Was life simpler in years gone by?

[Coralnails]

I've been watching Classic Corrie from the 80s and 90s recently and it's made me nostalgic for those decades.

Even though I wouldn't swap my smartphone, internet and all the choices we have these days, in some ways I feel like things were better back then.

It's like we never switch off these days, phones are attached to us 24/7, with things like online shopping we've got so much choice it can be overwhelming. Screen time is a big thing for children now with tablets, phones, YouTube. I could think of more examples, passwords for everything, so much more we have to think about now. Everything is so instant these days too, it's convenient but can take the fun out of things.

Back then if you went out, you were out, not attached to your phone and emails all the time.

There were 4 channels, and children's programmes all finished in time for dinner. A comic and a 10p mix up was enough to please most children.

Remember waiting to get your photos developed from your disposable camera.

Going to the video shop on a Saturday evening to rent a film.

Looking through the newspaper to see the film times.

I wouldn't go back knowing what I know now, but I do think modern technology has taken some of the simple joys away.

Simpler, yes I think it was. That doesn't mean it was better, it was just different. People were able to switch off - just landlines, no mobiles, no email, no smartphones - so when you finished for the day and left work that was it until you arrived back the next day or on Monday morning. My dad owned his own business and when he finished work before our annual two-week holiday he didn't speak to his colleagues or his clients for two whole weeks, which is completely unimaginable now. And all the stuff that wasn't photographed and recorded in perpetuity on the internet meant we could all grow up and make mistakes without fear that they'd come back to haunt us one day - I'm grateful for that.

But yes, racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia - all kinds of prejudice was rife in the small town where I grew up. Girls were 'asking for it' if they wore a short skirt, 'boys will be boys' and all kinds of other victim-blaming shit was trotted out constantly.

And I agree it was harder work - all the mod cons we have now for housework and shopping are a godsend.

The way we're thrashing the planet, there won't be many future generations.

I wasn't keen on the early/mid 90's. I remember being a student and having to walk to the phone box to ring home and then having to do it all over again if no one was in. Home felt very far away.
And yy to not bring always able to get hold of books for essays. Students today have access to all sorts of online resources. WiFi is amazing.
The upside is not having constant fomo or kids bring trolled/bullied online. I think it was easier to relax and distance yourself back in the 90's - social media and chat rooms have changed that.
But I love being able to do online banking, download a book to read, listen to any music I want, contact my family anytime.

stinking of smoke after a night out

I miss this... you just don't get the full experience like you used to

Odd behaviour, including that she didn’t offer the toy to the other child and then returned it to your son.

Wrong thread, not sure how I managed that

I wonder what future generations will look back on in horror, from the way we live today.

You've hit the nail on the head there, OP.

True about the sexism. I’m only 27 but I remember walking to school at about 14/15 getting whistled at by middle aged builders. I can’t imagine that would be acceptable now.

rebel I wish I could switch off from it but I can’t because it’s too addictive. Shopping/ social media/ Mumsnet! Most people I know often have one eye on their phone when they’re talking to you. It’s sad. 90’s was great because you could call/ text/ msn but it wasn’t attached to you 24/7.

I'm with artfully... But. I also think the abuse is still going on. I just think it's moved. Wherever you have power and vulnerability, you'll have abuse. The way in which we are now connected means that powerful individuals (relatively more wealthy) can find vulnerable individuals (eg children) online and abuse them. My intuition tells me that levels of abuse haven't decreased (maybe even increased?) but it's not our children.... And so there is less emphasis on it and less attention. It breaks my heart and I think it is the next generations' scandal - they will ask, why did we turn a blind eye, leaving countries with far fewer resources to deal with a problem richer countries are responsible for.

Well you've all put me right off the 90s now.

Technology has come so far so fast. I remember getting my first mobile phone. It didn't have a camera, you couldn't even send a text I don't think. That all progressed to smartphones within about 10 years.

Hilda and Stan had four children. Two children, Sylvia and Tony, were not seen on the series with the explanation that they were taken into care when Stan beat them while drunk. Their other children were seen on the programme and were named Irma (Sandra Gough) and Trevor (Jonathan Collins/Don Hawkins). Trevor stole money and ran away within the first six months of arriving on the Street, writing back home to ask Hilda to disown him. Hilda's daughter Irma worked at the Corner Shop and eventually married David Barlow (Alan Rothwell). Irma was crushed when David and her child were killed in Australia in 1970. Irma returned home for a few years, but then vanished, with the explanation being she had moved to Wales, and later Canada. Irma was not mentioned at all when Stan died and in later years, Hilda only ever stated she had two children when asked. She had little contact with her family. Trevor eventually married and gave Hilda and Stan a grandson and granddaughter, but was ashamed of the life his parents led and only made the occasional visit.

Actually I would love to uninvent the internet and mobile phones and air travel

I think it depends how you use to technology. If you're a slave to Instagram and spend your life posting selfies, getting obsessed by what other people post and micro analysing what other people are saying, then yes, life probably was simpler in the 80's and 90's.

If you make tech work for you, many things are far simpler. It's so much easier now to get in touch with people and make plans. I remember being at uni and having to queue at a call box to call my parents who may or may not be in. Or walk to my friends flat and knock for them on the off chance they might be home.

It's much easier to stay in touch with friends and family long distance.

Paying for stuff is so much easier. Online banking means you can keep on top of your money - I remember having to phone up to get a balance or find a cash point. And it's much easier to deal with bills online.

It just took much longer to do things.

Looking up information at the library, making notes because you weren't able to borrow reference books and it was against copyright laws to take photocopies of the information.

Going to the shops and ordering out of stock things which would take a week or more to arrive in the shop.

No.

I just remember how you would get to Blockbuster all excited, and then all the good videos would be out on loan.
So disappointing!
Also, cold houses, getting dressed in front of a lethal electric heater, frost on the inside of your bedroom window.
I prefer 2019!

Certainly there was less stuff to mend. My mother had a twin tub washing machine, and cooker and an iron. She had a fridge (but my grandma didn't, and used the garden).

There was one mobile fan heater and coal fires. Electric lights but no lamps. A radio, tv and hifi. That was it.

Oh god yes, the window frost. And no such thing as duvets.

Watching the old Emmerdale I find it kind of hard to believe that I actually lived in those times!
"The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there."

My grandad said it was simpler, and although it was more difficult just to survive in many ways, life was more fun. They were farm labourers who had a very hand-to-mouth existence, but the whole family were incredibly close as worked together each and every day. They appreciated the smallest things and nothing was taken for granted. A pair of new shoes or a bottle of lemonade was very exciting as it was a rare event!

I can remember the 70s, 80s and 90s and decades of no choice - hard to read the books you wanted if you didn't know they existed or they weren't in the bookshop when you went there. I loved Amazon and have had an Amazon account since 1997.

Uni was a time of guessing how much was in your bank account and cashing cheques if you'd run out of money. Queuing for phones. Leaving notes at people's houses. Making arrangements in advance. Remembering phone numbers - I only know my own now. If I didn't phone home my parents had no way of getting hold of me.

The post was more interesting though as it had things that come via social media and email these days - job offers, letters, photos, invitations.

Schooldays were a time of cold buses, phoning home and reversing the charges and being wet and cold with soaking feet for 6 months of the year. I'm sure waterproof clothes existed but I didn't seem to have any.

I'm happy with 2019.

The late 90s were the best
My main issue with 2019 is the incessant peer pressure
Particularly for teens to look a certain way and have a certain quite narrow life
No emphasis on reading now so either
The graduates I deal with really don’t have much history knowledge and seem to struggle with practicalities of life. Mollycoddling and allowing mild anxiety to become a pathology hasnt helped anyone.

Simpler can also be more boring. Travel was far less commonplace back then, leisure opportunities were fewer and household chores more time consuming. When my Mum was a child in the late 50s/early 60s, a Sunday afternoon treat was a drive in the countryside. They would literally get in the car, drive around for a while looking out of the windows and come home.

I grew up in the 1970s and early 80s. First job in mid 80s, in advertising. No email or internet. We faxed or biked proofs over to clients and then phoned them to discuss. Everything was at a slower pace. There was less presenteeism and when I finished work, that was that. Wild nights out are now in my past. No social media to haunt me.

Milk bottles and pop bottles were recycled. Most fruit and veg were loose so a lot less plastic. Less intensive farming and a lot more wildlife and birds than we have now. Not so much antibiotic resistance.
World population considerably lower than today. Strangely, everyone I knew had a chip pan yet nobody was obese. We hadn't yet had Tony Blair's expectation that 50% of DC should go to university, so getting a job after school wasn't seen as a poor choice.

So not all bad.