Grace’s Ode to 2016: Al-Maq says dabbing needs to be brought back
Pictured: Post-Interview Dab with Ali Al-Maq, French teacher. Media Provided by Georges L. ‘28
I’m sure we are all aware that 2016 nostalgia has been a trend. My guidepost for collective awareness is whether my dad knows the trend I’m talking about, so I can safely say that if my dad knows #2016, all the readers of the Gazette (Grace’s parents, the rare student or 2, and the literature department) probably know it too.
Survey mostly says the dab needs to make a comeback, which is arguably the “67” of 2016. Beloved French teacher and snack lover Almaq agrees. He reminisces on the days of yore: “Because my kids were young [in 2016] and I tried to be a cool dad, so I just like dabbed with [my son], and he really liked it.” His son liked it so much that he even bragged about it to his friends:
“I remember one day I was taking him to his playdate, and he said with a firm voice ‘once you come to pick me up, when my friend opens the door, just dab,’ and I had to do it. I did it and he was really happy. The friend thought it was crazy that an old man could do that.”
Alex G. ‘28 says: “We took the dab for granted; it was such a symbol of the time.”
He and his friend Knoski ’28 also add that PBS Kids and the fidget spinnerneed to be brought back. Gosh. The fidget spinner. The doomscrolling of 2016 was probably a lot better for your brain. Spinning a little disk in your hand over and over again probably increases your attention span, rather than shrinking it to the point where you can’t even watch a movie without simultaneously watching TikTok.
Zachery G. ‘26: “We should waste our time fidgeting, not on social media.”
But Luka T. ‘26 says that fidget spinners and the dab are “jobless answers.”
When thinking back to 2016, Luka gets sentimental, “That’s mad sad. Back in the day, bro, like 10 years ago, it was sweet, now it’s not.”
“Bring back the time,” he says, perhaps close to shedding a tear.
Mac echoes Luca’s nostalgia, saying, “I just liked the air better in 2016,” then looking wistfully out the window at the slushy snow. He then promptly turned back and added excitedly, “Oh, and um, galaxy frappacino, sorry, unicorn frappucino.”
Yes, the smell of the unicorn frappuccino, bring it back.
Jed S. ‘27 wants to bring back “Pokémon Go, just walking around doing Pokémon, it’s so fun.”
And Caro C. ‘27 suggests the big pink wall in LA where everyone took pictures. It was the peak Tumblr era.
Mika H. ‘26 adds on about the Tumblr era, suggesting that flower crowns should reemerge: “Those are tea, very summer, probably smell nice too.”
Maggie S. ‘26, a visual artist, says the photo quality looked better in 2016, an ode to the previous generation of the iPhone.
iPhone 4 anyone?
In the words of Andy Bernard of The Office, Grace students “wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days, before you’ve actually left them.”
It seems as though we appreciate 2016 more in 2026 than we did when we were actually living in it. Let’s not make the same mistake with 2026. Start appreciating the now, now. Not in 2036.
Serena H. ‘27, the author, is the Junior Deputy Editor of The Grace Gazette.