I was born in 1986, which means I was three when it ended. Therefore, I don't remember the 80s. From what I know, historically, it was a good time in which to live.

To those who have lived it, was the 80s truly the blessed time that I imagine it was?

Jeanette Isabelle

Yes, but the ‘50’s were better.

The 70's were better (except for disco and leisure suits). By the 80's, disco was fading, and they hadn't invented rap yet, so those years were pretty good too.

That is what I hear. One of the attributes of the 1980s is that it was a simpler time.

If simpler is indeed an attribute, then I would agree with your statement. I feel so removed from that time that all I can go on is the music, movies, pictures and antiques from that decade.

The only issue that comes to mind is, if I were living in the 1950s, I would want seatbelts.

Jeanette Isabelle

Ouch. That hurt.

In Finland is was a real good time for many, a lot of people had a lot of money. It was the decade of the yuppie.
I was not among them, I was a teenager in the beginning of and in my early 20´s by the end of the decade. I´m born 1966.

But after that came the 90´s and an economical crash but that´s another story.

I've heard that the 70s was an ideal time to be a child. As you pointed out, the 70s was also the era of disco and ugly fashions.

Jeanette Isabelle

You miss the 50s. It may even hurt; you got the chance to live it, whereas I can't even imagine how it was. So, yes, I would glean information from whatever source I could.

When I was a teen, I wanted to learn about what it was like to live in different periods of twentieth-century America. I would listen to the stories adults would tell me. Some times I would even surprise them with what I know.

One time a man said something to this nature, "You wouldn't know about Sky King."

His jaw dropped when I recited everything I read about that radio program, which later became a TV series.

I would talk about what I knew about radio programs such as Tom Mix Ralston Straight Shooters or The Cinnamon Bear. This was before mobile Internet devices that would allow us to look up information on the spot.

Sometimes I would make mistakes. One time, when talking about old computers, I mistakenly called the S-100 bus the T-100. Oops, wrong letter of the alphabet.

Jeanette Isabelle

When I graduated from Tech College in '83, youth unemployment was 24% (+50% in my field), mortgage interest rates were 18-21%, my student loan was a mere 12%. It took me 4 months after graduation to finally get a job and months after that before I could buy my first car. Music was great if you overlook the bubble-gum pop and end of disco. Counter culture was rad and hip, yeah dude! Space shuttles were blowing up, Presidents and Popes were getting shot. People were starting to think about Y2K worries. I got my first bank card and then my first debit card (decades before others claimed to have created them). Internet was taking off (I mean the real internet; WWW which is only part of it came later in '93). Dial-up was king and I connected after midnight to get the cheapest rates. Hey it was 300-1200 baud! I was president of a computer club. My Montreal Expos were forced out of the Pennant and World Series by the powers that be... oh wait that was '94. The greatest CFL Grey Cup EVER was played in '89. Climate change question was "are we going into a new ice age"? But hey climate science is 0/100 in their predictions!

That was January 28, 1986, two days after I was born.

Jeanette Isabelle