Were things really boring in the 80s?

[Egyptiancottonhouse]

I was born in the 80s, grew up in the 90s but it's difficult to imagine now how things were.

I'm watching reruns of Brookside from 82 I think.

It's very nostalgic but things must have been so boring, although people didn't know any different. I don't think most of us today would cope without the Internet, TV on demand, online shopping, social media.

Being able to research anything you want in a second, look up a recipe, look at a map and street view.

The Internet really has changed our lives beyond recognition.

I used to go out on my bike for a whole afternoon with nothing but a packet of biscuits and 2p for a telephone call. My parents never knew where I was going and were not in the least worried. We were so much more independent as kids. We were trusted and allowed freedoms that today's children are denied.

I felt confident as a kid and strong. I didn't know any child/teen with anxiety, we were all capable, sorted out our own petty squabbles and laughed a hell of a lot. And yes, we all had part time jobs - babysitting, paper rounds, pub kitchens, etc. which gave us even more confidence and lots to put on a CV when we left school.

The internal angst and introspection that children/teens get from social media is very damaging and does not prepare them for the world in the same way.

It's not that long ago.

Or am I older than I think?? (41)

The ever-present threat of nuclear oblivion took the edge off the boredom a bit. And the music was good.

I sometimes miss being bored.

What is boring is being stuck to a phone or screen for hours of the day.
Life is much less enjoyable and much more stressful now. Constant stimulation and the need to be always available is not conducive to good mental health .

I don't think that was the case of all workplaces. I started work in the 1980s and it was very much 9 - 5 and leave it all behind at the door . None of the pressure to do additional work/hours - or to answer emails outside of your working hours because you have the technology to do so . Likewise my parents were both teachers and they used to go home when the children did - maybe a bit of marking at home but none of the additional expectations of nowadays .

Pirate radio.

I grew up in London and in the evenings or on a weekend day my older siblings were forever finding a pirate radio station to listen to.

I then went to study in another city in the 90s and hung out with some club DJs who also played on pirate radio stations.

The big thing was getting a request to the DJs. I was use to hearing people ring up from phone boxes, tell the DJ to wait while they ran home to listen to their request. There as when myself and friends befriended the DJs we would ask them to play tunes when they next went on air.

When the Berlin Wall fell people felt a lot safer.

I wasn't bored. I like being able to Google stuff but I've recently rediscovered my cook books instead of googling recipes and it's actually really nice. For me the cons of the internet actually outweigh the pros. I hate people ignoring each other to scroll crap on social media, I think Instagram is bad for mental health and I don't actually like people being able to contact me 24/7. Online shopping is terrible for the high street and also imo exacerbates overconsumerism.

I grew up in the 90s but didn't have internet then!

I was never bored. I used to go shopping most Saturdays (can't imagine wanting to do that now!), meet up with friends after school, and spend hours reading Bliss, Sugar, J17, and Smash Hits magazines. I miss those days!

I think that the internet has ruined the small joys in life. Nothing shocks or excites in the way it used to, as we've seen it all before.

Not boring for me. Lots of travel, nights out, nice restaurants and not much crap food, bars, men who knew hold to converse and not be glued to a phone, felt safe walking the streets and didn't need a burglar alarm and security camera which might be boring but was a damn sight better than having to wonder if your house or car would be broken into if you went to the shops.

Shops by me were open on Sundays and vibrant, good music, It stopped with the increase in internet and phone use. I used to go clothes shopping on a Sunday.

It was a brilliant time and definitely not boring 🤨 There was loads to do before the Internet. People did a bigger variety of things because they weren't glued to phones and tablets.
I think people are far more boring if they are staring at a smartphone all day, barely interacting with anyone or anything in real life.

how to converese not hold

It's very nostalgic but things must have been so boring, although people didn't know any different. I don't think most of us today would cope without the Internet, TV on demand, online shopping, social media.

Being able to research anything you want in a second, look up a recipe, look at a map and street view.

The Internet really has changed our lives beyond recognition.

Well, yes it has. And I would suggest this is why it wasn't boring back then.

In the 1980s you had to put some effort in to find out a recipe or look at a map. If you wanted new clothes you had to go and physically look in the shops for them, if you wanted to catch up with a friend you had to call or write or (god forbid!) leave your house to go and visit them. Everything took longer so consequently there was less time to get bored.

Teenager in the 80's. What did I do.... ?

When a young teen, hung out with friends, did hobbies - gymnastics, riding, got on the bus to go shopping with friends on a Saturday - buy music go home and work out the words and sing along to the Top 40, maybe go swimming, walk the dog. It was very sociable.

As an older teen - pretty much the same and also held down a number of part time jobs. Went clubbing. Studied hard.

Not boring at all, but we were out and about all of the time.

Also less ready meals so learnt to cook in that time too.

giving up on that one 😂

It was a different world in many ways. You had to wait for programmes to come on, wait on Sunday to find out what the chart position was. Make plans and stick to them! Go and knock for friends.
Equally started going to the pub at 14....

I had a wild time in the 80’s. Student in Manchester, The Smiths, New Order, The Hacienda, The Happy Mondays.

No it was not boring at all.

Yes me too. I would sob as a child when my friends went in on a Sunday to have their lunch. It was sooo boring.

The 80s were different as I was a teenager and we’d roam the streets either shopping or looking for boys!

But yes until video came in there was literally nothing to do beyond reading or messing about. (For working class kids that is. I guess if you were middle class you’d have a pony or your parents would take you on holidays and days out…?)

Books - recipe books, books on anything. I had lots of books, always did have. I would read and watch a bit of TV at the end of the day/in bed. Now I can't see so well and still read but online and I really miss books.

I spent lots of time in shops, bookshops, clothing & homeware shops and getting ready to go out without feeling the need to plaster on a mask of make up and do weird things with my eyebrows or get my lips blown up like sausages on a BBQ. It was the time of little glue on stars on the cheekbone and thin headbands around the forehead but only for nights out.

None of the pressure to do additional work/hours - or to answer emails outside of your working hours because you have the technology to do so.

Did email exist in the 80s?

This is so true. The world literally is at our fingertips, yet the UK appears more fearful and apathetic than ever before.

I was a child in the 80s and think childhood was much better than my kids have today. Kids just roamed free with other kids from where the lives. No play dates, you just rocked up to your mates house and went where you wanted.

my kids need organized play dates, which are hard to organize as everyone is at organized after school activities the whole bloody time.

So no, childhood was way more interesting and healthy than zoning out in front of a screen as there’s no one to play with, or you are bored of everything in your house, but you can’t just take yourself off, as kids used to.

Way worse for parents too whose evenings are spent shuffling kids from on thing to another at the expense of their own life and interests.

Having kids is wasaay more work than it used to be.

Saw lots of live music, read lots of books, talked to lots of people. The 1980s weren't boring. Watch this

Great film by Jeremy Deller - who examines part of the decade by showing it to kids from the 2000s. Their view is that things were better - notably girls looked like they could have fun and dance without feeling self conscious or setting everything up for social media. So yes - show young people today what it was like yesterday and you might be surprised. Great film in any case