1994

Po Boy Views

By

Phil LaMancusa

Re-cognition

Or

1994

            Twenty-five years doesn’t seem like a lot of time for a bottle of fine wine or single malt scotch, but in real life a heck of a lot can change while many things can stay relatively parallel. In 1994 Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and Nina Simone are alive; Richard Milhous Nixon dies, Kurt Cobain commits suicide, O. J. Simpson does or doesn’t kill his wife and Justin Bieber is born. The planet had about two billion less bipeds in 1994; and, I was a much younger man.

            In 1994 Joseph Heller wrote in John Yossarian’s voice: “A prick in the White House? It would not be the first time. Another oil tanker had broken up. There was radiation. Garbage. Pesticides, toxic waste and free enterprise. There were enemies of abortion who wished to inflict the death penalty on everyone that was not pro-life. There was mediocrity in government and self interest too. There was trouble in Israel. --- men earned millions producing nothing more substantial than change in ownership. The cold war was over and still there was no peace on earth--- People did things without knowing why and then tried to find out. Nothing made sense and neither did anything else.”

            In 1994 we watched Forrest Gump, The Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction, Dumb & Dumber, and Natural Born Killers. Also in real time news the United States is sending military forces to the Persian Gulf; There are no new bombings this year although last year the World Trade center was bombed and Timothy McVeigh is probably planning next year’s bombing in Oklahoma. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis dies all on her own of non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and congress enacts a ban on assault weapons.

In 1994 there is no intsagram, FaceBook, Youtube or Google; those are things of the future. The first smart phone appears and costs $1,100.00; texting was available the previous year with hardly anyone using it, DVD players were 3 years away and would start at around $600.00

25 years before that: Minimum wage was $1.60 adjusted for inflation to $10.90 Minimum wage in 1994 was $4.25 which when adjusted would have been worth $7.20; today $7.25 is adjusted to $7.25 which means in ‘olden times’ you were paid less but could buy more. How ‘bout them Granny Smiths?

“A Whole new World” from Aladdin wins best song while we watch both sides of the Irish lay down their guns; Nelson Mandela is elected President of South Africa and Israel signs accords with the Palestinians and a peace treaty with Jordan. ‘Friends’ and ‘ER’ debut on TV and Go For Gin wins the Kentucky Derby.

Schindler’s List gets it as best picture, as the world turns its attention to 800,000 in Rwanda being slaughtered by Hutu extremists in 100 days. Newt Gingrich becomes the house speaker as Bill Clinton almost goes down because of someone doing him a favor (an impeachable offense, it turns out). We also have armed conflict in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Iraq, Mali, Mexico, Somali, Bosnia, Croatia and Yemen. But, who cares? Michael Jackson is marrying Lisa Marie Presley; Anna Nicole Smith (26) is marrying ultra rich J. Howard Marshall (89), Bill Gates, Jerry Garcia and Celine Dion tie the knot (to other people not to each other); and, R. Kelly (25) weds Aaliah (15). In other news, (sadly) Billy Joel is getting a divorce from Christie Brinkley.

Twenty-five years ago the prospect of global warming has reared its ugly head; but we were too busy, distracted or just plain stupid to take it seriously. We had a chance to cut back on over packaging, under recycling and systemic wasting of our natural resources; we could have concentrated on quality education instead of pushing economically disadvantaged kids through our school systems into poverty wage, unskilled employment. We could have curbed mega companies from dictating policy to our elected politicians by dangling campaign contributions like a carrot on a stick at the expense of our environment and our welfare. We could have debated more and fought less. Shoulda woulda coulda… ain’t it a f**kin’ shame?

I don’t need to tell you what the world is like today; you either are aware or not. We no longer have security, faith or trust in our present or future and hope is in short supply. We know that everything that contributes to our quality of life comes with a price tag, and any small measure of normalcy can be snatched away faster than a speeding bullet.

I find in my inquiries that it’s not a case of paranoia, apathy or even ennui. We just have nothing that we can rely on in our lives and so rely upon nothing. Another shooting, out of control fires, flooding, corrupt governments, hostage, extremists, white nationalists and riots in the streets? Poverty, crime, crumbling infrastructure. Help! Murder! Police! Mesmerizing on television but what can be done? The world has already gone to hell in a hand basket; have some cheesecake, watch the Golden Girls, bring in the dog and put out the cat. Yakety Yak (don’t talk back).

So, as the Sun pulls away from the shore and our boat sinks slowly in the West, we’re greeted with another new year, full of assumed possibilities to get it right somehow; and I’m left with the only words that make any sense and these from a song Prince of Peace written and recorded in 1970 (that’s gonna be fifty years ago) by Leon Russell: “Try and judge me only by my time and changes and not mistaken words for I say many; listen only to my song and watch my eyes, there’s not much time to spill, there’s hardly any”.

Happy New Year.