5 Things The Next Generation Should Know

5 Things The Next Generation Should Know

Hello everyone, welcome!

I made a simple comment to one of my nieces a while back. Her response? “What does ‘take a toke’ mean?” Never mind why I used the term “toke” in a sentence. It doesn’t even matter that I then had to use words like “Mary Jane” and “reefer” to put “taking a toke” in context. She is a grown adult with children of her own . . . wait,  I’m not the one on trial here. The point is how things have changed over the past few decades. They have new words, but they mean exactly the same thing. Whew, I almost blew that one! Or maybe, I just did? Crap.

The conversation did get me thinking about some of the issues, accidents, tragedies, scandals and occurrences that had happened throughout my lifetime and how easy it would be for them to just be lost to time. Some of these are not particularly news worthy, at least not at this point. Most are just random trivia; not even talked about except occasionally between history buffs and only when, by chance, the topic comes up.

So, I thought, I would pass along a few of some facts that are just “known”, yet may not make it into the history books. The next generation should at least know things weren’t always as they are now. Some people and events were once seen drastically different from they are now perceived. And yes, some people haven’t changed much.  Some events made a positive impact, some events; not so much. And yes, some things happened which bordered on the line of plain crazy.

1. Mike Tyson was not always . . . well nuts. Oh, hold up, depending on “your age” I should say “Mike Tyson, the Heavyweight Boxer” (you know, he bit a chunk out of someone’s ear . . . ringing any bells?). He was actually the best of the best back in the day. However, after watching the old video clips, it has occurred to me that Iron Mike’s mental stability really hasn’t changed much from those early days. Yea, he was Bat-crap crazy. However, in the ring, for a minute, he reigned. Most of his fights ended with a knock out within the first round; often within the first minute! Later, after being banned from fighting, as he faced the committee that would decide whether Tyson would be allowed to return to the ring, Mike said something I have never forgotten: “I mean, I may be crazy, but I ain’t crazy.”  Classic. (This clip is filled with profanity, vulgar. . . . you know, it’s classic Mike. You’ve been warned.)

2. Now, this didn’t happen during my lifetime, but I believe it needs to be passed down. John F. Kennedy was not initially groomed to be the President of the United States. His wealthy father (who we will deal with at a later date) set his sights on his namesake Joseph Jr. to hold the Oval Office. This was Joe Sr.’s sole desire for his eldest son. That dream ended on August 12, 1944 when, on WWII mission Operation Aphrodite, the plane he was piloting suddenly exploded in air. His remains were never recovered. This left Joe Sr.’s dreams of a Presidential son to fall on John’s shoulders. Oh yea, and John and “Jack” . . . same person.

3. One of the all time most beloved classic rock bands, Lynyrd Skynyrd, hailing from Jacksonville (my hometown and the area where the Van Zant brothers still live ) took their name from the local high school gym coach. It was not meant to be a compliment.

4. The late Michael Jackson use to have endorsements with Pepsi-Cola in the early 1980’s. During filming for a Pepsi commercial in 1984, the pyrotechnics exploded on the first take as planned. However, during the sixth take, something went horribly wrong. The explosion went off too early and caught Michael’s hair on fire! He suffered second and third degree burns on his face and scalp.

5. In 1980, a well known night time drama called Dallas caused a wave of hysteria. Throughout America, people had one thing on their minds. Who shot J.R. Ewing? It spiraled or “went viral” depending on the “age thing” again.  “Who Shot J.R.?” Tee shirts were sold in unprecedented numbers with a pretty ingenious design. The tee’s boldly but very simply asked one thing:  “Who Shot Jr”.  News interviews were conducted with random Americans asking this very question and everyone voiced their guess about who did it. Eighty-three million people tuned in to find out who shot J.R. Since J.R. had many enemies, the shooter could have been almost each character. However, for one magically JR Ewing induced summer, from coast to coast, our biggest concern was not going crazy, ourselves, while we waited for the fall premiere . . . just to know “who shot JR’.

I hope you enjoyed this journey back into “the good old days” as much as I enjoyed watching video clips after video clips searching for the perfect ones that I hope took you back to when the events first occurred. And who says history can’t be fun?! You? Pfff…

 

By the way, thanks to “Janelle” on MTV’s Teen Mom 2, I can use the updated term of “smoking” instead having to explain what “taking a toke” means. Not that I do either. But THANKS JANELLE!!

 

Until next time . . . PEACE

AJ