Everyone has had a “Check On It” Moment
By: Prentiss J. Haney
It’s October and every year everyone breaks out the pink appeal from professional athletes to super rich and preparatory foundations — even your local Panera Bread will sell you a pink pastry all in good measure to raise funds for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. As I’m sitting in this coffee shop surrounded by pink, I cannot help but to remember a time in the early 2000s when the Queen B hit her fans with a music video of cascading satin sheets, sneaker heels, and a latex polka dot bustier all in one the magical color: PINK.
Beyoncé released the video “Check On It ft. Bun B, Slim Thug” in 2005 as promotional single for her 2006 film, The Pink Panther. And, it was a hot mess – an amazing and catchy song, but nonetheless, A HOT MESS. I still wonder what creative team approved of an all-pink latex video shoot. It wasn’t Beyoncé’s best work. Yet, even with this Malibu Barbie meets local sex shop themed video, there is a lesson to be learned from the Queen: Everyone has had a “Check On It” moment.
A “Check On It” moment is when you thought you had the hottest outfit, the fly-est hair, and the cleanest kicks. Nobody can tell you nothing! But, when that “7 Years Ago Today” notification from Facebook goes “bing,” the memories pop up on your feed and you instantly want to throw your phone out the window and burn the internet down for reminding you of how foolish you actually looked. Listen, it happens to all of us. The early 00s was an unforgiving time especially now with the advent of social media. At least in the 80s and 90s, you could burn those old polaroids before the internet gets them.
So, in honor of all of our “Check On It” moments, I’m going to give you 3 moments in my life that will forever haunt me & the lessons they taught me.
PINK did Beyoncé wrong, but ORANGE did me IN… from hottest outfit to hot mess!
You know those throwback moments where you had to follow suit for the fun of the team. Yea, that happened to me circa 2006. I was a freshman in high school and it was Spirit Week. Our school colors were black and orange and I wore them proudly. I guess no one could have told me that two-layers of button down shirts with the double popped collar wasn’t cute. I’m also sure that I had Ralph Polo on from my hat down to my underwear. “Check On It” Lesson #1: Just because Beyoncé can rock a pantsuit with the back out, doesn’t mean I can double up on collared shirts.
This double-collared Polo shirt from 2006 …#CheckOnItMoments pic.twitter.com/4x9vNVa839
— Prentiss J. Haney (@prentisshaney) October 21, 2017
Now look back it!
Beyoncé has a team for hair, I don’t – from the Fly-est Hair to #HAIRFAIL
Dated 2010, four years later and I still hadn’t learned my lesson. I was a freshman in college and decided that I wanted to be “edgy.” Edgy consisted of straightening my hair TWICE A DAY to look like a super saiyan from Dragon Ball Z. Needless to say, all of my edges broke off and instead of edgy I just looked dusty. It would have been helpful to know how heat damage worked back then. “Check On It” Lesson #2: Not everyone can be straight hair don’t care, sometimes your hair is better the way it is before you put heat on it.
This hair from 2011 when I thought hair damage wasn't a thing. #CheckOnItMoments pic.twitter.com/60HlG2OpHD
— Prentiss J. Haney (@prentisshaney) October 21, 2017
Beyoncé checked up on it in pink heels, I choose red boots – from the Cleanest Kicks to a Crime Against Humanity
My most heinous “Check On It” moment was my moon boot phase. Coming back from the inauguration of the first Black president, Barack Obama, in January 2009, I was on a high. I must have been so high that I purchased these gigantic red moon boots from PUMA. These hideous boots were my prized possession and represented hope for our country. Others hoped that I would throw those boots into space. “Check On It” Lesson #3: My boots and Beyoncé’s latex pink boot heels have something in common: everyone hated them, but no-one could keep their eyes off of them. I’ll count that as a win.
These BOOTS!! 🙄😩😩 back in 2009 #CheckOnItMoments pic.twitter.com/0MGCNai7h3
— Prentiss J. Haney (@prentisshaney) October 21, 2017
There you have it. We all have our “Check On It” moments, but they are there to remind us of how much we have grown. What are some of your moments? Share it with me at #CheckOnItMoments on Twitter. Follow me @prentisshaney
