Imagine waking up in the 80s

Hey everyone imagine you woke up in 1986 in summer. You wake up and a nice relaxing 80s song is playing through your Sony radio cassette player. The beautiful yellow sun has filled the room. And you wake realising you live in the 80s a golden age for western civilization you realise that all the crazy stuff happening in 2025 was all a big crazy dream. So you wake up joyful ready to go for a walk. You leave your apartment and walk down the stairs which are clean and fresh smelling. Out on the street there are children playing with a ball. There is 2 men standing on a street corner smoking reefer. And a couple sit on a bench and talk. Interestingly every one looks very healthy and fit. There isn't an obese person or a drug addict in sight. The roads are newly paved and well maintained. Tower blocks built in the 60s and 70s litter the skyline. Pubs are busy and crowded and people are socialising and smiling. You walk down the street and a young man greets you and asks how you are? It's a lovely day! You wonder if you are dreaming as everything seems so alien.

Parents
  • There is 2 men standing on a street corner smoking reefer

    I'm pretty sure that was illegal back in '86 - I certainly didn't see much of it back then and I was at uni so it would be the place to find them.

    Tower blocks built in the 60s and 70s litter the skyline.

    They may look nice but they were aweful to live in. My best friend lived on the 14th floor of a block of flats and vandals were always breaking the lift so getting to his flat was aweful when you were doing the shopping.

    Pubs are busy and crowded and people are socialising and smiling.

    Pubs were in a permanent fog from smokers. Utterly disgusting and it stopped me from going to them.

    You walk down the street and a young man greets you and asks how you are? It's a lovely day!

    In South London that would probably get you beaten up. This was only 5 years after the Brixton race riots and it took a lot longer for those scars to heal.

    Also no mobile phones so you can't find people so easily if it wasn't meticulously planned in advance. 

    No contactless card payments so everything had to be by cash.

    No internet so working out where to go or what to do was a big unknown.

    Terrible rail services, smoking on busses and many trains, smoking in restaurants, very little on TV (just 4 or 5 channels) and this was just half way through the Conservative party reign.

    etc etc.

    It was far from a utopia but I do have fond memories of it from some aspects but without the rose coloured classes.

  • Don't forget going for a MaccyD's was an experience as they were new! Food was terrible back then.

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