word "networking" didn't have a computer connotation to it as well
...you took family trips BEFORE the invention of the mini-van. You rode in the back of the station wagon and you faced the cars behind you.
...you knew all the words to Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire", but it really didn't hold any meaning for you until about the third verse
...you've recently horrified yourself by using any one of the following phases:
"When I was younger"
"When I was your age"
"You know, back when..."
"Because I SAID so, that's why"
"Just can't (fill in the blank) like I used to"
...you can't remember a time when "going out for coffee" DIDN'T involve 49,000 selections to choose from
...Schoolhouse Rock played a HUGE part in how you actually learned the English language
...Kids that work in restaurants and supermarkets are starting to p**s you off by calling you "sir" or "ma'am"
...you're starting to view getting carded to buy alcohol as a GOOD thing, and you're ready to marry the next person who cards you when you want to buy cigarettes.
...flashback: it was your first chance to vote in a presidential election, and you were SO disappointed because, just for laughs, you really wanted to vote for Gary Hart
...the first time you heard the candidates names, you were pumped because you thought MICHAEL Jackson was running for President, not this Jesse character.
...you ever dressed to emulate a person you saw in either a Duran Duran, Madonna, or Cyndi Lauper video
...at one point during your teenage years, you walked with a noticeable tilt to one side due to the number of plastic rings on that arm
..."Celebration" by Kool & the Gang was one of the hot new songs when you first heard it at a school dance
...the first time you ever kissed someone at a dance fell during "Crazy for You" by Madonna
...there were at least three people in your school that voluntarily went by the names of "Skip" "Buffy" "Muffy" or "Dexter"
...you ever owned one of those embarrassing crimping irons
...you used to hold in your head the thought that all those gold chains on Mr. T actually looked kinda cool and the thought that Mr. T made millions seemed rational to you at the time
...you remember with pain the sad day when the Green Machine hit the streets and made your old big wheel quite obsolete
...the phrase "Where's the beef?" still doubles you over with laughter
...you read the "Hot Video Games Player's Secrets" guide for Mortal Kombat just so you could find the hidden screen, and play Pong again for old time's sake
...honestly remember when film critics raved that no movie could ever possibly get better special effects than those in the movie TRON.
...you ever had nightmares about the giant red evil robot Maximillian from the Disney movie "The Black Hole" and those blender attachments he had for hands
...you were convinced for years that Batman was a mildly overweight man with a moderate beer belly who wore his underwear outside of his clothes and talked strangely
...(girls) you thought Sean Cassidy was "dreamy", and lusted after "Ted, your ship's photographer" on the Love Boat, and Ponch and John from CHiPs
...you're still occasionally suffering flashbacks from your 21st birthday party
...you're starting to dread your 30th birthday, and have even begun going into denial about it's possibility
...you've ever said "I'm a vegetarian" and immediately had someone call you a hypocrite by saying "Nice leather jacket you have there...and gee, is that a suede bag...those shoes leather, too?"
...you're starting to believe that maybe 30 isn't so old after all, and it's those people over 40 you have to look out for
...you freaked out when you found that you now fall into the "26 - 50" age category on most questionnaires
...you have begun to lust after women (or men) that it would be socially inappropriate for you to date due to their age
...your hair, at some point in time in the 80's, became something which can only be described by the phrase "I was experimenting"
...you've ever shopped at a Banana Republic or Benetton, but not in the last five years, okay?
...you can't remember a time when "hitting the outlet stores" meant going to an electrical warehouse
...you're starting to believe (now that it wouldn't affect YOU) that maybe having the kids go to school year-round wouldn't be such a bad idea after all
...you're doing absolutely nothing with anything pertaining to your major degree
...you won't walk into the place where you once knew every bartender on a first name basis because "there's too many kids there"
...going to keg parties no longer involves hiding out in the woods when the cops show up
...you want to go out dancing, you really, REALLY do, but your back hurts, sorry
...you're starting to get that "why aren't you married yet" shpiel, not just from parents, but now from friends that are married
...you've recently horrified yourself by groaning as you get out of bed, not because of a hangover, but because it genuinely just hurt to do so
...you're finding that you just don't understand more than half the lingo used on MTV any more
...you ever wanted to be gagged with a spoon
...U2 is too "popular" and "mainstream" for you now
...you ever used the phrase "kiss mah grits" in conversation
...When someone mentions two consecutive days of the week, the Happy Days theme is stuck in your head for hours on end
...you remember trying to guess the episode of the Brady Bunch from the first scene.
...you spent endless nights dreaming about being the Bionic Woman or Wonder Woman or the Six Million Dollar Man
...you had ringside seats for Luke and Laura's wedding (on General Hospital)
...you remember "Hey, let's be careful out there"
...your parents wanted you to attend medical school, but you decided it was pointless since Quincy got all the babes, anyway.
...you know who shot J.R.
...this rings a bell: "and my name, is Charlie. They work for me."

[Lyrima]

preeeeeeetty sure I'm a child of the seventies.  But a lot of those 80's things hit rather close to the heart. Uh.

and I *loved* Tron!

[Alirrin]

I was a "child" of the 70s but a teen of the 80s.  Much of this applies to me.

True story:  The frist time I decided I really ~was~ old was when I was teaching at a high school, and found out that the theme for one month's dance was going to be "the 80s".   A theme?  My generation, a theme?    ~~sigh~~ 

[Namae Nai]

I guess I'm a child of the 90's.. a couple of those things apply, but not even close on most of them. 

[Gwenae]

Me too, Quince!  If there was a child of the '70's, I'd laugh if they mentioned the psychadelic colors on the tv while Aquarius plays.  I thought that was the neatest thing.  I don't even know what show it was, there were goofy colors and that song.

Also, HR Puffinstuff was my favorite show when I was a kid.  He's like Barney but yellow, and had to bounce up and down so his mouth moved when he talked.  Witchi-poo!!!!

Oh my, I'm really dating myself, but then you all know how old I am.

[Alirrin]

Oh gods, yes! HR Puffnstuff!  The Bugaloos!  Everything Sid and Marty Kroft came up with in their thoroughly altered states of consciousness!   

* Quince dances in front of the psychedelic color screen

"This is the dawning of the aaaage of Aquarius ...." 

[Lyrima]

 

[PinkRose]

Those didn't fit me at all.
I was 5 - 15. And didn't get out much.

[Syllestrae]

I'm with Kati... I was 6-15 in the 80's, and that list doesn't trigger a lot of nostalgia.  It seems like it was written by someone who wasn't a child of the 80's trying to think of 80's stuff :p

Now, if you'd been talking about neon clothes and gummy bracelets and friendship pins and mon-chi-chi's and lazer tag and Transformers movie and JEM and the ghostbusters theme song and etc it'd be more on base.

Seriously though... happy days?  wtf :p

[PinkRose]

I like Syll's list better.

[Scrib]

and I feel fiiiiine.

[Gwenae]

Oh yes!!! Also there was the Limited Forenza sweaters that everyone wore circa 1985-1986.  They had the really big V neck and were colorful!  Those were my favorite sweaters in the world!

Looking at that list above there's actually a whole slew of items that really belong in the '70's such as:

...you remember the first time "Space: Above and Beyond" aired - it was called "Battlestar Galactica" - (wasn't this out in 1979?)
...three words: "Atari" "IntelliVision" and "Coleco". Sound familiar?
...you remember the days that hooking your computer into your television wasn't an expensive option that required gadgets - it was the ONLY WAY to use your computer!
...a predominant color in your childhood photos is "plaid"
...you see teenagers today wearing clothes that show up in those childhood photos, and they still look bad
...you took family trips BEFORE the invention of the mini-van. You rode in the back of the station wagon and you faced the cars behind you.
...you were convinced for years that Batman was a mildly overweight man with a moderate beer belly who wore his underwear outside of his clothes and talked strangely
...(girls) you thought Sean Cassidy was "dreamy", and lusted after "Ted, your ship's photographer" on the Love Boat, and Ponch and John from CHiPs
...When someone mentions two consecutive days of the week, the Happy Days theme is stuck in your head for hours on end
...you remember trying to guess the episode of the Brady Bunch from the first scene.
...you spent endless nights dreaming about being the Bionic Woman or Wonder Woman or the Six Million Dollar Man