One Page Wonder 129 (Eighties) At a recent meeting of Toastmasters we were all asked to share the thing that annoys us most. So many things came up from rudeness and bad drivers, poor customer service, being on hold on the telephone, telemarketers and so on. We even had one who gets distressed by poor diction and incorrect use of commas in sentences. Gee, hope I spelt that correctly. There is always something that really gets on our goat and drives us to distraction more than anything else. Mine was, maybe oddly unique, because what really frustrates me is that ‘The Eighties ended”. Now that may sound like I never wanted to grow old however the rationale behind my thoughts is that that decade offered us so many wonderful things. In my opinion the fashion was fabulous with its classy pastel colours and the wonderful elegance of the time. It could be said that it was the decade of sartorial eloquence as getting dressed up was every day style, not only on special occasions, particularly in the mid eighties.. As is the case quite often the fashions are reflected in the music normally because the artists are at the forefront of fashion. As the eighties saw the rise of MTV and the video clip phenomena they were evident for the world to see and the youth to follow. The emergence of Madonna, Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran, Belinda Carlisle, Michael Jackson ,Bon Jovi and all of the other big hair artists leave an indelible legacy in my mind. The best television show ever Miami Vice (how could you not agree with me), Auf Weidersehen Pet, Alf, The Cosby’s and of course MacGyver who could make anything happen from nothing, though Mythbusters have debunked most of his theories since. Still it was good wholesome viewing. The eighties did give us was social interaction, communication, happy people and great friendships. We didn’t live inside on computers; we went outside to enjoy the world. We rang people from our home or phone boxes and never rang after 9.30. What is this where we cannot (and I am guilty of this) function unless we have a mobile phone in our hand, which takes photos and plays music among other things. Back then Rubik’s cube and Trivial Pursuit kept you busy and the mind stimulated, not numbed. What ever happened with owning a camera that just took photos that you took off to get developed and collected from the photo shop with anticipation? The Sony Walkman looked like a fashion accessory when you were walking down the street. We had maybe 2 television channels and it wasn’t full of repeats and even worse, politicians rambling on about nothing, demanding publicity to justify what they do. Politician’s nowadays are all about self interest, not the people and at least in the 80’s they didn’t get wall to wall media coverage because they do not deserve it. Common sense was an allowable concept that didn’t require public liability to let it happen. We live in a society where we are told to focus on all of the things that might go wrong rather than what will happen if we enjoy ourselves. A good friend told me how her school group was not allowed to go on an excursion to the beach to make sandcastles because the risk assessment was too high. Work that one out for yourself but I bet no-one asked the kids if they wanted to go. No wonder there are so many sad faces around because enjoyment has been outlawed and frowned upon by bureaucracy, for their fear of being sued. The world wasn’t run by lawyers and we weren’t of being sued for anything and everything. This ridiculous street violence was only for gangs against gangs not innocent people walking down the street. The newspaper was full of good things and if something bad occurred it was on the front page only, not on the first ten like it seems to be always now. If you are old enough, look back and think of a simpler time and a wonderful time where curiosity abounded and fun was allowed. What’s more I had a really good time in the 80’s. Have a great week Rodney Tattam 2nd February 2014
Posted on: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 14:21:18 +0000
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