The '80s Pin Project: Mother Warned You

For an explanation of what the Pin Project is, go here.This week's pin is a statement pin. A lot of pins that were worn in the 1980s had nothing to do with music and everything to do with giving the world your, like, totally bad attitude, for sure, y'know? Today's random, hand-in-the-bag-eyes-closed-tight pin selection is exactly that.Ooh, Mamas all over the world worry about someone like you, right? Because you're hard, yeah? You're tough, right? You're so full of edge you'd even cut yourself. Watch out! Somebody in the room is...merciful Heaven...quelle méchanceté, no?Please note: the real people your mother warned you about? Don't wear badges informing you who they are.So this was the sort of pin that was worn by girls like me. We were nice(ish) girls from the suburbs who worked in malls and pretended to be grittier than we really were. It was a pin that was worn by guys with long, unkempt, kind of stringy hair, who wore jean vests over leather jackets and had wallets that attached by a chain to their belt loops. It was worn by kids who wanted to feel bad but would grow up to become working-stiff restaurant managers or mechanics or gym teachers. Or writers. Legitimate bad-asses let their actions speak for them. Me? I was just a kid from New Jersey trying to hang tough. I'm retroactively slightly embarrassed for my 16-year-old self.That's about it for this pin. I'm going to leave you with the song that epitomizes everything behind this pin--the faux badassery, the inherent drudgery, the in-your-face "I am a walking cartoon party" vibe that seemed to inhabit so much '80s culture. Presenting Poison's "Nothing But a Good Time".[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_88L-CU7PD4]