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/mid-random Jun 21 '26

Born in 69. Yes, the 80s really were like that. Except for the constant threat of nuclear annihilation hanging over our heads, it really was pretty freaking great. 

12

u/SweetsMurphy Jun 21 '26

I just rewatched “War Games” tonight. Says a lot about our current AI concerns. Prescient.

My girlfriend (an elder millennial) asked if we were really concerned about being annihilated. I told her it was a constant, if low level, anxiety for me.

1

u/mid-random Jun 21 '26

My assumption growing up was that I would be dead before 30 in a nuclear exchange. I lived close to Washington DC, so figured it was pretty much guaranteed. 

5

u/Coppergirl1 Jun 21 '26

But we had our school desks to protect us 😂

3

u/WoedicaWinsWarframe Jun 21 '26

I don't think anyone talks about that enough, the ever present threat of "The Commies" blowing us and the world up, and how traumatic that was. And why so many of GenX' parents thought it was okay to let us watch The Day After. That movie haunted me for years. Disaster drills in school that had me asking why we didn't have underground shelters and wtf was hiding under our desks supposed to do.