How I Spent My Childhood #3: Random Things I Miss

A look at some random things that I miss from my childhood.
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August 03, 2012
How I Spent My Childhood #3: Random Things I Miss

Welcome back to How I Spent My Childhood. It's been a year and a half since I was last able to put something together for Retrojunk. Seem's like I was about to become nostalgia myself. But no worries, I'm back once again for another trip down memory lane. This time, I'm focusing on some random stuff I miss. I warn you, some of these things may seem to come out of left field, but I hope you enjoy anyway.


I Miss Wendy's SuperBar



Growing up, my Dad traveled a lot. Usually he made it home on Friday, and either then or on Saturday night he would take the family out for dinner. A lot of times we ended up at Wendy's for their amazing new SuperBar. This thing had it all.....salad bar, desserts, Mexican cuisine, baked potato toppings, pasta, and some very tasty grilled bread.

It was a nice change of pace from their usual offerings of burgers, chicken sandwiches and fries. My Dad was a fan of getting a baked potato, and then taking it to the bar to load it up. He even taught me the secret of the proper way to eat a baked potato with SuperBar toppings. He would first fill the potato with his favorite toppings...which was usually chili and nacho cheese. He would then proceed to eat all of the toppings from the potato, before returning to the bar for a topping refill. It was then that he would would eat the potato and toppings together.

I think it's the fond memories of times with my Dad that earns SuperBar a spot on this list, but regardless of that fact, the SuperBar was pretty dynamite on it's own. How I would love to be able to go there one more time, and take my daughters with me to teach them their grandfather's way of eating a baked potato at Wendy's SuperBar.


I miss Fat Pro Wrestlers



You turn on WWE programming today, and you're sure to find plenty of guys that are ripped and look like they've stepped straight off the pages of Muscle and Fitness. What you won't find however, are guys wrestling who look like you're dad, or the tough guy down the street who works on cars.

Back in the days when wrestlers earned their checks by how many tickets they sold, the emphasis wasn't so much on looks. It was a combination of their actual skill in the ring, along with their charisma out of it. If they could use their words to rile the fans up to the point that they would buy a ticket to see him get his butt kicked, that was enough. If he was good enough in the ring to make the fans believe what they were seeing, that was enough. Looks were just a bonus. Some of my favorite wrestlers would never be offered a cover spot on a men's magazine, but they sure could make you believe they would whip whoever did appear on the cover.

The loss of the average looking, but tough son of a gun, in favor of hiring muscle bound freaks who can't wrestle, hurt the suspension of disbelief of wrestling. I want to see a guy who looks like my uncle fighting a guy who looks like your uncle.

I offer for your consideration:



Phil Hickerson was a bad man.


I miss Cartoons on Saturday Mornings



In the day and age we live in, any cartoon from any time period is available on demand on a variety of sources. Having those cartoons on Saturday morning is not necessity. I miss what that represented.

As kid's, it was rare when a television program was dedicated to our amusement. In the afternoons there were the soap opera's. After dinned it was the news. At night it was sitcoms or dramas meant to appeal to our parents. Sure there were shows that was acceptable to both kids and adults like The Cosby Show, but we didn't have much to call our own. But on Saturday mornings, the networks kicked our parents to the curb in favor of us kids. For roughly six hours, the television was all about making us happy. No matter what you're favorite cartoons were, or which ones you didn't care so much for, it was the fact that you had a choice that was important.

I miss that simple time in life, when a good part of your week revolved around your Saturday morning planning. I wish, even if just for a little while, that my daughters could have that kind of anticipation in their life. Now, the only anticipation they have is waiting for the cartoon stream to load up on Netflix or Youtube. The Saturday morning cartoon "cat" is out of the bag, and there's no putting it back.


I miss Being a Kid



Being a kid and all that came with it. I miss the things in this article. I miss the good times going out with my parents. I miss those times of faking being asleep, then turning on USA's Up All Night and staying up till morning. I miss the sleepovers. I miss the holiday parties at school. I miss talking on the phone with other pre-teens. I miss pizza and Hi-C while playing video games on Saturday night....and too many other things to list here.

Being an adult, a married man, successful career, and having children are all very fulfilling and enjoyable for sure. But on a different plain, in a different time, I sure do miss being a kid and the innocence that went along with it. Thank goodness for this community here at RetroJunk, where we can get together again and relive the "glory days" of our childhood. While living here in the real world....the world of paying bills, taking care of kids, and being responsible, it's fun to slip away in my memory from time to time to a place where Saturdays never ended, and it was cake for supper. Thank you RetroJunk for still being here for us all.


Mickey Yarber


I'll try to be back next week with another article. I think I'm going to take on an article that has been on my mind for a while......Things I DIDN'T Have As A Child.......
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