old is new...again

Source: ABC/ PAN AM

In fashion, art, and media, everything old is new... again. Turn on the TV and notice the ads for fall programming.  PAN AM for example is a heavy bet on the ABC fall line up.

Now, I hate to be trendy but from a business perspective this trend towards nostalgia puts Bon Fortune squarely in the zeitgeist. From a personal perspective, I wonder why are we all looking back?

If PAN AM ends up a hit, does this mean we get to dress up again when we board an airplane? Does this mean we return to an era of grace and good service? Will ladies regularly begin to wear lipstick and gloves? Will we all start to mind our manners once again? Probably not, but if so, count me in.

When things around us seem to be tarnishing, instead of employing elbow grease we tend to look about  for what is shiny. What can possibly be more golden than childhood? Remember when you could meet the pilot in the cockpit and get a special pin with wings? So simple yet so endearing.

I do not for a minute recommend that you abandon your tasks and the hard work before you. I simply believe it is perfectly excusable to escape for a tiny shining moment into the vault of your childhood memories to remember. If you can remember something good then hold onto it. If your memories hold unfulfilled expectations, indulge them now.

You may no longer be able to visit the cockpit of an airplane (without serious repercussions) but you can
opt to eat ice cream first, buy the most expensive toy in the toy shop, and have the birthday party of your dreams. If you cannot justify doing this for yourself, do it for your children, at least once. Enjoy the indulgence, the extravagance or just the sweetness of thoughtful simplicity with the knowledge that, one day, your children will remember too.