psychodelicide said:

Just as soon as I get this time machine fixed lol. I wish it were that easy. Getting older sucks. I miss the 80s so damn much!

I really, really feel you. Good or bad, i often think of how it used to be. Especially how it was in the 80's. Maybe I'm looking at it with rose colored glasses, but that was a exciting and fun time. The music, the parties, the new discoveries, the friendships, the youth etc. Today, as a older adult with older adult problems, i sometimes just can't help but to think WTF has happened?? I know for me, i really need to get excited about life again. I've had a somewhat hard life and truth be told it's taken a lot out of me. I'm really blessed to still be alive, and i really need to take advantage of the life I have been blessed with. I'm 53, and feel pretty good mentally(physically, OK, but could be better). I've been thinking that i need to expand my social circle, and also get back to enjoying the things that i used to.

Anyways, slowly but surely I'm coming to terms with the fact that age is creeping up on me. And, that it's OK to reminisce about the past. I'm really into the TV shows, movies, music etc of the 70's and 80's, and that's OK. I used to think that my fascination with the past was somewhat unhealthy, but not so much anymore. That stuff does give me comfort, and that's a good thing.



So, you are not alone in your thoughts. I know for me, I'm so glad that i got to experience life in the 70's and 80's.

Prince(self titled) is somewhere in those 8 tracks. Check out the records on the wall in my bedroom.

The photo is from 1980, 81

JoeyC said:

psychodelicide said:

Just as soon as I get this time machine fixed lol. I wish it were that easy. Getting older sucks. I miss the 80s so damn much!

I really, really feel you. Good or bad, i often think of how it used to be. Especially how it was in the 80's. Maybe I'm looking at it with rose colored glasses, but that was a exciting and fun time. The music, the parties, the new discoveries, the friendships, the youth etc. Today, as a older adult with older adult problems, i sometimes just can't help but to think WTF has happened?? I know for me, i really need to get excited about life again. I've had a somewhat hard life and truth be told it's taken a lot out of me. I'm really blessed to still be alive, and i really need to take advantage of the life I have been blessed with. I'm 53, and feel pretty good mentally(physically, OK, but could be better). I've been thinking that i need to expand my social circle, and also get back to enjoying the things that i used to.

Anyways, slowly but surely I'm coming to terms with the fact that age is creeping up on me. And, that it's OK to reminisce about the past. I'm really into the TV shows, movies, music etc of the 70's and 80's, and that's OK. I used to think that my fascination with the past was somewhat unhealthy, but not so much anymore. That stuff does give me comfort, and that's a good thing.



So, you are not alone in your thoughts. I know for me, I'm so glad that i got to experience life in the 70's and 80's.

Every decade has its share of issues...there was plenty of fucked-up shit going on during the 80s (Reaganism, crack epidemic, high crime, AIDS becomming more widespread, etc)

JoeyC said:

psychodelicide said:

Just as soon as I get this time machine fixed lol. I wish it were that easy. Getting older sucks. I miss the 80s so damn much!

I really, really feel you. Good or bad, i often think of how it used to be. Especially how it was in the 80's. Maybe I'm looking at it with rose colored glasses, but that was a exciting and fun time. The music, the parties, the new discoveries, the friendships, the youth etc. Today, as a older adult with older adult problems, i sometimes just can't help but to think WTF has happened?? I know for me, i really need to get excited about life again. I've had a somewhat hard life and truth be told it's taken a lot out of me. I'm really blessed to still be alive, and i really need to take advantage of the life I have been blessed with. I'm 53, and feel pretty good mentally(physically, OK, but could be better). I've been thinking that i need to expand my social circle, and also get back to enjoying the things that i used to.

Anyways, slowly but surely I'm coming to terms with the fact that age is creeping up on me. And, that it's OK to reminisce about the past. I'm really into the TV shows, movies, music etc of the 70's and 80's, and that's OK. I used to think that my fascination with the past was somewhat unhealthy, but not so much anymore. That stuff does give me comfort, and that's a good thing.



So, you are not alone in your thoughts. I know for me, I'm so glad that i got to experience life in the 70's and 80's.

Well, JoeyC, it's typical for people to look back on their youth as more idyllic but even more so during a worldwide pandemic when even young people like my son and his wife are looking back to "the good ole days." BTW I'm older than you so 53 doesn't look so old to me any more... The older one gets, the younger "old" looks! Stop hanging on to a prescribed societal number and live your life to the fullest you can one day at a time. Wise words given to me by someone in their 70s. We're only guaranteed today...at whatever age we are.

uPtoWnNY said:

JoeyC said:

I really, really feel you. Good or bad, i often think of how it used to be. Especially how it was in the 80's. Maybe I'm looking at it with rose colored glasses, but that was a exciting and fun time. The music, the parties, the new discoveries, the friendships, the youth etc. Today, as a older adult with older adult problems, i sometimes just can't help but to think WTF has happened?? I know for me, i really need to get excited about life again. I've had a somewhat hard life and truth be told it's taken a lot out of me. I'm really blessed to still be alive, and i really need to take advantage of the life I have been blessed with. I'm 53, and feel pretty good mentally(physically, OK, but could be better). I've been thinking that i need to expand my social circle, and also get back to enjoying the things that i used to.

Anyways, slowly but surely I'm coming to terms with the fact that age is creeping up on me. And, that it's OK to reminisce about the past. I'm really into the TV shows, movies, music etc of the 70's and 80's, and that's OK. I used to think that my fascination with the past was somewhat unhealthy, but not so much anymore. That stuff does give me comfort, and that's a good thing.



So, you are not alone in your thoughts. I know for me, I'm so glad that i got to experience life in the 70's and 80's.

Every decade has its share of issues...there was plenty of fucked-up shit going on during the 80s (Reaganism, crack epidemic, high crime, AIDS becomming more widespread, etc)

I think the biggest fear during the 80's was the threat of nuclear war. It always felt like there could be a nuclear war in the near future. Just look at all the movies, The Day After, War Games, even Terminator and Mad Max.

[Edited 1/23/22 16:54pm]

PJMcGee said:

Cool pic, Joey. That middle album (12"?) has more of a mid-'80s vibe, I think. What is it?

It's Christmas Rappin/Rappin Blow, by Kurtis Blow. The photo is from around late 1980, early 1981. I don't remember the exact date but i know that Kurtis Blow's The Breaks had recently came out(1980).


Oh, the other records are Rappers Delight and Funk You Up.

[Edited 1/23/22 17:24pm]

Very well put!

TrivialPursuit said:

I should also add that we were the first latchkey generation. We had to get ourselves home, locked in, fed, and safe until our parent (because many of us were living in single-parent households, often barely holding on) came home. Then did it all the next day. We all got up, got ready, and each left the house at a different time. I often left after my mother did, locking up the house for the day, and I was the first home, just before my brother. I'd walk down to the elementary school (a block away) to pick him up from 4th grade, just because.

All these Gen Z and Millennials who are conquering the Rubik's Cube? Yeah, Gen X did that first. We originated the cube, Q-bert, Atartis, the home computer, cassettes, and compact disks, and were around before, during, and after VHS's were popular. We let y'all have the Walkman and a boombox, and cable TV in your home. We didn't battle streaming versus ripping CDs to our phone. We had one phone number, and we sat in the kitchen on a wall phone with a very long coil cord to talk to our friends. When the phone rang, we had no caller ID, didn't know who it was, and just picked it up to say "Hello?" and hoped for the best. We bought vinyl records, and dubbed them to a cassette for the car. We didn't download songs, we recorded them off the radio, keeping our stereos on Record & Pause, as to hit the Pause button quickly when they announced the new MJ, Madonna, or Prince song was coming up "after this break."

We didn't text, we passed notes in class, often folded into triangles like a football, or a rectangle which looked like a jacket pocket with a handkerchief in it. No one had a sex tape or sexted. No one could afford a BETAcam or VHS camera. We barely had VHS rentals, and even then it was a $100 deposit at Blockbuster in case ya stole that copy of Rocky. Videos weren't $9.99, they were $70 at Sears or Kmart.

We also knew the value of a good spiral notebook, a new and freshly sharpened No. 2 pencil (which we needed for those fill-in-the-bubble SAT tests), and loved our TrapperKeeper™. It was our virtual laptop, on our desktop... aka our school desks. We didn't spend time on Facebook, we cruised the strip in our town, hanging out at Sonic or A&W or McDonald's. We went bowling, actually watched movies, and learned to pee and get a snack and get back to our seats in under 2 minutes because we didn't have a DVR and couldn't pause live TV. And even if we had a VCR, it was unlikely we were recording anything to watch it again, much less rewind to see what we missed. Once something aired, that was it, you never saw it again until it was in the summer when repeats ran, or it got syndicated and you could watch it after school.

We had a village raising us as much as we raised ourselves. We are tougher for it. We were nihilists, we saw the doom of the world - AIDS, Afghans fighting back Russian invaders, needles on the beaches, the space shuttle program - and went on with our day. We started using condoms, and cocaine (!), and was using "Like" 100x more than kids today. And moreover, we knew when to expand our vocabulary as to not sound ignorant, and get shit done.

To quote Austin Powers, he had freedom and responsibility. It was a very groovy time.

TrivialPursuit said:

onlyforaminute said:

I'd say this is a good example that every generation seems to have to deal with some new never before seen plight. I thought about that watching something about the bombing of pearl harbor.

I very much agree with that. I've often said each decade sorta has its own thing. Sometimes it overlaps with generations. The 60s was anti-war, the 50s was equal rights (which well extended into the 60s), the 70s was more woman's equal rights (including abortion and the wage gap), the 80s was HIV/AIDS and crack. The 90s was...well, it was whatever it was.

As I said, there's always some overlap, so most times there are always two generations that carry one "issue," but one carries it more. Boomers were affected by AIDS, but Gen Xers are the ones who lit the torch. It was affecting our uncles and older friends, then eventually us when we hit our 20s by the end of the 80s or so.

Pearl Harbor, and the generalness of WWII (In Germany and Japan) was the greatest generation, but certainly affected the way boomers thought and were brought up. Then they faced Vietnam and Korea, which means very young Gen Xers were exposed to the aftermath of it (how soldiers were treated, dads and uncles talking about "bein' in 'Nam!" etc). And while Gen Xers had Russians in Afghanistan, Iran-Contra, etc., we didn't have any real wars to deal with. Our wars came home with AIDS. Remember, Desert Shield/Storm wasn't until 1990, when Iran invaded Kuwait and the US pushed them out.

Remember when Pizza Hut was a sit down restaurant and they didn't deliver pizza? Plus they sold pitchers of beer.

TrivialPursuit said:

kpowers said:

Remember when Pizza Hut was a sit down restaurant and they didn't deliver pizza? Plus they sold pitchers of beer.

Funny you bring that up. Friends have been waxing nostalgic about Pizza Hut lately. People have talked about how, back in the day, it was one of the places to go. The food smelled great, there was a juke box. Everything was red, the booths were like a womb you sat in and just waiting for your food. The food itself was so good, and savory, hot, and delicious.

I've not been to the Hut in years. I talked to my neighbor recently. The next time we do movie night, we may order the 3-pizza box (or 2 pizzas and extras) from Pizza Hut.

TrivialPursuit said:

kpowers said:

Remember when Pizza Hut was a sit down restaurant and they didn't deliver pizza? Plus they sold pitchers of beer.

Funny you bring that up. Friends have been waxing nostalgic about Pizza Hut lately. People have talked about how, back in the day, it was one of the places to go. The food smelled great, there was a juke box. Everything was red, the booths were like a womb you sat in and just waiting for your food. The food itself was so good, and savory, hot, and delicious.

I've not been to the Hut in years. I talked to my neighbor recently. The next time we do movie night, we may order the 3-pizza box (or 2 pizzas and extras) from Pizza Hut.

I forgot they had juke box. I think the food tasted better back in the 80's

EmmaMcG said:

I have never been in a Pizza Hut. There used to be a Pizza Hut near where I grew up. I'm not sure if it's still there. But I've never been inside. I know this has nothing to do with anything and nobody cares but I felt like sharing that

Back in the day, it really was an experience. Just good food, very 70s and 80s with the red all over. The pizza was actually good. When salad bars got more popular, it was one of the places to go for one.
No idea how they are today. But I'm gonna try.

EmmaMcG said:

I have never been in a Pizza Hut. There used to be a Pizza Hut near where I grew up. I'm not sure if it's still there. But I've never been inside. I know this has nothing to do with anything and nobody cares but I felt like sharing that

It's more about how Pizza Hut has changed since the 80's. Most younger people didn't know that Pizza Hut was more of a sit down restaurant where they had hostess and waiters/waitress. They sold beer and had salad bars. All that is gone now. Since you were not alive in the 80's even if you did go to that Pizza Hut that was near you it wouldn't be the same. IMO Pizza Hut tasted better in the 80's.

Still miss going to Farrells back in the 80's

I think the late 70's help paved the 80's into a really fun decade. Think of all the great stuff from the late 70's such as Movies: Superman, Halloween, Alien, Star Wars. Music: Journey, Van Halen, Prince, Michael Jackson and a lot more.