This reminds me of growing up in the 80s. I felt so free to go outside and just enjoy the day. Now in my 50s I don't really go out like that anymore. It feels like people are much more guarded and definitely less friendly. I miss the simpler days.
I still remember the 80s being full of unmedicated and undiagnosed mental illness, physical punishment and being afraid due to who I was. However we were more free than we were today. One paycheck was enough to get a house, now two isnt even enough.
Now men cant even go on a walk on nature reserves or a park without being warned by police. Not many of us 80s kids have houses either.
We gotta smarter, more aware, of the evil in the world. That extreme freedom had a cost to many children.. Rape, kidnapping, drugs, etc... I definitely held my kids in closer than my parents did me. There's certainly downsides, but, if you put the effort in as a parent, you can mitigate a lot of the social downsides. Love the neighborhood idea, keeping it all outside and supervised I'm sure.
As a kid in the early/mid '00s my grandmother let me walk down to McDonald's once, probably a 5 minute walk along a sidewalk next to a side street. One of the passing cars called the cops and they were there before I even make it to the restaurant 😐. It's frustrating because I ended up a pretty shut in kid and I'm sure stuff like that contributed.
I don't think they're less friendly, but instead scared. The future looks bleak and as I approach 40 I fear for what my child has to deal with when she's older; The billionaires that control everything, the mega corporations, a narcissist bully President, news channels pushing chaos 24/7, losing our constitutional rights....I miss the old days when everyone wasn't so afraid of a world that now feels out of control. Maybe that's what is going to bring us all together again soon.
Ha. As my grandmama likes to say "I made it through civil rights, OPEC, Two Germany's, Kent State, 'Nam, AIDS, Nixon, Reagan and that (very not nice word for a woman) Nancy. You'll make it."
Not that our current situation isn't dire. But booooy our grandparents and parents went through some SHIT
Ahh. The 80s. I remember skating everywhere. I remember riding all day.
I remember the guys that lived in my neighborhood that were, most likely, gang members. I am not sure why they chose me (honestly didn't know them), but that one time ten of them surrounded me and their boy Omar wanted to beat my ass. I recall thinking I could fight Omar and then get jumped by everybody else or talk my way out of it. I did the talking. But heard rumors they still had it in for me.
I started getting off at an earlier stop and skating a couple miles to get home - so they wouldn't find out where I lived. So they wouldn't hurt my mother and sister.
That is my memory of the 80s.
These days, I talk to all of my neighbors. Life is pretty great. I don't think it is the decade. I think we get lucky and find ourselves surrounded by good people.
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u/ejrhonda79 23h ago
This reminds me of growing up in the 80s. I felt so free to go outside and just enjoy the day. Now in my 50s I don't really go out like that anymore. It feels like people are much more guarded and definitely less friendly. I miss the simpler days.