I’m back with more Growing Pains levity. I think it’s important to acknowledge that I am fully aware of all that’s going on in the world and in my community, and I recognize that Growing Pains episode recaps are completely unimportant. I also believe that we need lightness at times. It’s not healthy to watch news coverage 24/7 and work ourselves into a frenzy. So let this be a space where you can come and take a 5 minute breather from your stresses.

Actually, maybe this recap isn’t going to be a breather from your stresses, because today’s episode deals with overt racism…

I’m going to try very hard not to criticize Growing Pains, or any show for that matter, for how it tries to tackle a topic like racism. I don’t know how any television show could possibly unpack and make a meaningful statement on a complex, systemic issue like racism. The most we can expect from television is to raise awareness, and honestly for the late 80s/early 90s this was probably pretty progressive because, unlike today, mainstream entertainment wasn’t talking as much about racism.

So now that I’ve kicked off with not one, but two caveats, let’s get to the episode itself.

Mike hates his job at the carwash and wants a new one, but he also claims it’s really, really hard to find a new job.  But Ben’s about to prove him wrong in mere seconds. They happen to be in a convenience store and Ben walks right up to the manager and basically asks him to hire Mike. I guess the manager liked Ben’s gumption and assumed it was a genetically shared trait, because he offers Mike a job starting immediately. And by immediately, I mean in 15 minutes. Just like that, Mike has a new and likely equally un-lucrative career as a graveyard shift convenience store clerk. Mike is thrilled. Mike’s new co-worker, Raj, who’s been working the graveyard shift forever and never gets to see his woman, is also thrilled. It’s a win-win.

Sidenote: An important plot detail here is that all the other store clerks are visible minorities, except for the manager.

You know who it’s not a win for? Maggie and Jason. They aren’t thrilled with this new job, what with it being a graveyard shift at a convenience store where they keep a gun under the counter in case of robberies. Maggie is so concerned that she stays up polishing silverware into the wee hours of the night waiting for Mike to come home. She tries to guilt Mike into requesting an earlier shift, even though he’s the new guy and thinks he should pay his dues before asking for special favours.

Nonetheless, Mike humors his mother. The next day he tells his manager that his mom is making him ask for a different shift, but also basically tells his manager he is only asking so he can honestly tell his mom he asked. He doesn’t really expect the shift change. But lo and behold, the manager instantly gives Mike the day shift and poor Raj and Jerry, both of whom you’ll recall are visual minorities, are put back on graveyards. They are not amused.

Now Mike feels guilty and just as he’s trying to make the case for why his manager should put him back on night shifts, his manager says “if we can’t look after our own, who will?” Mike is actually left speechless, which we know almost never happens to Mike. He tries to talk to his dad about it, but he’s super vague and honestly even if Jason were the most brilliant psychiatrist on the planet there’s no way he could decipher Mike’s gibberish.

So Mike just goes to work, where he is greeted by a couple of cold shoulders, notably those of his two co-workers. Mike’s conscience is telling him confront his boss (go Mike!), and so he does. His manager tries to ‘clear the air’, which unfortunately just makes things worse because he basically goes on to say that white people have to stick together and look out for themselves. And then he tries to convince Mike that if the manager were the same ethnicity as Jerry or Raj, they’d get the advantages instead, so what’s the problem? Mike kinda still thinks there’s a problem with that reason, but you can see he’s not quite as sure. But then his manager goes on to point out that he’s a six-time winner of a minority employer award, which is basically just a variation on the “I can’t be racist because I have [insert whatever minority here] friends” argument.

Now Mike is even more confused and doesn’t know what to think, because maybe his manager’s not such a bad guy after all. Wrong, Mike, wrong.  Thankfully Jason and Maggie recall their awkward morning conversation and ask Mike about it when they get home. Mike tries to explain that he was just confused but that everything is good now, but then he goes on to share everything his boss told him which clearly demonstrates to Jason and Maggie that everything is not good now. Jason explains to Mike what prejudice is and now Mike knows why everything his boss has told him hasn’t sat right. Jason also wants Mike to take action. That’s right, Jason!

But wait, because Maggie still doesn’t want Mike to work graveyards, so basically she’s okay with racism if it benefits her son. Surely Jason is going to right this ship? Nope, he sure isn’t. He waffles on Mike going back to the graveyard shift too. Even Mike knows this is total crap.

So Mike stages a small racism trap for his boss: he dumps out some soda on the floor and let’s his boss believe it was one of his coworkers. Sure enough, his manager freaks out about it. But then when Mike claims it was actually him, his boss just calmly tells Mike to be a bit more careful. That’s all the evidence Mike needs. He quits his job on the spot, and then his manager calls Mike a spoiled white kid so he doesn’t even seem to want to love ‘his own kind’ anymore either.

This is how Mike Seaver learns about privilege and racism, and how to take a stand…at least on a micro-level.

Welcome back to the world of Growing Pains, everyone.