Oh, to be a kid again! Wouldn’t it be great? I miss the days of having absolutely no worries. I dream about it every now and again, and each time I do, I find myself wanting my youth back a little bit more. But not in this day and age! This world has changed way too much for me to enjoy being a kid. I need the true simplicity of the days of my childhood for me to be completely happy again.

First of all, there is the world of video games. I miss the Atari 2600. Am I alone? I still remember the day my dad bought our Atari. It cost about $170 (no lie!), and to me, it was worth every penny. The library of software was extensive. Great games like Yar’s Revenge, Space Invaders, Defender … I could go on for hours. Never mind the box-shaped graphics or the fact that you usually have to beat the same enemy over and over with little change in difficulty, these games were incredible.

I am an avid collector of music, and as I’ve grown older, I’ve been wondering: What happened to the 45? I used to have a ton of those little records. My friends and I always seemed to get each other 45s for our birthdays, and they were always our favorite presents.

I probably had most of my fun as a kid collecting baseball cards. Back then, it wasn’t about money; to me it was all about having more New York Yankees cards than anybody else in town. I was able to afford a lot of cards, and they lay freely around my room, displayed on my shelves or spread out on my floor for all to see.

These are childhood memories that I will be able to cherish for the rest of my life. But if I tried to indulge in any of these simple pleasures in 1995, I would soon learn that most of these activities are long gone or viewed as unforgivable. It’s a shame, really.

Video games are so advanced that the user has no need to use their imagination. I honestly don’t think I’d be quite so creative if I hadn’t had to use mine. The games on the market these days are more apt to bring clear visions of violence to the minds of its users, who are usually young children. The graphics are that good. And due to the increasing amount of violence that exists in our society today, I think kids would hear the term “forty-five,” and picture a gun rather than a small vinyl circle.

And baseball card collecting in 1995 is about money. Nothing else. The fun that used to exist in card collecting has been sucked out by the greed of today’s society. I’m sure current card collectors would be horrified to know I sometimes used cards as bookmarks.

So maybe I should rephrase myself: I want the ’80s back. I never thought I’d say that, but after living through half of the ’90s, the ’80s weren’t all that bad.

Christopher Clair is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Waukon.