Unless you’ve been living under a rock, especially one with no Wi-Fi, you probably know about the phenomenon known as Stranger Things.
For a good stretch of the holiday season, it felt like the show had a monopoly on conversation. At dinner tables. In barbershops. On timelines. If you hadn’t watched it yet, someone was already asking you why.
For the uninitiated, here’s the spoiler-free version. Stranger Things is set in a small town in the 1980s and follows a tight-knit group of kids, their families, and a few unlikely heroes as strange and dangerous events begin to unravel their world. There are mysteries, supernatural threats, secret government experiments, and an impressive amount of bike riding.
The ‘80s setting matters. No smartphones. No social media. Just people talking, showing up, and figuring things out together. Imagine that.
It’s easily one of my favorite shows, and not just because of the nostalgia. What keeps pulling me in is the way the friends stick together. They fight monsters, sure, but they also fight for each other. When someone starts acting out of character, the group doesn’t write them off. They lean in. They wrestle with them. They remind them who they are. The good of the person and the good of the group are always connected.
That’s where the show sneaks up on you.
Because Stranger Things isn’t only about the monsters lurking in the shadows. It’s also about the ones we carry quietly. Fear. Shame. Grief. Anger. Insecurity. That inner voice that tells you to isolate instead of reaching out. The Upside Down isn’t just a place in the show. It’s a space many of us visit emotionally when life gets heavy.
Watching this story unfold in a small town reminded me of communities like ours. Places where everybody knows everybody, or at least knows somebody who knows somebody. In the show, progress only happens when people come together, share information, protect one another, and decide that the community matters. Not just in theory, but in practice.
I don’t know how our story ends, but I do believe we still get a say in how it’s written. And if a group of kids in the ‘80s can remind us that unity beats fear, honesty beats silence, and love beats isolation, that feels like a lesson worth revisiting.
Random thought… how did we even land on the name Kenny’s Corner? I mean, yes, people call me Kenny, but what’s up with the corner part? I haven’t been in a corner since elementary school at Geiger. You can’t put Kenny in a corner. Nobody puts Baby… I mean Kenny… in a corner. Whew. Sorry everybody. I just got caught in the ‘80s.
Alright, it’s time to wrap this up. I’m feeling a little sentimental, so I’ll end here, but before we go… maybe it’s time we all met up somewhere. Somewhere in the community. A church that opens its doors. A local business. A restaurant willing to let us grab a bite and talk for a while. No speeches. No agendas. Just neighbors becoming less like strangers and starting to write a great story of our own. Together.
Cue the ‘80s pop song and roll credits.
Kenny Robertson, an educator and comedian, is a native of Ridgeway.
