Fabulous Fads!

by Bebbi

I just came back from walking. I took my MP3 player and was listening to songs. I came across this song and it made me start thinking about all the wonderful fads there have been.

I have personally lived to see Pop Rocks, Pet Rocks, Gum wrapper chains Clackers, Big Wheels, YoYos, Peace Sign, Disco Dancing, Rubik’s Cube, Hamster Dance, That Dancing Baby, Macarena, Mood rings, Roos and Jelly shoes are a few that come to mind for me. My kids would say Barney, Power Rangers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and a whole host of other fabs.

I picked this video because I don’t think there is a much happier thing that this song. It really gets you to smile, no matter who you are. I think that is what fads do for me. They make me smile and think back fondly of a period of time. Just like music can bring back memories, fads can too!

Gum wrapper chains were an important fad in my life. It helped me to make a way through my parents divorcing when I was 10. I worked on that thing nonstop! I wanted it to go around the house and believe me, it did. I had a piece of it up until a few years ago. It really helped me through a hard time to focus on such a mindless task. I am grateful for that gum wrapper chain. As I was chaining it up, my world was falling apart. It held me together, to go and work on it for hours and not think of all the chaos in my life.

Another important and great fad in my life was disco dancing! My brother and I would go to the teen clubs and do a disco routine. We had a lot of fun together doing that. We would practice and practice on it. My brother is very outgoing and he always made friends wherever we would go.

One fad that made me sad was Roos. I always wanted a pair of the “real” Roos but we could not afford them. So I substituted and got Kmart brand Roos. It just wasn’t the same. To this day, I have a bookmark for Roos at Zappos. I am going to buy myself a pair of the real ones someday.

So Enjoy the Hamster Dance and tell me all about which fads mean a lot to you?