Let's see, now. There's the threat of a recession, the Republicans have a really old guy running for president, and "Knight Rider" is on TV.

Oh Lord, the '80s are back. Shoot me now.

I don't know how many of you remember the '80s.

They weren't like the '60s, where, as it's said, if you say you remember them, you weren't really there.

And they weren't like the "Me Decade" of the 1970s, when it appeared the entire adult population of the United States was in group therapy. (Helpful hint: Self-awareness and the Dacron-polyester leisure suit are a toxic combination.) There are actually people who are nostalgic for those two decades.

(The romanticizing of the 1950s, which was in vogue for a while during the - yes - 1980s, has finally begun to fade as people start to associate John Travolta less with his role as Danny Zuko in "Grease" and more with his portrayal of Edna Turnblad in "Hairspray.")

The image of the 1960s is of the Summer of Love, the hippies and the Beatles. The 1970s are recalled, at least on TV, as having the saving grace of producing some cool music - disco notwithstanding.

What do the 1980s have to recommend them? Reportedly Paris Hilton's 27th birthday party earlier this month had an '80s theme. (although, to be fair, that may be the only way Paris can remember when she was born.)

I remember the 1980s very well. (My children also believe I remember the Great Depression, the Civil War and the early Jurassic.)

It's when I got my first job on a daily newspaper. OK, it was in Dover, N.H., but it actually came out every day. OK, not on Sundays, but that's because everything in New Hampshire closed down on Sundays. Except the state liquor stores. (Hey, those people are conservative but they're not fanatics.)

I also got married in the 1980s. (And yes, dear, I remember which year.)

So, you might think I would remember the '80s as a good time. Well, for me, yes. For the rest of the country, not so much.

Let me give just two examples from the world of popular culture:.

A) With "Thriller," Michael Jackson became the most influential pop music artist in the world. B) Brandon Tartikoff produced "Alf."

C) I'm not even going to talk about the introduction of "the mullet" haircut.

OK, these are not quite on a par with the Great Depression or the Vietnam War as signature events marking decades, but if the 1980s did nothing else, they lowered expectations.

The '80s, we are told, marked a conservative reaction to the excesses of the previous two decades. So what are we reacting against now? Will the political pendulum swing back to liberalism, will there be a revival of the economy on a par with the Reagan years? Will we all start carrying cell phones the size of toaster ovens again?

Who can say?

But if the double-knit polyester leisure suit comes back in style, I'm ready.

TOM REILLY is a Sun Chronicle news editor. He can be reached at 508-236-0332 or at treilly@thesunchronicle.com, and he doesn't really have a leisure suit.