[Vfw-times] Message for Gen - Xer's, a Unique Generation - WE ARE NOT THE LOST GENERATION: GENERATION:

[Heartsh0t at aol.com]

This is to any Gen Xer's that may be out there - I'm sure some of you can 
relate to this as I know I can (pretty cool reading :-) :


WE ARE NOT THE LOST GENERATION:

If you were born between 1967 and 1977 (give or take a year or two), you
will certainly enjoy this as much as I did.
Don't skip a line, read this when you have time to take it all in.

I am a child of the 70's and 80's.  That is what I prefer to be called.  The
90's can do without me.
Grunge isn't here to stay, fashion is fickle and "Generation X" is a myth
created by some over-40 writer trying to figure out why people wear flannel
in the summer.

When I got home from school, I played Atari 2600.  I spent hours playing
Pitfall, Combat,  Breakout, Dodge'em Cars or Frogger.  I never did beat
Asteroids.

Then I watched "Scooby Doo."  Daphne was a Goddess, and I thought Shaggy was
smoking  something synthetic in the back of the Mystery Machine.  I HATED
SCRAPPY.


I would sleep over at friends' houses on the weekends.  We played army with
G.I. Joe figures, and I set up galactic wars between Autobots and
Decepticons.  We stayed up half the night  throwing marshmallows and
Velveeta at one another.  We never beat Rubik's cube, unless you count
taking off the stickers.

I got up on Saturday mornings at 6 a.m. to watch bad Hanna-Barbera cartoons
like "The Snorks," "Jabberjaw,"  "Captain Caveman," and "SpaceGhost."  In
between I would watch  "School House Rock." ("Conjunction junction, what's
your function?!")

On Friday Night, Daisy Duke was my future wife.  I was going to own the
General Lee and shoot dynamite arrows out the back.  Why did they weld the
doors shut?

Did your dad turn from mild-mannered Bill Bixby into "The Incredible Hulk"
when he got upset?  At the movies the Nerds got revenge on the Alpha Betas
by teaming up with the Omega Mu's.  I watched Indiana Jones save the Ark of
the Covenant, and wondered what Yoda meant when   he said,"No, there is
another."

Ronald  Reagan was cool.  Gorbachev was the guy who built a McDonalds in
Moscow.

My family took summer vacations to South Florida and collected "Muppet
Movie" glasses along   the way (we had the whole set).  My siblings and I
fought in the back seat.  At the hotel we found creative uses for Connect
Four pieces like throwing them in that big air conditioning unit.

I listened to John Cougar Mellencamp sing about Little Pink Houses for Jack
and Diane.  I was bewildered by Boy  George and the colors of his dreams,
red, gold and green.  I was a "Wild  Boy," Duran Duran.

MTV played MUSIC videos.  Nickelodeon played "You Can't Do That On
Television" and "Dangermouse".  Does anyone remember the "Banana Splits?"
HBO showed Mike Tyson pummel everybody except Robin Givens, the bad actress
from "Head of the Class," who took all Mike's cashflow.

I drank Dr. Pepper.  "I'm a Pepper, you're a Pepper, wouldn't you like to be
a Pepper too?"   Shasta was for losers.  TAB was a laboratory accident.
Capri Sun was a social statement.  Orange Juice wasn't just for breakfast
anymore, and bacon had to move over for something leaner.

My mom put a thousand Little Debbie Snack Cakes in my Charlie Brown lunchbox
and our world was the backyard and it was all you needed.  With your pink
portable tape player, Debbie Gibson sang back up to you and everyone wanted
a skirt like the Material Girl and a glove like Michael Jackson's.

Today, we are the ones who sing along with Bruce Springsteen and The Bangles
perfectly and have no idea why.  We recite lines from Ghostbusters and still
look to the Goonies for a great adventure.  We flip through T.V. stations
and stop at the A-Team and Knight Rider and Fame and laugh with The Cosby
Show and Family Ties and Punky Brewster and "What you talkin bout Willis?"

We hold strong affections for The Muppets and The Gummy Bears and why did
they take the Smurfs off of the air?  After School Specials were about
cigarettes and step-families.  The Polka Dot Door was nothing like Barney,
and aren't the Power Rangers just Voltron reincarnated?

We  are the ones who still read NancyDrew, The Hardy Boys, The Bobbsey
Twins, Beverly Cleary, and Judy Blume.

Friendship bracelets were ties you couldn't break and friendship pins  went
on shoes-preferably hightop velcro Reebok - And pegged jeans were in, as
were unit belts and layered socks and jean jackets and JAMS and charm
necklaces and side pony tails and just tails.

Rave was a girl's best friend; braces with colored rubberbands made you rad.
The backdoor was always open and Mom served only red kool-aid to the
neighborhood kids - YOU NEVER drank the New Coke.

Entertainment was cheap and lasted for hours.  All you needed to be a
princess was high heels and an apron; the Sit'n'Spin always made you dizzy
but never made you stop; Pogoballs were dangerous weapons and Chinese Jump
Ropes never failed to trip someone.  In your underoos you were Wonder Woman,
Spider Man or R2D2 and in your tree house you were king.

In the 80's, nothing was wrong.  Did you know the president was shot?  Star
Wars was not only a movie.  Did you ever play in a bomb shelter?  Did you
see the Challenger explode or feed the homeless man?  We forgot Vietnam and
watched Tiananmen's Square on CNN.  We didn't start the fire Billy Joel.

In the 80's we redefined the American Dream, and those years defined us.  We
are the generation in  between strife and facing strife and not turning our
backs. It's that idealism that will push us and be passed to our
children-the first children of the twenty-first century.

We had neighborhoods where in the day we could play kick-the-can, "guns" and
all of the things that made us grow up.  There was always that one field
that could be used for either baseball, football, home-run-derby, or just a
place to hang out.  That was my field of dreams, Mr. Costner.

At night we would play flashlight tag.  Just like we could trick-or-treat at
night without the fear of being shot and killed.  Just like our guns had
caps or lasers."  If we didn't have the Jessie James guns we could just get
a rock and smash the caps on the ground!

We loved the orange race tracks...that was until our mother realized she
could smack us with them.  We were the kids that not only collected Cabbage
Patch kids, but their ugly offspring - Garbage Pail Kids.  We too collected
football and baseball cards but it was because we wanted to be the first in
the neighborhood to have the "complete" set.

Sports were important, but not near as important as Friday/Saturday night's
Main Event with of our favorite WWF wrestlers.  We loved to imitate their
moves until someone got hurt.


In our neighborhoods we played with He-man and Skelator.  Going to get a
Happy Meal on Saturday with dad or mom was worth waiting the other six days
of the week.

No, we are the furthest thing from a lost generation.  Does going to arcades
on Saturday, getting carpooled to football with your best friend, eating
fruit roll-ups, having birthday parties at McDonalds  or Godfather's pizza
or Noble Romans where you could make your own pizza express you are lost?

How many people melted their army figures that were given to them by their
parents.  Was Green Lantern the Coolest Super Hero or Aquaman?  "Wonder twin
power activate!"  How's about coming home at night and separating your candy
into:  The cool stuff, the homemade stuff and the pennies...how's about the
candy that came in that awful orange and black wax paper?  Did you ever try
it?  Do you remember the one house that had a sign in the candy bowl that
said, "Take One."  How many did you take if you liked it?  Were you
desperate one year and as a teenager you trick-or-treated?

Our generation had character and heart.  We played with real baseballs and
"Putt putt for the fun of it."  "Hey, my mom will take us if your mom picks
up!"  Could you ever really beat Indiana Jones and the Temple of
Doom...How's about Adventure? Did you have sliced oranges or grapes for your
half-time treat?  How's  about the hot dog and coke after each football and
baseball games?  Star Crunches?  Whippy Dip?  Twinkies?  Ho-ho's?  This is
what WE are
all about!

So if you are reading this and it ALL hit's home then you do indeed have a
heritage or a generation.  This is what makes us the most unique generation
of all.

Please pass this on to all who can relate!

Kim Edwards