Aug 27, 2018 3 min read

I have been contemplating writing a letter to my younger self. I know I won’t be able to deliver it without a time machine, but that’s not the point. It’s supposed to be a psychological exercise. However, I really would like to jump into a DeLorean, jet back to the past and tell my younger self, “Buy Apple stock with your communion money.”

Unfortunately, that’s not the point of the experiment. It’s all about love and forgiveness. Ugh.

I’m supposed to tell hug 10-year-old Mike and tell him, “Don’t sweat the small stuff,” and other corny clichés. I would like to persuade him to spend less time fighting. I got into a lot of petty squabbles back then.

Strap in. I’m going off on a tangent. You’ve been warned.

When I was a kid, I remember fighting with my brother Rick over the television. He wanted to watch “The Brady Bunch,” and I wanted to watch “Lost in Space.”

P.S. I am aware that both shows are stupid.

In the olden days, you had to get up and walk over to the television to change the channel. If a person wanted to watch something else, they had to make an actual effort. I know you’re thinking, “How did you survive such incredible hardships?” I won’t lie. It was rough.

Rick liked Marcia, and I liked monsters. The Brady family seemed very unrealistic to me. I realize how ridiculous that sounds when my choice was “Lost in Space.”

My show had a space family, a robot and a cowardly doctor. I liked it because it had monsters and androids fighting in space! Meanwhile, Marcia had to decide between two boys who asked her out to the school dance. Boring!

The Brady’s didn’t act like any family I knew. Not once did Carol slap Cindy in the mouth and say, “I’ll give you something to cry about!”

I would have liked it if – even just one time – Alice would have said, “You brats don’t know what real problems are!” I’m sure Alice and Sam the Butcher had some serious issues.

The Robinsons were lost in space! The whole premise was in the title.

“Lost in Space” was not meant to be realistic. It was farfetched and crazy. Every week, it would end on a cliffhanger. The Robinsons were surrounded by alien apes with antennas sticking out of their heads. How would they get out of this one? I had to tune in the next day. That’s how they got you.

But I digress, like I do. The fight for control of the boob tube was a daily struggle. I don’t know why I didn’t just go into another room, read a comic book or play with Legos. Instead, my brother and I wrestled to the death … or near death. Over bad television!

I’d love to tell my younger self to get up, turn off the TV and go outside – or read a book. I guess that’s good advice at any age.