Margaret loved snow storms, since there would be no school, but a free day. She had grown up in South Dakota. For me, the less snow, the better. Like rain in the Chicago area, everyone drove slower. Well, I was working at Montgomery Ward sometime in the 1980s, maybe 1982. It was a nice sunny day when I went to work. However, about late morning, it began to snow in the first week of April. I assumed that it would be a dusting of snow, and be gone in a couple of hours. As the day went on, it continued to snow. Fewer customers came into the store. Finally, around three o’clock in the afternoon, a truck driver walked into our store saying that all the roads had closed. The cars and trucks were stuck on the road behind each other. At first, I thought about getting in my car and leaving, but the road out was blocked with other stuck cars. Then I thought the snow plows would come out and everything would be all right. I often worked to nine o’clock, so that I was not worried. However, it kept on snowing. All of us were stuck in the store. We could not get out. Some people from the warehouse came into the store also. We were going to have to stay overnight. Luckily, the snack machine in the warehouse cafeteria had some snacks to eat. Then we picked out a couch to sleep on. Finally, we all went to sleep around ten o’clock. I, with twenty or thirty other people, slept in the store that night. The next morning, I was anxious to leave, but Seymour Road was still blocked. We had to wait until the afternoon to leave. As soon as the road opened, I left. The store would be closed. I could not believe how many cars were abandoned on the road. I finally made it home. By the time I got home, most of the snow was melting, so that the next day, there was no problem. That was the one time that I slept on the job. Have you ever been stuck somewhere because of a snowstorm?
A box of wine
This problem was all my fault. We were going to a birthday party for one of Margaret’s teacher friends. She asked me to go out and get a bottle of wine. I said no problem. I went to some liquor store where they were selling wine in a box. I thought that it was a neat concept. I decided to buy a box of wine as a birthday gift. Margaret was horrified. What kind of birthday gift is a box of wine? She had asked for a bottle of wine. I should have gone and got a bottle or wine, but I was determined that people at the party would like the idea of a box of wine. How wrong I was. Everyone at the party laughed at it. Thus, I was going to show them. If no one was going to drink my box of wine, then I would drink myself. Instead of drinking Coke-Cola, like I usually did, I drank this box of wine by myself. You guessed it, I was plastered, drunk, and throwing up. Margaret had to drive home. The motto of this story is that a box is not a bottle. There is something aesthetically pleasing about a bottle of wine that a box cannot replace. I never bought a box a wine again. Have you ever bought a box of wine?
The toll road traffic jam
Another mis-adventure that I had sometime in the early 1980s was the continual Chicago traffic jams. I had become accustomed to the famous gapper’s bloc, when everyone slows down to see what kind of accident happened. Accidents happen. The other great season in Chicago is construction season, from April to November. Somebody is always fixing a road, but never expanding these roads. I had come to realize that they can at any time, with or without notice, start a road improvement project. Most of the radio traffic alerts are only good, way after it has happened. Thus, in my great wisdom, I decided to use the toll road as the best way, since there were less traffic accidents and less construction. However, there was one day when I was coming from O’Hare to Matteson, after five o’clock in the evening on I-294. This was the day that I swore off the tollway. In those days, you had to stop and pay the toll at each toll on the road. The fastest way through the toll was if you had exact change, which I had all the time. However, this evening I paid the toll, after being in the line to pay. I accepted that as reality. However, once through the toll, the traffic would normally return to normal speed, but not this day. I never went over 10 mph with stop and go traffic from one toll at O’Hare to the next toll. I was so angry, I decided never to use this toll road again. I could ride the congested local roads with red lights or the congested Kennedy without paying any tolls. I was not going to pay tolls for congestion. I would rather have free congestion than paid congestion. Have you ever been on a congested toll road?
Skidding off the road
I was coming home from work on a Friday night. We had closed the Montgomery Ward store at 9 PM. I was going to take the Kennedy-Dan Ryan, I-57 route coming home. It had rained and snowed that day but it was fine that night. I was listening to Milt Rosenburg on WGN. The road had been a pleasant ride all night, except around O’Hare airport, where it was terrible all the time. I believe that it was the middle 1980s. I was in the last stretch of I-57, past 159th St., and there was hardly anybody on the road. I was pleased with myself because I would probably be home by 10:00 PM. Then all of a sudden, I started skidding on the road. Luckily, no one else was on the road. I spun around, skidded to the side of the road. I was hydroplaning on the dark slick ice patch that was on the road. I was scared, but happy to see that I had finally stopped. I tried to figure out what to do. I just started up the engine and it was fine. I never hit anything or anyone. I just drove slowly, very alert for slick spots. I finally made it home around 10:30 PM. Everyone was sleeping, so that I just went to bed. I had no police report. There was nothing wrong with the car. I was fine. I just skidded off the road. I was lucky that the road was not crowded. If it had been crowded, I might have seen other people ahead of me having a hard time. Have you ever skidded on an icy highway?
I got mad at a Ponderosa Steakhouse, while out to lunch
This was a kind of odd occurrence. One day during the summer, since I am not sure of the year. It must have been in the early 1980s, since we as a family had decided to go see the movie, The Clash of the Titans. However, I decided that we would go to the local cheap steak house, the semi-fast-food Ponderosa on Lincoln Highway for lunch. I was looking forward to a nice steak before we went to see the movie. This was not a luxurious dining experience. You placed your order and then you waited until someone came with your order. We had been there several times before, and there never was any problems. We all placed our orders and sat at our table waiting for our steaks. I knew it would take about ten minutes or so. I was not worried, since I had planned an hour for lunch and then the movie in Chicago Heights. However, after about fifteen minutes, I began to get a little worried. I had my receipt and asked where the food was. Someone told me not to worry, because they were running a little slow. After a half-hour, I was not as sanguine. What was wrong? Then, they told me that they did not have the kind of steak that I ordered. Now, I became more upset. Then, after another fifteen minutes, I asked what the problem was. Then they told me that I had not ordered a steak. I got really angry. I said we were going home. We were not going to go to any movie. I didn’t care if they gave me a refund or not. I know my daughter Joy wanted to go to the movie, but Margaret said it would be best if we went home. The whole day was spoiled. Needless to say, I never went back to that Ponderosa again. I felt that I got the run-around there. I knew about customer service, and this was not it. What is your worst restaurant experience?
Someone broke into our garage in Matteson, Illinois
Among our family, my wife Margaret, and my daughter Joy, this is a disputed event. I am sure that it happened after one of our long summer vacation journeys. It could have been as early as 1983 or as late as 1988. I am not sure. As we came home from our trip, I found that the garage door was ajar. It would not open or close, so I could not use my garage door opener. I finally went inside and got it to open from inside the garage. A few things in the garage were not in the right place. Margaret felt that somebody had been in house as she said that the bedroom was all messed up. We looked around to see if anything was missing. As far as we could tell, nothing was missing. I did not file a police report. However, my daughter Joy remembers that I was very upset. Someone had broken into our house. We thought that it might have been a neighbor boy who did it. However, I am not sure. I was upset, but still happy that nothing was stolen or destroyed. I had to call somebody out to fix the garage door. That was upsetting also. Thus, this was one of the times that I did get upset and angry. I liked things to be in order with no great exceptions. Has anyone ever broken into your house or garage?
1989 – I turned 50
In 1989 I turned 50. I was half a century old. My life was more than half over. A lot of things happened in the 1980s, where my memory cannot pin down a specific date. I decided to put them all here into 1989, as I say goodbye to the 1980s. I remember the 1940s as my childhood in Carteret, New Jersey. My optimistic teenage years were the 1950s in junior high and high school between Carteret and Perth Amboy, New Jersey. I spent most of the 1960s in Europe as a Servite studying in Ireland, Belgium, and Germany. I got married and had a child in the 1970s, as I became a suburban family man in Matteson, Illinois. I was a little adventurous in the late 1970s. However, I returned to Montgomery Ward in the 1980s, but a lot of other stuff happened in my life besides some wonderful summer vacations. Thus, a lot of these events that I am going to talk about are undated and unrelated. I have a vague memory about them, but the exact time frame is not clear. I do not have much documentation about most of them, since most of these events got me upset, but I got over them. I am generally a mild-mannered-man, but not always. Have you ever got mad about something and then tried to forget it?
TV in 1988
1988 was a significant year in television, marked by the debut of iconic shows and notable events that shaped the industry. Both the Summer Olympics (NBC) in Seoul, South Korea, and the Winter Olympics (ABC for the last time) in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, were broadcasted extensively in the USA. CBS won the broadcasting rights to the 1992 Winter Olympics after bidding around $243 million. NBC won the rights to the 1992 Summer Olympics from Barcelona, Spain, bidding over $401 million. NBC broadcast the Rose Bowl Game for the final time, ending a 37-year partnership, as ABC Sports picked up the rights to broadcast the game the following year. The Major League Baseball All-Star Game was broadcast on ABC (1976-1989), for the last time, until 1995. CBS paid MLB $1.8 billion for exclusive rights for four years, beginning in 1990, as each team MLB team got $10 million a year. Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Detroit Pistons on CBS had a 21.2 rating, the highest-rated NBA game in the 17 years that CBS broadcast the NBA (1973-1990). The Stanley Cup Finals between the Edmonton Oilers and Boston Bruins was broadcast on ESPN for the last time also. TNT, the fourth cable network owned by Turner Broadcasting, commenced programming with a broadcast of the movie Gone with the Wind. The Disney Channel celebrated its fifth anniversary. CBN’s name became the CBN Family Channel. Mickey Mouse’s 60th Birthday, was a TV special on NBC. Many new TV shows appeared, “The Wonder Years,” “Roseanne,” “48 Hours,” “America’s Most Wanted,” “The Capital Gang,” “Murphy Brown,” and “China Beach.” Wrestlers Hulk Hogan and André the Giant competed on “The Main Event” on NBC, marking the return of professional wrestling to network prime-time for the first time since 1955. CBS fired Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder. Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, involved with a sex scandal, admitted to being with prostitutes and temporarily ended his television ministry. “Magnum, P.I.” broadcast its 2-hour series finale on CBS. The series finale of “The Facts of Life” aired on NBC. In the season finale of the CBS drama “Dallas,” Sue Ellen was so enraged that she fired three shots at J. R. Ewing. The CBS soap opera “The Young and the Restless” toped the daytime ratings, deposing longtime winner “General Hospital” that still exists after 36 years. Dick Clark hosted his final episode of the game show “Pyramid,” ending his 15-year run as host of the program. WABC’s “The Morning Show” made its national syndication debut under its new title “Live with Regis and Kathie Lee.” Senators Dan Quayle and Lloyd Bentsen participated in the 1988 vice presidential debate with the line “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy” becoming popular. CBS aired a highly anticipated college football game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Miami Hurricanes, colloquially known as “Catholics vs. Convicts.” Back to the Future made its broadcast network television premiere on NBC. “Roots: The Gift,” the third installment of the Roots series was broadcast on ABC. “A Very Brady Christmas” aired on CBS with a 25.1 rating, becoming the second highest rated TV film of the year. This was the last year for the “The Gong Show,” “9 to 5,” “Truth or Consequences,” “Spenser: For Hire,” “Cagney and Lacey”, and “St. Elsewhere.” What was your favorite TV show in 1988?
Music in 1988
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony inducted The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Drifters, Bob Dylan, and The Supremes. The 30th Annual Grammy Awards for 1987 was hosted by Billy Crystal. U2’s The Joshua Tree won Album of the Year, Paul Simon’s “Graceland” won Record of the Year, and Linda Ronstadt & James Ingram’s “Somewhere Out There” won Song of the Year. Jody Watley won Best New Artist. Michael Jackson performed a live, extended version of the song “Man in the Mirror.” Former rock and roll singer Sonny Bono became the Mayor of Palm Springs, California. The Eurovision Song Contest, held in Dublin, was won by French-Canadian singer Celine Dion, representing Switzerland. Atlantic Records staged a concert at Madison Square Garden celebrating its Fortieth birthday with performances by many of the label’s greatest acts of the past. Motown Records was sold to MCA for $61 million. Michael Jackson with his fifth single from the album Bad, “Dirty Diana,” broke the record with five consecutive charting singles from the same album at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, the first artist and only male in history to achieve this. Elton John auctioned off many items from his personal collection, at Sotheby’s for a total of $8.5 million. U2’s Rattle and Hum hit the Number One spot on the USA charts, the first double album to do so since Bruce Springsteen’s The River in 1980. “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” experienced a surge in popularity in the USA sparked by television commercials. Some of the number one hits of 1988 included, Phil Collins, “A Groovy Kind of Love”; Bobby McFerrin, “Don’t Worry Be Happy;” U2, “Desire”; Billy Ocean, “Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car”; Guns ‘N Roses, “Sweet Child o’ Mine”; George Michael, “Faith”; Madonna, “You Can Dance”; Michael Jackson, “ Bad”; and Gloria Estefan & the Miami Sound Machine, “1-2-3.” The 17th annual “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” special aired on ABC, with appearances by Natalie Cole, Taylor Dayne, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Richard Marx, Reba McEntire and Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Did you have a favorite song in 1988?
Movies in 1988
The 60th Academy Awards ceremony, took place on April 11, 1988, for the best movies of 1987, as actor Chevy Chase hosted the show for the second consecutive year. The Last Emperor won all nine awards it was nominated for, including Best Picture and Best Director. For their performances in Moonstruck, Cher and Olympia Dukakis won Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively. Michael Douglas won Best Actor for his role in Wall Street. Sean Connery won Best Supporting Actor for The Untouchables, with a telecast of 42.2 million USA viewers. I liked a lot of the movies in 1988. I liked Bruce Willis in the original Die Hard. Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman were wonderful in Rain Man. Who Framed Roger Rabbit was an interesting use of cartoon characters and real people. Tom Hanks was fabulous in Big, especially his playing the giant piano with his feet. Leslie Nielsen, George Kennedy, Ricardo Montalban, Priscilla Presley, O.J. Simpson, Reggie Jackson, and Nancy Marchand were unique in The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! the first of the funny Naked Gun series. John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin were great in A Fish Called Wanda. Eddie Murphy was okay in Coming to America. Willem Dafoe and Gene Hackman were great as FBI guys in Mississippi Burning. Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin were great in Midnight Run. Steve Martin and Michael Caine were good crooks in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon were terrific in the minor league baseball move Bull Durham. Charlie Sheen, Emilio Estevez, Dermot Mulroney, Kiefer Sutherland, Lou Diamond Phillips, and Casey Siemaszko were okay in Young Guns. Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver, and Melanie Griffith were interesting in Working Girl. Jodie Foster and Kelly McGillis were intense in The Accused. I liked Oliver & Company with Bette Midler, Cheech Marin, Roscoe Lee Browne, Billy Joel, Joey Lawrence, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Richard Mulligan. I also liked John Cusack, Charlie Sheen, David Strathairn, D.B. Sweeney, Don Harvey, James Read, Perry Lang, and Michael Rooker in the baseball movie about the 1919 White Sox scandal in Eight Men Out. Sigourney Weaver as Dian Fossey was great in Gorillas in the Mist. Dan Aykroyd and John Candy were funny in The Great Outdoors. One of my favorite movies was Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey in Beaches, with the wonderful song, “You are the Wind Beneath my Wings.” Another great film that I really liked was Stand and Deliver about Jaime Escalante, a high school math teacher in LA with Edward James Olmos, and Lou Diamond Phillips. I did not see The Last Temptation of Christ. What was your favorite movie of 1988?
Gene Finnegan Remembers Living Eighty Wonderful Years 