Were the 80s really the "good old days"?
Sometimes when reminiscing about the past we do tend to look at things through rose-tinted spectacles. So what was my real experience of the eighties?
During the first half of the 1980s I was still at secondary school. Like many local kids, I used to walk to and from school every day. Sometimes I used to cycle to school, but then you had the worry that some moron would try to vandalise your bike.
I didn't have that worry at primary school during the seventies, probably because it was a catholic school run by Nun's, and nobody would dare to upset the head Sister! But everyone seemed very happy there, and very well disciplined. Sadly, this discipline was lacking at the local comprehensive school.
Computer lessons in the early eighties were only available to around half a dozen kids, and they were learning to program ZX81's! There were no home music keyboards around, which made music lessons extremely boring. The only instrument I learnt to play was the recorder, and no matter how well you played it, it always sounded awful!
However, I did join the Synthesizer Club, and that was pretty fascinating. I can't remember what make of synth's were being used, but there there were only two available. I guess in those days they were incredibly expensive.
Today, virtually every child has an LCD colour TV in their bedroom. In the early eighties, I had one of those 12 inch black and white models with a large tuning knob on the front! It was great fun tuning in to all those channels - all three of them - just like on a radio. Whenever it was foggy outside, you could pick up some filthy French channels - I loved foggy days!
There were no mobile phones, of course, but I did have a Citizens Band (CB) radio. They were great fun as you could speak to people totally free of charge for as long as you wanted! No worrying about call charges. The only downside was that you could only reach people within a ten mile radius! I had a cheap Audioline, but some of the CB geeks had really expensive models that could reach out much further.
In 1985 I actually got a Amstrad colour TV for my bedroom! Channel 4 was just becoming available in our area, too. It was a great TV and lasted for about ten years. I also remember having one of those Amstrad Tower Hi-Fi systems, with a record player on the top and storage space underneath to keep your vinyl.
I think the 80's were exciting times to live in. All of the exciting new technologies were just coming out, and I can remember just feeling really happy most of the time.
Just like today, we ate a lot of junk food such as
sweets, chocolates, fizzy pop and crisps. But the main difference is
that we used to cycle or walk everywhere. The word "diet" just wasn't in
our vocabularies.
High unemployment and the dreaded Youth Training Scheme!
Under the Tories there were plenty of problems to deal with. Just like today, there were periods of high unemployment and recession - and many people had a pretty tough time dealing with this.
Leaving school was pretty difficult for me as I was very unsure about which career path to take, and unemployment figures were over 3 million at the time. The useless career advisors wanted me to become a chef, but that was about the last thing I wanted to become - I hated cooking! They even tried to put me on the blasted Youth Training Scheme (YTS).
If you signed up for the YTS you were expected to pay for all of your own equipment and work for around £25 per week. At the time I just wanted to earn some money to buy a car and so decided to work at a vegetable packhouse instead, where I could earn a pretty decent wage. In fact, with no responsibilities, at 17 years old I ended up with drawers full of unopened pay packets. Yes, you were paid in cash in those days and I really miss those times as you had more control over what you spent. I believe that actually seeing the cash in your hands makes you much more careful about how you spend it.
Of course, these care-free times wouldn't last very long and the 90s were very much different for me. So, for me the 80s were a wonderful time, but had I been the same age during the noughties would I have had the same wonderful experience?
That's a question that I will never be able to answer.
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