Things I miss about the 1980s and a few I don’t

Besides youth and energy, there are a lot of things I miss about my early adult years in the 1980s and one look at an old diary brought it all rushing back.

Shopping trips to the Strasburg Flea Market were always fun. I had stuff I was looking for back then like depression glass, old crocks, pottery and enamel ware, but as I got older and ran out of space, I quit collecting. For the most part. Don’t tempt me with something I really want, because it will work.

One of my brothers got married in 1986. As part of the wedding rehearsal, the priest added “until death or deer season do we part.” He also added that “hunting season is over for this couple.”

In June 1986, my sister and I used to do fun things like going out to eat at the Hungry Farmer sub shop. My favorite was the Turkey Farmer sub and my sister liked to get the pizza sub. We were in Dover for the evening and went to some stores including Heck’s, J.C. Penney and Fashion Bug. On the way home, we stopped at Buehler’s in New Philadelphia for groceries.

In other places in the diary, we are shopping at Harts and K-Mart too. On one trip to Harts, we hit the clearance racks. I bought a brand-new fancy lavender sweatshirt for $4, and my sister got a new black sweatshirt for $2. We went all out on that trip.

And we were eating ice cream at the Goshen Dairy. Other times we were eating pizza from Penso’s, Pizza Hut and Granato’s. Thank goodness these delicious pizzas are still available.

Breakfast out is always a treat. In 1986, Joe and I enjoyed a delicious .99 cent breakfast special at Buehler’s Mill Restaurant of eggs, toast and hash browns.

For our ninth anniversary, Joe and I went out to eat at Bonvechio’s Restaurant in Wainwright. “Joe had the ‘his’ portion of prime rib, and it was so big that he wished he had gotten the ‘hers.’ I had sauteed shrimp, which was served with a cup of melted butter to dip it in. Yum.”

I did find a few entries of things I don’t miss about the 1980s.

How about the night in December 1987 when I broke a tooth eating a tootsie roll. I recklessly bit into one without regard for how tough it might be. What was I thinking? A not so fun trip to the dentist was the result.

I don’t miss that day in April 1987 when I violently hit a pothole with my car causing the hubcap to fly off, but I thought it was the wheel coming off. Augh! I stopped my car and walked back to collect the hubcap.

Don’t miss the Easter party in April 1987 when I accidentally sat in my nephew’s ice cream, got an embarrassing spot on the back of my jeans and got no sympathy from the family. According to my diary, “Mom roared.”

And definitely don’t miss the time Nov. 30, 1986, when walking my dog after dark, I was spotlighted by sheriff’s deputies. They thought I was a prowler; apparently one had been spotted in the area. It wasn’t me.

Some things never change, especially with computers. We actually had a home computer back in 1986.

I wrote: “A strange thing just happened with this computer. I got DAC Warning #10 telling me not to remove my disk because the computer was using it for swapping. I find it fascinating that one can be at the controls of the computer, and it starts doing things on its own that you know nothing about. I am still not sure what it just did.”

Usually today, I accidentally, without even trying, change a setting to something I don’t want and can’t figure out how to get it back. But, yes, computer problems are still the same today as in the 1980s, just minus the floppy disks.