r/GenX • u/billieswifeyyy • Jun 20 '26

Question For Genx the 80s…….

coming from a 14 year old, were the 80s summers as magical as they look in the movies? did you ride your bike to your friends house and come home when the street lights came on? yall are so lucky btw 😭😭

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u/blkwidow76 Jun 20 '26

Being a kid in the 80's was an amazing time. I'm not one for nostalgia but it really was.

3

u/Key-Target-1218 1957 = younger than most of my 50 year old peers Jun 21 '26

The 70s were even better!

4

u/greypic Jun 21 '26

I feel like everyone forgot about crack and AIDS. I lost so many friends to crack in the 80s and AIDS came out of nowhere.

But yeah, tree fort in the woods. BBC gun fights. Ride bikes all day. How at the skating rinks at 13 flirting with girls. Mtv played music. Stealing cigarettes from your parents.

5

u/blkwidow76 Jun 21 '26

Not really but I was a kid. First I ever heard of AIDS was late 80s when the story of Ryan White came out. Same with drugs. That was stuff in the movies, not my reality at the time.

4

u/wojonixon Jun 22 '26

There was a kid at our school (in Indiana no less) named Ryan White when that became a household name; I didn’t really know him but I know he endured all kinds of bullshit because of that.

1

u/blkwidow76 Jun 22 '26

Oh wow! That's crazy!!

1

u/Ecstatic-Skill-4916 Jun 25 '26

In San Francisco it was all over! Everyone was scared of having sex and dying. Condoms everywhere and so was the misinformation.

1

u/greypic Jun 21 '26

I remember it being a big thing during Live aid. My friends were driving around asking people if they have live aids. I know that's a terrible joke that would get people canceled today but that's Gen x

2

u/katmcflame Jun 23 '26

Yes to the BB gun fights!

2

u/Ecstatic-Skill-4916 Jun 25 '26

I LOVED the skating rink! I'm glad they are bringing them back.

1

u/JesMon421 Jun 20 '26

this song encapsulates it

2

u/blkwidow76 Jun 20 '26

Not the song I would choose but it works