The regrets of reliving our fond nostalgia
Do you have a fond childhood memory that you’ve recreated later in life, only to find the nostalgia of that memory was actually much better than the experience of reliving said memory? Yeah me too. For people of my generation, we’re seeing a lot of revival and reliving of some great past moments and trends from the 90s and early 2000s.
Destiny’s Child at Coachella, a sequel to Jumanji and choker necklaces being an acceptable accessory are just a few of the many things for people to be excited about.
On the one hand, the bliss of revising moments, places and style trends can really ‘‘take you back’’, but on the other hand, it can also completely ruin a fond childhood memory. Reliving childhood nostalgia can be both a great idea and a terrible idea.
Last week, besties 1 and 2 decided they wanted to visit a restaurant that offers a buffet, a place we probably hadn’t been to since we were in intermediate school.
To be quite honest, I was surprised that the restaurant was still open, let alone that it offered a buffet.
In an effort not to let myself be crushed by the experience, I’d set my expectations pretty low. This turned out to be a good course of action.
A week after our chat, a group of us were seated around a small aluminium table in the restaurant, taking in the decor that quite possibly had not been changed since the last time we were there (i.e. when we were 10).
Let’s be frank, the buffet was pretty underwhelming, but I assume this is because they weren’t expecting six hungry yo-pros to show up for dinner on a Thursday night.
I wish this was the only treasured childhood dining experience to be ruined for me but, alas, life is a cruel mistress at times.
As a young child, the absolute pinnacle of gourmet had to be a birthday dinner at Valentine’s restaurant.
It was a magical experience; there seemed to be plates upon plates of breads, meats, salads and soups, not to mention the dessert cabinet, which was basically like a supermarket chiller filled with desserts as far at the (7-year-old) eye could see.
But the real shining jewel in the crown had to be those margarine sculptures, which would be the first thing you would see as you walked into the foyer.
I recall many years later heading to a Valentine’s while away on a school trip, and all of us had our rose-tinted glasses slapped off our faces when we were disappointed that the experience as a teenager didn’t quite live up to our childhood expectations.
This week’s buffet dinner was the same, knowing you’ve tainted a treasured childhood memory of family dinners in child-friendly restaurants forever.
Despite these unsavoury experiences, not all revisited childhood memories end up being spoiled.
The aforementioned new Jumanji movie is a great example (in my humble opinion); sure, it’s nothing like the original (which, let’s face it, is a scary kids movie and really isn’t super childappropriate at all), but it’s also not meant to be. It’s a fun movie that’s a bit of a throwback and has some fun references from the 90s in it.
There’s also great community to be found in childhood nostalgia because it might be an aspect of culture that not everyone in the world can relate to.
I always find it heartening to meet someone whose face lights up when they hear the opening notes to DJ Otzi’s Hey Baby, knowing that song was as much of a banger for them as it was for me.
Re-living these moments isn’t about being stuck in the past and thinking how much better things were ‘‘back in the good old days’’.
It’s about embracing, and maybe indulging, your inner child/ younger self for a minute and realising that your adult palette is much more sophisticated than that of a 7-year-old who thinks margarine sculptures are the ultimate form of artistic expression.