It's the 80s and I'm a teenager - is my mother being unreasonable?

[PresidentJoey]

She's just gone mental about the phone bill Apparently I'm not allowed to speak to my best friend on the phone for an hour after school!?? I'm sick of her controlling me!!

@AstonMartini and @HemanOrSheRa, you're absolutely right.... There were a small group of 'the chosen ones', and then the rest of us folks who felt no pressure to be anything than what we were. That was true freedom.

I had to walk to the nearest phone box to phone my best friend after school - the phone box was more than halfway to her house. It was only a seven minute walk to her actual house so it was a fairly non-sensical thing to do but I didn't want to be overheard in the hall.

Oh how I wanted to be American in the 80's. The teenagers were always on the phone to each other in my Judy bloom/ sweet valley high books. AND they had phones in their rooms.... I heard local calls were free!

@PresidentJoey I used bleach on the front bit of my hair, then a red shaders and toners on the back. Even I thought it was horrendous not quite what I was aiming for.

My mum took one look at me and said "egg and tomato".

I thought that shaving the sides off might make me look like Howard Jones, but it didn't.

When I was at uni the whole student accommodation block shared one pay phone downstairs. Always so embarrassing when a fit lad knocked on my door only to say 'your mum's on the phone....' @Carlissa yes! We had one pay phone between eighty flats, each flat with six people in. Used to have to sit on the cold concrete stairwell for ages waiting to make a call with a queue of people listening in. There was a very rich Greek girl who had a mobile phone which was practically unheard of. All filled with envy!

Just wait until fax machines are common place and then you can send rude pictures to your friends as well - or a 1mb modem and you can see every pixel download 1 by 1 - used to love that noise of the modem dialling up 🥰🥰

The secret with shaders and toners was to leave them on for about two hours. It was compulsory to put the whole sachet into your hand and dump it on the crown of your head so that would turn purple or orange but your ends would be barely changed.

@Proudboomer

My dad used to come in to the lounge just as we had got down to the final top ten on Top of the Pops and turn over the channel( by pressing a button on the front of the big square tv). Telling us that as he paid the bill then he get to choose what to watch.

My dad forbade us to watch TOTP. When he came home on Thursday evenings he would check the back of the TV to see if it was warm, if it was we were punished. We had a 'party line' phone line (it sounds fun but wasn't, especially when the person you shared the line with spent a lot of time on the phone so tou couldn't use yours) Does anyone remember Dial-a-disc 😳😂

Oh the nostalgia

Yes dial a disc and speaking clock

You could also dial a n.o. to make the 'phone ring

@Proudboomer and @samthebordercollie Oh no - that's too sad for words. My Dad used to get home from work on Thursdays just in time to watch TOTP with us!

My DP asked me to stop being friends with a girl called Vanessa because when she called she had to reverse the charges because her phone didn't make outgoing calls or something..

You lot are lucky. Didn't get a house phone until 1993! Had to go to the red phone box down the road which was always smashed up and stank of a heady concoction of special brew, stale fags and piss.

My dad has just come in and shouted ‘It’s like the bloody Blackpool illuminations in here!’

My dad used to say this too. I also find it popping into my head when my DD now walks round the house leaving every bloody light on!
My dad also said half the leccy bill was my harder

We definitely were more free. I am happy to have grown up pre social media.

'Are you still on that phone??? Who phoned who??'

@MrsMoastyToasty

But we had important issues to discuss. Like what perfume Simon Le Bon would like us to wear when we meet him one day . Dewberry or White Musk???

So true!

Do the parents not understand there are important issues to discuss? Who's buying the vodka and peach concorde for drinking in the park, and twilight tweezer or sweet sizzle? Honestly I swear they were never young

Have you made sure to leave the lights on, leave a wet towel on your bed and put the empty milk bottle back in the fridge?

My dad put a phone lock on at one point. I found out years later on a telecoms course that it was possible with old-style analogue telephones to replicate pulse dialing by clicking the hooks on the top the same number of times as the digit you wanted to dial. I really could have done with finding that out a couple of decades earlier ...

I used to say goodbye to my friend and then spend all night on the phone to her. Eventually my mum put a phone lock on. Our phone.

Don't blame her At all

You've seen her all day at school, what else do you need to talk about? Also you can't phone until after 6pm, do you think we are made of money? She only lives around the corner why don't you go and see her at her house?

Well I neeeed the phone to tell my mate about Wham being on Saturday Superstore, even though we went into town today. I bought a poster of the fit bloke with the baby from Athena and some kiwi lip balm from body shop.

What do you mean I can’t dry my tights in the tumble dryer? I need to wear them to go out in ten minutes! I’ve already put on my electric blue mascara and frosted pink lippy.

My boyfriend hid the bill from his parents once, it was £272. They went fucking nuts because it got cut off. He got grounded so we had to do all our lustful looks across the music room at band practice/choir for a half term.

I was with you all til I found out you're Durannies - sorry but it's Spandau all the way here.
And my Mum has told me I can't get a 'Spandau say Frankie goes to hell' y shirt Guess I'll stick with 'Choose Life'.....

Brilliant thread. Dad's voice Say good night to your friends, two minutes later shouted get off the phone now!!

It was still more private than today's kids, whose parents check their phone activity put location apps on and are generally far more involved in their teenagers lives