What Happened to Weekends?

This may come as a surprise to some but weekends used to be, and I say this without feeling like I’m at all over-shooting, amazing! The times are very different now, things have changed greatly in all forms but there was a golden age for kids that I remember so fondly, it was called THE WEEKEND!

Where it may now be an excuse for teenagers (and adults, let us be honest here) to get together and mass consume alcoholic beverages, it was once a time where nights were laden with Cheeto-fingered controllers, squeezed-dry Ecto-cooler Hi-C boxes and video gaming. I can so clearly recollect waking up next to a pile of orange paper towels from my Cheeto-caked fingers, empty juice boxes that didn’t make it to the trash can and Nintendo cords tangled by the mysterious cord-fairy. To tell you the truth, I dream of simpler times like those. I prefer waking up to pick up where I left off in the world of Mario as opposed to the clanking sound of beer bottles brushing against each other.

There was a time where arcade gaming was an exciting outing! Arcades are nearly extinct these days unfortunately, but let us not dwell on the things that have come to pass but revel in the things we loved!

On the Friday nights that you wouldn’t end up at the arcade or at a friends house, TGIF was like an event. Well.. it was for me. Family Matters taught me many a good lesson about doing the right thing and how it was okay to be yourself and be fond of cheese. Boy Meets World helped me see, much like one of my favorite shows of all time the Wonder Years, that we’re all in this together and to consider those guys and girls in school who might not have it quite the same as me. Step By Step didn’t teach me much but Cody was a riot! Finally, Hanging with Mr Cooper.. Not a lot to say about it, I liked it and all, but it sort of fell short.

Saturday morning meant CARTOONS! I don’t mean super, totally amped, multiplied, mega force, high octane cartoons, I mean GOOD cartoons. I spent the biggest part of my childhood waking up to watch He-Man, Ghostbusters, Slimer and many others just like them. They were much simpler in the grand scheme of things and of a much higher quality. They weren’t often drawn to be godly or over exaggerated, they looked like actual people in cartoon form. The stories and morals were upbeat and inspiring when not just strictly fun and silly.

Saturday night, for me, meant WWF’s Saturday Night Main Event! Any wrestling fan in my age range will probably remember it. You actually got to see main event matches on an average Saturday night. Now, you pay out the ass for that privilege and the wrestlers aren’t nearly as personable. Back during the late 80’s and early 90’s, you knew where a wrestler stood, good or bad. They weren’t a face or a heel, they were a good guy or a bad one. Hulk Hogan and his Hulkamaniacs would take on anti-American contenders like the Iron Shiek to empower America and show us that they wouldn’t let bad dudes run the world! They were essentially superheros in tights and villains carrying other countries flags to the ring. Even the hatred between say Hogan and the Iron Shiek was in good fun, entertaining and never got dirty. It was family-friendly, affordable to go see and the PPV’s themselves were only $20 as I remember and once every few months. They weren’t a monthly event costing you $50, and on top of that, you go real quality.

Come Sunday morning, right back to wrestling I’d go. I remember watching the Undertaker wrestle somebody you’d absolutely never heard of and never would again. It may seem silly now but even though you knew they’d

Sunday night, more of the same with WCW wrestling. Sting, Flair, Barry Windham, Fabulous Freebirds, Dustin Rhodes and on and on and on. It’s obvious that I loved wrestling by now so I’ll spare you any more of it.win, it was exciting to see how big and dominant they were compared to average guys.

Where’d the quality go? Where’d the innocence end up? And my main question; Why did it have to go? I can’t find logical reasons for it besides that our world is hyper-sexed, angry, greedy and has A.D.D. Things move too fast, hard and on to the next. But I digress, again, the point is that we’re here to share some weekend love! So let me end this trip down memory lane by sharing some photos of the things that STILL make me feel like a kid again!

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