I am never one to live in the past, but dang it, I miss the 80’s. It was the last era before technology took over.
When front porches still existed and we played in the streets until the street lights came on. Kick ball on the 4 corners and street hockey between houses. The days when my mom would whistle really loudly out the front door when she wanted us to come home for dinner…and we would come running home.
We didn’t have to worry about being outside – our parents MADE us go play outside. We rode our bikes everywhere our little minds could imagine. We used to walk to the corner store with a note from my dad saying it was “OK to buy cigarettes for him” (mind you, I was like 8 years old) and the store clerk thought nothing about it. We got to buy juju fish and Big League Chew with the change. That was our reward.
We rode bikes with no helmets and built ramps and fell a lot. Somehow we survived. The neighborhood kids all hung out together a lot. There were block parties and the neighbors all had each other’s backs.
No phones. No video games. Just kids being kids.
No one gave us a ride to school. We walked everywhere we wanted to go, no matter how far the distance or how crappy the weather. We wrote to pen pals and called radio stations to play our favorite songs.
Life was so much simpler. No endless selfies. No social media.
When we were bored, we had to use our imaginations. We entertained ourselves by catching bugs and playing games.
Someone asked me a few days ago – If I had to UN-invent something that we now use every day, what would I choose?
My answer: The smart phone. As much as I use it, I wish it didn’t exist. So when I retire, Im totally getting a flip phone.
#oldschool
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