Where were you
By Carina Tagupa
when Menudo ruled?EVERY generation has a historical event from which to compare life experiences. The Baby Boomers remember the Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. assassinations, the Watergate scandal, and the first man to land on the moon. Some people lived it. I learned it during summer school in a high school history class.
This might be taken as a sign of youth, but I didn't feel young after reading an item on the Internet that said, "Believe it or not, students entering college this year are not old enough to recall events and fads that are now memories of Baby Boomers."
That got me thinking about my generation's memories, and the things that separate us from people just five years younger.
Where were you when the Space Shuttle Challenger blew up? Do you remember Menudo?
In the case of the Challenger, I remember being stuck in my parents' car in morning rush-hour traffic on my way to school, when the terrible news of the NASA spacecraft's explosion came over the radio. At the time, we sixth graders were saddened to lose Ellison Onizuka, who inspired us as someone from Hawaii who made it in the space program.
In other areas, it's likely you will get a blank stare if you ask a college freshman if he or she remembers Atari. Today, Sony Playstation, Nintendo 64 or Sega are more familiar. My favorite video games as a kid were "Dig Dug," "Mrs. Pac Man" and "Donkey Kong." They're now considered "classics" by the Playstation Generation. Whatever!
Although we weren't the first generation to grow up on TV, we were the first MTV generation. I watched "Three's Company," "The Facts of Life" and "Diff'rent Strokes" sitting on the gold shag rug in front of the console television. Now, when I flip through my 100-channel television set, "Jerry Springer," "Ellen" or "The X-Files" is on.
Joe Moore was a sportscaster on the KGMB-9 evening news, not a news anchor, and not yet affiliated with NBC or Fox.
Back then, "Star Wars" was my favorite movie. I saw it at the Cinerama Theater, and I'm not talking about the digitally enhanced version. In the theaters, I ate popcorn, but it didn't have mochi crunch or furikake mixed in. It wouldn't have crossed my mind to put li hing mui powder on ANYTHING. Now, I have to admit the powder does taste good on Gummi Bears. And that "hurricane" popcorn they sell at the malls just has to be snuck into the movies.
Class was dismissed early one day because of Hurricane Iwa. I couldn't ride my baby blue Schwinn banana-seat bicycle outside for the next couple of days. And if you're wondering, I did have a playing card taped to my bicycle's frame that flipped through the spokes, transforming my mild-mannered pedaling into a simulated horsepower engine. Speaking of engines, I also remember "regular" gasoline. Now there's only unleaded.
Dove Shorts, not baggy pants, were the rage. Girls in my class owned Little Twin Star pencil cases and jelly bracelets. No one then could tell you what a Beanie Baby was; but we would 've been happy to show you our Cabbage Patch Kids' birth certificates instead. Boys won fuzzy dice at the Punahou Carnival, wore Jimmy'Z shorts and kung-fu shoes.
Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, Klymaxx, Wham!, and Cyndi Lauper were the artists that were the "bomb" before the phrase was ever invented. We also knew what the "Superbowl Shuffle" was, and I'll give you a hint, it doesn't have anything to do with NFL coaches trading players right before the big game.
And by the way, if you don't know Menudo, it was not a stew, but a Latin singing group that every girl in my generation was crazy about. You're showing your age, college freshmen.
Carina Tagupa has seen a lot in her 23 years. Rant & Rave is a Tuesday Star-Bulletin feature
allowing those 12 to 22 to serve up fresh perspectives.
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