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.

Agree MereDinto and then there was obtaining currency. I remember going to Spain when I was 17. You were only allowed to take the equivalent of £30 worth of pesetas out the country and you had to have it stamped in the back of your passport. Getting local currency for anywhere was a complete faff. Now I just go online, order it, and next day my nice postman brings it.

I remember knowing Parmesan cheese only as that vile dried stuff in a shaker that smells like feet. I thought that's what it was.

Back to those days? No ta.

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

So exactly the same as now?

It is nothing near to what it was sarah, don't be disingenuous.

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

Sounds like the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon to me! Much better than being stuck in on social media.

I’m a 90s fan and wish my dcs were growing up then rather than now.

Houses 3x income, only one earner needed, busses were cheap so Asa teen it was cheap to visit friends and go out places together, no embarrassing drunk photos on line, book shops on most high streets, supermarkets you could get round in 20 mins, easy driving test and cheap petrol, cheap food and fuel, council houses for everyone who wanted one, almost no private renting, no uni fees, lower entrance requirements, grants instead of loans, more generous benefits, comfy fashion, higher quality tv, no internet porn, no online bullying, love letters, mix tapes, freedom to roam, spending pocket money in the body shop and Woolworths, pen pals, less inequality.

I’d hate to be a child/teen now.

Simpler but absolutely not better imo. Comparing my 60’s childhood to my DGCs, their lives are far better thank heavens. Better knowledge of healthy diet, developments in medicine, more awareness of what children need to grow up healthier and happier. They aren’t going to get walloped at school for getting something wrong and if they discover they are gay they won’t be faced with a lifetime of having to cover up their sexuality. DD can get more support as a parent than was available to me. My DM worked FT and was responsible for 3 DC and the home with no help from my DF who was a typical 1940s born male who believed kids and home were a women’s job only. My DM was sexually harassed all through her working life. Like most women it was ‘her lot’ as a woman to put up with daily letching, leering and groping.

I missed masses of school as a child due to a health condition that was unknown in the 60s. There was no attempt by my school to help me catch up, no awareness that I was way behind my peers. I was allowed to fall through the net and end up woefully uneducated. DD has the same health condition and got a diagnosis in her early 20s. Her DC will be kept an eye on to see if they are showing any signs of it as they get older and appropriate therapies will be available to make sure they don’t end up with the problems I have.

These are just a few differences. I’d not return to the 60s, 70s or even 80s if you paid me.

God, that night I was so drunk and sick ; ( drinks were spiked) so glad that's not on any Internet forum! ( never lived it down but a lot wasn't my fault) 30 years ago the world was a different place.
There are some upsides to today's world , but lots of down too.
I feel sorry for today's young. So much pressure to be perfect. All your misdemeanours for everyone to see.
Child abuse always went on ( sad to say)
The internet has made that easier to access.
It's all a double edged sword.

Houses 3x income, only one earner needed - House prices are a problem of modern times, agreed. Mind you, there were plenty of repossessions in the early 90s because of the recession which was a pretty shit period.

busses were cheap so Asa teen it was cheap to visit friends and go out places together dunno where you lived, tis true it only cost me 35p to get to town but once an hour and took about a year to get there

no embarrassing drunk photos on line true, tbh though I wish there were more. Not embarrassing drunk ones but photos of me as a youngster and with friends

book shops on most high streets Waterstone's hasn't closed

supermarkets you could get round in 20 mins tesco express?

easy driving test and cheap petrol really?

cheap food and fuel food is cheapwww.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45559594

council houses for everyone who wanted one then as now it depends on where you lived. There were plenty of families spending years in bed and breakfast accommodation in the 80s and 90s, trust me.

almost no private renting not sure about that

no uni fees true but that's because not many actually went to university

lower entrance requirements, grants instead of loans see above

more generous benefits that is not true - no tax credits, for one thing. Single parents - usually mothers - had to rely on income support, child maintenance was taken into account. No minimum wage either. My mum earned £2.50 an hour. Ace.

comfy fashion 90s fashion is back now, amidst a sea of denim

higher quality tv really?

no internet porn plenty of girlie magazines though and "free" tits in the Sun

no online bullying plenty of bullying though, and very little done about it.

love letters, mix tapes that's just that freedom of the end of childhood isn't it, looking at adult life but not there yet

freedom to roam goes dark pretty quickly: sexual assaults, violence, murder

spending pocket money in the body shop and Woolworths, pen pals you can still do those things. Well, not WW admittedly.

Artfully in my experience gender stereotyping is much worse now. I spent the late 90s in a mini skirt and never got cat called bum pinched or criticised in any way.

Now it’s almost impossible for any women to go to a nightclub without being sexually harassed.

Totally agree with Pyotrkrolik.

Add to that bad dentistry, scale and polish didn't exist, so teeth were either pulled out or filled with mercury. I've had a lifetime of suffering with my teeth from bad dentistry.

No awareness of exercise and nutrition. My DC are super fit, into what they eat, do all sorts of exercise etc.

As for education, I too, slipped through the net. There was 39 in my class. No attention was paid to you unless you were in the top 10 or maybe 15. You just muddled along with no help and you were always aware you could be manhandled to the front by the teacher and demeaned in front of everyone for getting it wrong. So you spent your whole time trying to be invisible. Horrible.

Haven't been to a nightclub in a decade so no idea but I was constantly felt up back then.

YY to school, sarcastic, belittling, sometimes racist teachers. Fun times.

I remember a teacher picking up a girl by her collar and ramming her nose hard against the blackboard. Did anything happen about that? No. She just made sure she wasn't caught out by that teacher again. It was quite scary in secondary school.

And let's not go there with how the pervy gym teacher was!

Yeah, I remember being stood in a corner for 2 hours, forbidden from even turning around, being smacked, having chalk and a plastic tray lobbed at my head. This was late 80s.

My great-grandfather tells me that 24/7 news is the thing he most dislikes about modern life.

He feels no better informed, as he always read the newspapers first thing in the morning anyway, but now he has breaking news alerts on his iPad and can check the app anytime. It’s like stream of constant negativity and worry that you can’t really distance yourself from.

Sexual harassment was rife in the 90s. I was constantly felt up in nightclubs and I dreaded walking passed a building site. I was not exactly a supermodel so I'm sure it was like this for a lot of young women.

There is an obvious answer to that, Adriene

Adriad, sorry!

I love getting the newsfeeds! I love that I don't have to drive 3 miles and buy a newspaper to find out what's going on, or wait for the 6 o'lock news.

If something is brewing up, I just go on Twitter and I'm there... informed. If I want time out from constant updates, I just switch it all off

The office was a great time for lecherous men in the 80s and early 90s. I started working in 85 aged 16 and getting groped, chatted up by blokes in their 50s. You were expected to put up with it

I quite like this

Rousette oh god the shit dentistry! I have 6 teeth missing at the back which makes it really hard to eat certain things. All but the front ones that are left have huge amalgam
fillings in. I remember no anaesthetics for fillings and nearly flying out the chair when the drill hit a nerve 😱. Since my oldest DGC had a good look in my mouth and we talked about why they’re like that, she’s made no fuss about teeth brushing. We ate sweets virtually every day as DM believed sugar gave you energy.

Definitely glad we’ve progressed in some areas but the rising suicide rates of young girls is scary as a parent.

I think your experiences probably cloud your view of this.

I left school in the late 90s so by my late teens early twenties things were fast becoming much more modern.

We were poor and didn't have much, but I also had a fairly sheltered life so didn't experience any of the horrible stuff some people have mentioned.

We lived in the city so we're quite well connected. I can just remember how going to the supermarket on a Saturday or going to the high street on the bus felt like great fun back then,

I grew up in the 90’s and early 00’s and I’m so glad that every stupid embarrassing thing I did wasn’t filmed on someone’s iPhone and posted online.

I would say this but I put it all up on live journal anyway :x

well, I grew up in N.Ireland with constant bombings, murders, and terrorist attacks, with soldiers and Saracen tanks on the streets in the 80s. We were on low incomes as there was no investment, few jobs. Paedophile priests, including the one at our school, were allowed a free reign. My mother got paid less than my father for the same work. She also put up with a lot of sexist crap i.e. banter as one of the few women in her workplace. Margaret Thatcher was in charge. There was a MASSIVE recession. And a Cold War. So no, I don't think it is better or 'simpler' now. As we age we get nostalgic. My English grandmother was very nostalgic for the 'simpler' 30's and 40's and 50's despite a entire WAR she lived through, being a factory worker which ruined her health, losing her beloved brother to a prisoner of war camp, and being raped and beaten by her husband which no one said a thing about.