Strictly for my 80s babies: Throwwwwwwback!

by Carah Herring

Is it just me or does seemingly every out-of-the-norm behavior have a diagnosis nowadays? And it’s no surprise that seemingly everything can supposedly be cured with a pill – Shyness (Seroxat). Baldness (Propecia). Paleness (Melanotan). Limpness (Viagara).

I’ve never been big on prescriptions. I’m into the herbal remedies and for certain ailments, simply letting the sickness run its course.

With that being said: I have recently discovered why things in my life were a little rough for a year or two after my college graduation (heck, even now!). I was suffering from a Quarter-Life Crisis (the 20something version of a midlife crisis)! No, I wasn’t on the verge of a nervous breakdown and or in need of a straight jacket! The Quarter Life Crisis is a term applied to the developmental period of life immediately following the major changes of adolescence, usually ranging from the ages of 21 to 29, according to Wikipedia. Many therapists recognize this condition, y’all.

Google it! Numerous articles and books have been written about this phenomena. Do some of the following QLC characteristics ring true in your life?:

- feeling “not good enough” because one can’t find a job that is at one’s academic/intellectual level
- frustration with relationships, the working world and finding a suitable job or career
- insecurity regarding the near future
- re-evaluation of close inter-personal relationships
- tendency to hold stronger opinions
- financially-rooted stress
- loneliness
- a sense that everyone is, somehow, doing better than you
- boredom with social interactions
- nostalgia for university, high school or elementary school life

I guess another name for the condition would be ‘growing pains.’

At any rate, we all can relate to the Quarter Life Crisis to a certain degree. But instead of popping a pill (even though I don’t think there’s one for this), heading to a shrink or b*tching and moaning with girlfriends during Happy Hour about your woulda, shoulda, coulda, wanna and can’ts – why not let our Quarter Life Crises ‘run its course’? How about wallowing in our nostalgia for high school and elementary school life, shall we? It’ll be fun.

(And yeah, I’ll definitely follow up with a note detailing more info on the QLC. Stay tuned!)

Cheers to a stroll down memory lane:

■ Thursday nights at 9pm. Where were you? On the couch watching "New York Undercover" ! Torres and Williams were soooooo cool. And after solving a crime, they’d always end the night at >where else?< NATALIE’S! Oh yeah, Ice-T was the ultimate villain on there. Didn’t he kill Williams’ fiancée?

■ Where’s Waldo? Now THAT was one weird looking dude – but the books were so much fun! Don't front -- you'd be geeked when you located him!

■ T.G.I.F. Back in the day where you didn’t actually go out on Friday nights, it was all about "Family Matters" and "Step By Step" on ABC. Steve Urkel was worrisome as all get out – “Did I do thaaaaat?” But what about when Stephon Urk’el came along? He was THAT dude. Ow!

■ I’m not going to lie: Some of the episodes on SNICK’s (Saturday night on Nickelodeon) "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" scared me kinda good. Especially the one about the clown in the old house. OMG! I had to sleep with my mom and dad one or two nights off of that one.

■ Other memorable Nickelodeon Shows: "Double Dare", "Legends of the Hidden Temple", "Welcome Freshmen." I didn't get into "Fifteen." Too much drama!

■ "Salute Your Shorts" was one of my all-time faves. Sing along, everybody: “We run, we jump, we swim and plaaa-aaay. We row and go on trips. But the thing that lasts foreverrrrrr. Are our dear friendships. Dun-dun-dun. Camp Onawanna, we hold you in our hearts. And when we think about you. IT MAKES ME WANNA FART. // Ug:“It’s I hope we never part. Now get it right, or pay the price!”

■ Cuba Gooding Jr’s little brother Omar had a show on Nickelodeon. "Wild and Crazy Kids." Three teams always competed. Remember: The red team, the blue team and the green team.

■ The Babysitters Club books! Who could forget Claudia and Mallory (with all her brothers and sisters)? And you can't forget the "Super Specials" -- the books that featured ALL seven BSC members

■ Name Kriss Kross’s hits: Jump, I Missed the Bus (Remember how on the video, the bus driver was a bug?)

■ Remember the R&B group Another Bad Creation : Myeee-shaaaa. You were the girl that I neva had… How many lil’ guys were in that group. Like, forreal?

■ “I want money, lots and lots of money. I want it piled to the skyyyyyy. I wanna be rich!” Remember that R&B song from the late 80s?

■ Michael Jackson had two MAJOR video premieres during our elementary school days: “Black & White” (Remember, Macauly Culkin was in it?) and “Remember the Times” (With the Egyptian theme) I KNOW you tried to do the dance with the tv AT LEAST twice.

■ Speaking of music and videos, do you remember Eddie Murphy’s much-trumped up music video? It had a major world premiere on FOX. Woo chile, it was so WHACK. I remember it had the sky in the background and he had on these dark glasses. Michael Jackson was in it, too.

■ Remember the MC Hammer cartoon? I watched it a couple times. The animation wasn’t that great. And it only stayed on for a couple months. It was kinda stupid.

■ Speaking of Hammer, how could anyone forget his inspirational jam: Pray. “I say we pray, PRAY, pray, PRAY. We’ve got to pray just to make it today.”

■ You know you can still do Hammer’s “2 Legit 2 Quit” Hand Movements! Come on, do it for old times sake!

■ PBS had a lot of good programming. After our generation started getting too old for Sesame Street, I swear that had some noteworthy follow-up programs: "Ghostwriter" (Remember Jamal and Grandma Jenkins? Lenny’s singing career? Alex and Gabby at the bodega?), "Wishbone" (the cute lil’ story telling dog) and "Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?" (“Hit it Acapella!”)

I’m going to save the rest of my nostalgic reflections for Part II. If any of y’all have some ‘memmmmorrrrrieeeeeeeeeeeeeees” of your own, please feel free to elaborate in the comments section.

Until next time... XOXO, Carah