Glad I was born when I was (long time ago)

[qube_TA]

Born 1974, the 70's and early 80's just seemed to be bleak for me, very little money, hand-me-down everything, lard, waiting ages for water to heat up to have a bath, cold house with crappy single-glazed windows that would freeze in the winter. I remember in the 80's feeling posh because we had a shower installed, but my Dad disconnected it as we were having showers daily and it was too much to run, a weekly bath was more than enough in his world!

Music was better though, so were the films, Airwolf was on the telly and Grifter's & BMX's were cool so maybe not all bad. But if you ever look at family photos from the 70's they always look rubbish.

[becksW]

qube_TA said:

Born 1974, the 70's and early 80's just seemed to be bleak for me, very little money, hand-me-down everything, lard, waiting ages for water to heat up to have a bath, cold house with crappy single-glazed windows that would freeze in the winter. I remember in the 80's feeling posh because we had a shower installed, but my Dad disconnected it as we were having showers daily and it was too much to run, a weekly bath was more than enough in his world!

Music was better though, so were the films, Airwolf was on the telly and Grifter's & BMX's were cool so maybe not all bad. But if you ever look at family photos from the 70's they always look rubbish.

I was born in 74 as well, I don't remember it being bleak, admittedly when we moved to a new build in 1982 it was a step up (downstairs loo etc) but we had a much smaller garden which wasn't so great.

[cazzer]

I don't think some of you are remembering the 70's and 80's
You're just remembering being poor.

[Eric Mc]

cazzer said:

I don't think some of you are remembering the 70's and 80's
You're just remembering being poor.

I remember the 60s and 70s - IN IRELAND - which was even worse.

Although I do admit that I enjoyed myself as a teenager in the 70s in my own geeky way. But I think fond rememberances of childood and teenagerhood are more to do with fond rememberances of lack of responsibility.

[Tiggsy]

RenesisEvo said:

Tiggsy said:

When I was 21 I bought my first house - 3 bed detached. Much smaller than my dads house.....but I went to New York that year, for xmas shopping...then bought a brand new 200sx. At 21 my dad got his first bicycle!

My own kids have better health care, more access to sports/entertainment and better education than I had....I envy their opportunity and I dont doubt they will feel the same about their kids.

You make alot of sweeping generalisations. I got my first bicycle aged 20... in the year 2006. And whilst you might have been able to afford holidays and brand new cars, I doubt everyone could/can. I still can't, I'd be the first person to admit to beign jealous of having a new car, a house and going abroad at 21. I have what I'm sure many would call decent, reasonable-paying job (still below average, but not far) but still have no hope of buying a house until I'm into my thirties because of the deposits required. Instead I was trying to make ends meet at university.

It is very difficult to directly compare what one person has achieved against another, there are so many factors involved.

And without wishing to be heartless, just realistic - a) not everyone will live to 100+ (accidents, war and crime will still happen) and b) they might cure cancer, they might cure Alzheimers and so forth - but something will get you in the end, and I'm not sure I want to spend my final days being a useless bag of memories in a care home. It's amazing looking back and reading about the days when 40 was considered old age, but I can't help but wonder if there comes a point where living longer is just not meant to be, regardless of progress in medicine/science.

My dad was 21 in 1956 - it wouldn't matter how well he was doing, he wouldn't have gone xmas shopping on 5th ave (not sure they had even discovered the USA by then?)

My point is that OPPORTUNITY exists now more than ever....for example, the opportunity to go to Uni is better than ever before. Certainly not something my Dad could have done....and it wasnt that simple for me in the early 90's (compared to now) - Didn't bother me as I wanted a job as I couldn't see how going to Uni would get me in a house by 21!

[thesyn]

I had my formative years in the mid 70s to mid 80s and I would say that even allowing for being young life was better.

I can remember power cuts about 3 times one winter, so what?
I also remember no central heating and frost on the inside of single glazed windows also winters with snow which lasted for weeks, you just wore more layers of clothes and got on with playing snowballs.

The main reason I say that life was better was because there was far less interference in ones everyday life by the government, there was an abundance of common sense applied.

I also remember a girl at school having her foot broken when the school bus reversed over it. Common sense prevailed, she was judged to been buggering about in the wrong place so was her fault and therefore st happens ( her parents agreed ). Now days bus would probably be crushed and the history teacher driving arrested so no further field trips ever.

I could go on to how great moving to uni in 1979 in London for gigs clubs and other nightlife was but you get my drift.

[GarrettMacD]

Eric Mc said:

cazzer said:

I don't think some of you are remembering the 70's and 80's
You're just remembering being poor.

I remember the 60s and 70s - IN IRELAND - which was even worse.

My Mam still has memories of the hardship in the 60s and 70s.

Thankfully I was raised in the 80s and did 'grew up' in the 90s in Dublin.

It was f***ing deadly! Nobody had a job, so there always someone up for a gargle, drink was cheap, drugs were cheap, women were cheap, cars were expensive! And then that 'Celtic Tiger' malarky started, so I left. But I still have the memories....

[maturin23]

I too am misty eyed about many things from my formative years (born 1973) but I have to say I get the impression that teenage sex is more fun now than it was then, what with webcams and general OXO acceptance

Edited by maturin23 on Friday 15th October 19:00

[qube_TA]

cazzer said:

I don't think some of you are remembering the 70's and 80's
You're just remembering being poor.

We weren't poor compared to anyone else at least not that I recall.

If it were the 70's now I'd miss:

Computers/technology.
Hi-Fi
Affordability of everything (except houses).
Cars with brakes
Cars that start when it rains
The Internet
Wikipedia
Skype
online porn
attractive ladies (presumably my wife would now look like my MiL did at that age)
tasteful decor
double glazing
Warm houses/central heating that works.
instant hot water boilers
electric showers
George Foreman Grills
Microwaves
Shirts you don't need to starch to death
push-up bras
cars that do more than 10MPG
Seatbelts
Eating food not made from Lard
Eating food other than sausage eggs n chips
decent TV screens, with decent sound
Logic Pro
Being able to watch TV and news from anywhere in the world.
Being able to speak to anyone anywhere in the world.
Being able to watch something that's happening anywhere in the world.
Being able to buy anything I like from anywhere at any time.
Smoke free work places
Smoke free everywhere
Foreign travel
All the music that's happened post the 70's
MP3
Albums that are over 45 minutes long
media streaming
film rentals
DVD/BD
mobile phones
SMS
mobile internet
digital cameras
MP3 + decent audio in the car
conditioner
soft lenses
People without moustaches
Macbook Pro
eBooks
BitTorrent
SkyPlus
Channel4, 5, freeview, Sky, HDTV
FM Radio
International calls that don't cost £1M/minute
fast food + delivery
Supermarket delivery
driving a 70's car would no longer be cool
not eating lard
world news
my Astronomy Pic Of The Day
Chocolate Hobnobs

What would be better:
See concerts I missed
cheaper houses

[cazzer]

qube_TA said:

cazzer said:

I don't think some of you are remembering the 70's and 80's
You're just remembering being poor.

We weren't poor compared to anyone else at least not that I recall.

If it were the 70's now I'd miss:

Computers/technology............Really?
Hi-Fi...........................That existed, was bigger and ran off valves though.
Affordability of everything (except houses).....explain whats cheaper now?
Cars with brakes................Decent cars had brakes
Cars that start when it rains...WD40
The Internet....................Meh
Wikipedia.......................Ask a bloke in a pub, it's about as reliable.
Skype...........................Phone someone
online porn.....................Razzle
attractive ladies...............Women are women are women.
tasteful decor..................Maybe give ya that one.
double glazing..................Put a jumper on
Warm houses/central heating.....Coal fire with a back boiler.
instant hot water boilers.......See above
electric showers................They had them at the baths.
George Foreman Grills...........Use the one on yer cooker.
Microwaves......................Just make a new brew rather than warming that one up.
Shirts you don't need to starch.Never worn a starched shirt in my life.
push-up bras....................They arn't new.
cars that do more than 10MPG....Why petrol cost sod all.
Seatbelts.......................Don't crash
Eating food not made from Lard..Lard is good for ya.
Eating food other than sausage eggs n chips....Why?
decent TV screens, with decent sound...Yeah, you can have that one.
Logic Pro.......................Eh?
Being able to watch TV and news from anywhere in the world.....yes cos it's really made a difference to your life knowing they rescued miners in chile.
Being able to speak to anyone anywhere in the world.....Ditto.
Being able to watch something that's happening anywhere in the world.....Ditto.
Being able to buy anything I like from anywhere at any time..............Ditto.
Smoke free work places.........I smoke...bad thing.
Smoke free everywhere..........Ditto.
Foreign travel.................For the last time, we had foreign travel. People went abroad in the 70s. I went all over with my parents.
All the music that's happened post the 70's.....Mostly crap since about 1986.
MP3............................Convenient.
Albums that are over 45 minutes long.....Dark Side of the Moon lasts about a week.
media streaming................Meh
film rentals...................Had them from about 1977 onwards.
DVD/BD.........................Meh, the film is still the same.
mobile phones..................Oh to get rid of those.
SMS............................And that.
mobile internet................And that.
digital cameras................Convenient but not life changing. Plus in 50 years we will be a lost generation photowise.
MP3 + decent audio in the car..You don't have a loud enough car.
conditioner....................Are you a girl?
soft lenses....................Cant comment on those.
People without moustaches .....I have one and a beard
Macbook Pro....................Explains the conditioner.
eBooks.........................Convenient but no better than the paper book.
BitTorrent.....................Meh
SkyPlus........................Yes. Now that is damn useful.
Channel4, 5, freeview, Sky, HDTV....Meh.
FM Radio.......................We had that.
International calls that don't cost £1M/minute.....Yes they are cheaper now.
fast food + delivery...........Go to the chippy.
Supermarket delivery...........Stop bein idle.
driving a 70's car would no longer be cool....Depends on what car it was.
not eating lard................You did that one.
world news.....................And that.
my Astronomy Pic Of The Day....Look up.
Chocolate Hobnobs..............Have a digestive.

What would be better:
See concerts I missed
cheaper houses

[Pigeon]

qube_TA said:

cazzer said:

I don't think some of you are remembering the 70's and 80's
You're just remembering being poor.

We weren't poor compared to anyone else at least not that I recall.

If it were the 70's now I'd miss:

Computers/technology. I'll give you computers and the networking thereof.
Hi-Fi Only advance in hi-fi since the 70s is CDs.
Affordability of everything (except houses). That's a bit of a big "except". Somewhere to live is both a fundamental necessity and fking stting gut-wrenchingly expensive. So that being cheap(er) (a lot) more than compensates for other things not being. Not that I remember being short of anything anyway.
Cars with brakes My car is from 1972 and has excellent brakes.
Cars that start when it rains My car is from 1972 and starts in all conditions.
The Internet See "computers and the networking thereof".
Wikipedia Subset of "internet".
Skype Don't have, don't want.
online porn Not interested. Was only interested in printed porn when I was a teenager and so had the usual teenage hormonal obsessions. If I want to have a wk I'm perfectly capable of creating suitable imagery in the skull cinema.
attractive ladies (presumably my wife would now look like my MiL did at that age) Existed in the 70s too (though I will concede the point re. having a bush like the Mato Grosso).
tasteful decor Quite apart from me not giving a toss about it this is balls anyway. People chose decor because it suited their notions of "taste" just as much then as they do now. And the notion of whether or not something looks good being dependent on what year it is is one of the most outstanding examples of the stupidity of the human species. Something either looks good or it doesn't, it doesn't change from one to the other just because of time.
double glazing Existed, may not have been so common but it was certainly about.
Warm houses/central heating that works. Had that.
instant hot water boilers Geysers are hardly a recent invention.
electric showers Are st compared to ones fed off a hot water tank, and I'd rather have a bath anyway.
George Foreman Grills Pointless and st. I don't want to drain the bloody fat out of my food, I want to eat it so I don't need to eat so much food to fuel my body. And if you do want to then an ordinary grill pan with a griddle in it does the job just as well.
Microwaves Conceded.
Shirts you don't need to starch to death Never did, nor would I.
push-up bras Again hardly a recent invention.
cars that do more than 10MPG My car is from 1972, does 20mpg, and was considered thirsty when new.
Seatbelts My car is from 1972 and has seatbelts.
Eating food not made from Lard Lard is good. More fat = higher energy content = don't need to eat so much.
Eating food other than sausage eggs n chips I like sausage eggs n chips. In fact I'll be eating that in an hour or two.
decent TV screens, with decent sound Never had any problem with the quality of CRTs, though I'll admit colour wasn't common and needed more setting up it worked fine once it was set up. And there was nothing to stop you wiring the TV into a better speaker system (with appropriate isolation in the case of live-chassis sets) - not that there's any need to, as long as it reproduces speech decently that's all that's required, full-range reproduction of the sort of soundtracks TV programmes have is painful to listen to.
Logic Pro Don't even know what this is.
Being able to watch TV and news from anywhere in the world. International news reporting existed.
Being able to speak to anyone anywhere in the world. International telephone networks existed.
Being able to watch something that's happening anywhere in the world. See "international news reporting".
Being able to buy anything I like from anywhere at any time. OK so there weren't 24-hour supermarkets, but apart from that you could still buy anything you liked. All you needed was the money, which still applies.
Smoke free work places Are st. I can't work unless I can smoke while I'm doing it.
Smoke free everywhere Is even more st. Lack of anti-smoking nazism was one of the best things.
Foreign travel Existed.
All the music that's happened post the 70's Is st. See many rants passim re. rise in availability/popularity of recreational phenethylamines and computerised instruments and how it's ruined music. We now have a whole generation that thinks "dance" is actually music because they've never heard anything better.
MP3 Is st. Would be better if it had never been invented.
Albums that are over 45 minutes long Have also contributed to ruining music. The playing time of an LP was well matched to the creative ability of the average band (or even a really good band) so we got albums on which nearly every track was a good'un. When CDs came out bands seemed to feel compelled to fill the entire available playing time without taking a correspondingly longer time to make the album, so we got albums with one or two good tracks and the rest boring filler.
media streaming I'd rather play an album on the hi-fi, hear it in decent quality and have it available to play again and again for the cost of buying it once, than play a st compressed version and be dependent on continually paying for the network connection.
film rentals I don't rent films now.
DVD/BD Would not miss. Will concede "ability to record video".
mobile phones Haven't got one. Hate the things.
SMS See above.
mobile internet Haven't got it.
digital cameras I still use film.
MP3 + decent audio in the car I don't want audio in the car. It just annoys me because I can't listen to it properly. And MP3 is st.
conditioner What is this?
soft lenses What are these? Why are they "good"? The lenses I have are made of glass and their optical quality would be woeful if they were made of any soft/non-rigid material.
People without moustaches
Macbook Pro See "computers"
eBooks Don't want. Books need to be made of paper because reading a book off a screen is st.
BitTorrent More often than not doesn't work and when it does it often isn't the content it said it would be. This didn't happen when borrowing albums off friends and taping them.
SkyPlus I don't want to pay loads of money to watch endless st TV and repeats repeats repeats.
Channel4, 5, freeview, Sky, HDTV I don't even want to watch endless st TV and repeats repeats repeats for free.
FM Radio Existed. But soon won't any more, being replaced by st digital stuff.
International calls that don't cost £1M/minute I'm not sure I've ever even made an international call.
fast food + delivery Chip shops and Chineses existed. So did cars to go and pick it up yourself instead of fannying about waiting and wondering when the heck it was going to turn up (cold).
Supermarket delivery Do not want. Want to pick stuff myself to be sure I'm going to get what I want.
driving a 70's car would no longer be cool Depends on the car.
not eating lard Already covered. Lard is good.
world news Already covered. International news reporting existed. OK we may not have been told about it every time Lee Hong Sung stubbed his toe but who cares anyway?
my Astronomy Pic Of The Day Don't know what this is.
Chocolate Hobnobs Plenty of other chocolate biscuits existed. Blue Ribands were my favourite.

[qube_TA]

cazzer said:

qube_TA said:

cazzer said:

I don't think some of you are remembering the 70's and 80's
You're just remembering being poor.

We weren't poor compared to anyone else at least not that I recall.

If it were the 70's now I'd miss:

Computers/technology............Really? - Yes, my house is full of the stuff, I work in IT, I wouldn't know you existed without it.
Hi-Fi...........................That existed, was bigger and ran off valves though. And was rubbish
Affordability of everything (except houses).....explain whats cheaper now? Creature comforts, stuff for your house, the 70's equivalent for what we have now would cost £millions, no-one had anything like the amount of stuff modern houses have now.
Cars with brakes................Decent cars had brakes, lies.
Cars that start when it rains...WD40, spraying dizzy caps isn't that fun.
The Internet....................Meh, keeps me in a job
Wikipedia.......................Ask a bloke in a pub, it's about as reliable. Not even remotely true, Wiki has been audited an shown to be as reliable as any encyclopaedia, and I don't have to go to a horrible pub to find anything out, there's all kinds of information on there that just wouldn't exist otherwise.
Skype...........................Phone someone, for a £million/minute I have family in the US.
online porn.....................Razzle, have you seen 70's porn?
attractive ladies...............Women are women are women. See above.
tasteful decor..................Maybe give ya that one.
double glazing..................Put a jumper on, don't like jumpers.
Warm houses/central heating.....Coal fire with a back boiler. Yes because shovelling coal is awesome.
instant hot water boilers.......See above
electric showers................They had them at the baths, not really the same.
George Foreman Grills...........Use the one on yer cooker = lard and takes ages.
Microwaves......................Just make a new brew rather than warming that one up.
Shirts you don't need to starch.Never worn a starched shirt in my life.
push-up bras....................They arn't new. Clothes didn't use lycra so were unsupportive, baggy and looked like it was made out of curtains.
cars that do more than 10MPG....Why petrol cost sod all. cos filling up is so much fun (although it was quicker back then as they weren't mini-supermarkets).
Seatbelts.......................Don't crash, tell the other driver.
Eating food not made from Lard..Lard is good for ya. - no it's not.
Eating food other than sausage eggs n chips....Why? cos it's bland
decent TV screens, with decent sound...Yeah, you can have that one.
Logic Pro.......................Eh? - Music software, my hobby.
Being able to watch TV and news from anywhere in the world.....yes cos it's really made a difference to your life knowing they rescued miners in chile. it was amazing to watch, news via satellite is the norm now but it wasn't until the mid 80's that it was possible. I like being able to read newspapers and watch the news from the US. If something is going on I like to be able to see the local perspective rather than wait for tomorrows paper. We only know just how much our papers are full of lies because of the power of how visible the world is.
Being able to speak to anyone anywhere in the world.....Ditto.
Being able to watch something that's happening anywhere in the world.....Ditto.
Being able to buy anything I like from anywhere at any time..............Ditto.
Smoke free work places.........I smoke...bad thing. - I hate smoke, makes me sneeze, not a cool look.
Smoke free everywhere..........Ditto.
Foreign travel.................For the last time, we had foreign travel. People went abroad in the 70s. I went all over with my parents., not up north we didn't vary rare if at all.
All the music that's happened post the 70's.....Mostly crap since about 1986. true, to an extent but there's still a load of fantastic music.
MP3............................Convenient. - why is that bad?
Albums that are over 45 minutes long.....Dark Side of the Moon lasts about a week. it's 42.9 minutes long
media streaming................Meh I like having a media server and being able to watch or listen to anything at any time in almost any room in the house.
film rentals...................Had them from about 1977 onwards. so for most of the 70's we didn't and then it was on beta in mono on a little telly.
DVD/BD.........................Meh, the film is still the same. no, you can actually see and hear what's going on, go watch a VHS tape now.
mobile phones..................Oh to get rid of those. My Son was taken ill today, I was out, being able to be called where ever you are is great, if you don't want to be contactable, you can turn it off.
SMS............................And that. where would you get your jokes from?
mobile internet................And that. I love it, and satnav and wi-fi.
digital cameras................Convenient but not life changing. Plus in 50 years we will be a lost generation photowise. The amount of things that are now recorded which just wasn't before proves how it's affected what we do.
MP3 + decent audio in the car..You don't have a loud enough car. 5.7 V8 with straight through pipes.
conditioner....................Are you a girl? You see how folks hair looked up until about 1988?
soft lenses....................Cant comment on those. 70's glasses aren't nice, hard lenses are rubbish as they break, picking glass out of your eyes isn't fun.
People without moustaches .....I have one and a beard paedo?
Macbook Pro....................Explains the conditioner. A Commodore PET isn't as easy to carry around.
eBooks.........................Convenient but no better than the paper book.
BitTorrent.....................Meh I love my US TV shows.
SkyPlus........................Yes. Now that is damn useful.
Channel4, 5, freeview, Sky, HDTV....Meh. 3 channel TV was awful, nothing on, ever.
FM Radio.......................We had that. What was on, Radio 1 shared the FM frequency with Radio 2, which was st, only a few R1 programmes were in FM.
International calls that don't cost £1M/minute.....Yes they are cheaper now.
fast food + delivery...........Go to the chippy - don't deliver and rubbish.
Supermarket delivery...........Stop bein idle was including all deliveries in that, going to physical shops is rubbish as they never have anything in, buying online and always being able to get what you want and delivered to your house is ace. Buying parts for my Pontiac just would have been impossible without it.
driving a 70's car would no longer be cool....Depends on what car it was. Unlikely to be able to afford a Gen2 Trans Am when they were new, easy now.
not eating lard................You did that one. There was a lot of lard.
world news.....................And that.
my Astronomy Pic Of The Day....Look up. Not exactly the Hubble Telescope though is it?
Chocolate Hobnobs..............Have a digestive. crap, they didn't introduce the dark chocolate ones until the 90's.

[cazzer]

qube_TA said:

Foreign travel.................For the last time, we had foreign travel. People went abroad in the 70s. I went all over with my parents., not up north we didn't vary rare if at all.

Oldham is pretty much "Up North"

[qube_TA]

You have to admit the the number of people that can afford to go abroad on holiday is much higher now than it was 40 years ago.

Must be some stats online somewhere.

My family couldn't afford to do it, neither could my wife's, not before the 80's.

[cazzer]

Like I said.
I have photos of my Grandma and Grandad in sorrento in 1960. They were both spinners in a cotton mill.
I don't think they robbed banks in their spare time.

[Eric Mc]

cazzer said:

Like I said.
I have photos of my Grandma and Grandad in sorrento in 1960. They were both spinners in a cotton mill.
I don't think they robbed banks in their spare time.

They probably stowed away on a cotton boat heading for Port Said and jumped ship at Naples.

[WhoseGeneration]

Hmm, I was born in 1948.
"Boomer" then, having benefited from such as the Welfare State and the increase in wealth and opportunity since then.
Am I glad?
Probably a yes but only because I had a good childhood and teenage years, getting on motorcycles at 16 and having a car at 18, then enjoying the liberation of the 1960s and 1970s.
Whilst I appreciate the positives of today's digital technology, I am also very aware of the many negatives.
Those negatives likely becoming more prevalent in the future.
Which reinforces my yes, because I'm not sure the future will be as free as was my past.
All this sort of stuff depends upon one's philosophical outlook though.

[Colonial]

Cazzer et al

If technology is evil and there is no community as a result, how about you get the fk off the computer and go out and do something in the community?

Or is it easier just to whinge and polish those rose coloured glasses?

[cazzer]

Colonial said:

Cazzer et al

If technology is evil and there is no community as a result, how about you get the fk off the computer and go out and do something in the community?

Or is it easier just to whinge and polish those rose coloured glasses?

Because even though I would like to be back there. You can't do it in isolation.
So even though I'd rather the world wasn't as it is, I can't change it. So I may as well use it.

(Plus its bloody freezin outside at the moment)

[Tiggsy]

WhoseGeneration said:

Hmm, I was born in 1948.
"Boomer" then, having benefited from such as the Welfare State and the increase in wealth and opportunity since then.
Am I glad?
Probably a yes but only because I had a good childhood and teenage years, getting on motorcycles at 16 and having a car at 18, then enjoying the liberation of the 1960s and 1970s.

??? You can do that today. I had a bike and a car at 17. I'm not sure what liberation you enjoyed in your 20's during the 70's.....but I dont recall many restrictions on my 20's in the 90's.