Scenario: You're forced to live either in the 80s or the 90s
 

Imagine you're timewarped to the past and have to live for about 10 years from the year you're dropped on on. That year can either be 1980 or 1990. Which one do you pick?

And no, you can't bring any of your 2017 electronic devices or anything. You gotta adapt and live like people did in the 80s or 90s. Then after the decade is over, you go back to 2017.

And no, don't worry, you won't ever run into your real you. You'll replace him/her, let' say, for argument sake. Don't worry about paradoxes.

Part of me tells me to pick the 80s so I could see certain metal bands live in their prime. Also, if I picked the 90s, it'd mean I'd never know what the 80s were truly like and that would be a missed opportunity. But the 90s mean more to me overall since I was born in in the 90s(1990, in fact). Also, in the 90s I'd have a wide variety of video games to keep myself busy with. Not to mention more Turtles stuff as well!

I suspect, ofc, that answers will vary depending on the country or region people hail from.

90s because I felt the decade was better in terms of animation

90s. I was born in 1986, but that decade means more to me, as I don’t remember the 80s or have much interest in 80s pop culture.

I grew up in the 90s so I picked 80s, just to experience growing up with FW tmnt even though most of my nostalgia is 90s based.

Although if I wasn't born in 1980 in this scenario and had to wait 7 years for tmnt as an adult, I would choose the 90s.

The 80's and 90's are practically the same, people used VHS tapes in both, TV's were the same, there was barely any internet until around 1997 and even then it was slow dial-up modem crap...so barely anyone used the internet regularly until then. There were no real cell phones besides the antenna ones until the first ones hit in the late 90's...so you had to use payphones like in the movies.

Videogames were mostly 2D for most of it, until N64/Playstation 1 hit in in 1995/1996...so you would only get the dawn of 3D graphics.

Cartoons hit big in the 90's, and anime was basically in it's golden age.. Can you believe the original TMNT cartoon and Dragonball were both airing at the same time in U.S. and Japan, and they were both huge hits in both countries? It's hard to believe but Dragonball started in 1986 and the original TMNT cartoon came out in 1987...they literally aired over 10 years till 1995/1996 too when both ended. Isn't it funny the two biggest franchises aired in the west/Japan at the same time, but westerners didn't get Dragonball till later with the dubs?

Popular culture
 

Is this only about popular culture?

No, but you gotta have something to entertain yourself with in your free time, no?

But if you're talking about working... well unemployment rates were much lower in the 80s and 90s. If you went to uni back then you'd be guaranteed a job pretty much. Also housing was cheaper and access to credit was easier as well.

You were also expected to move out at 18, get married at 22, and have two kids and a house by the time you were 30.

In USA maybe. In my country leaving your parents home a 18 was never really something you're expected to do.

I wonder how hard it would be to adapt to 80s and 90s technology if you went back. No internet, no cell phones(well not in the 80s or before the mid-late 90s), etc.

The whole concept of not having a cell phone in your pocket at all times in case of emergency is staggering. I know payphones were everything in the 80's or 90's, but you'd still need coins to use them.

I also can't imagine life without the internet anymore. There is so much information about everything online, about the world in general, what's going on, keeping into contact...that without it you'd just have to watch local news or read newspapers.

Also can you imagine writing hand written letters to people and mailing it instead of sending e-mail? Back then you had to physically write letters to people and wait 2 weeks just to get a response. Now that can all happen in less than 10 minutes if both people are online. Applying for jobs was much harder back then too because of no internet and you'd have to read papers or apply locally.

Well tbh, the whole "I can't leave my home without my cell phone!" thing is mostly a placebo at this point. I mean, if I got shot outside or was run over or something like that... it's not like I'd be able to use my cell phone and call for help myself :lol:.

Apply for jobs was harder... but it was also easier to get one than nowadays. How I wish the unemployment rate in my country was lower than 5% like it was in the 90s at some point :lol:

Obviously people were not mailing each other letters all the time since you had to pay for paper and stamps.

No internet would be hard to get used to at first... but since no one back in those days had it at home either, it's not like you'd need it to keep in touch with people or to carry on your professional life.

Also imagine carrying huge video cameras to film? I watch these old movies where characters take out these huge video cameras on their shoulders, now you can just use phones to film or take pictures.

Can you remember a time where after taking pictures you had to bring them in to a store to develop the film? Like you didn't get your pics instantly like now, you had to bring in the roll of film to a drug store or Walmart and they would develop your pictures for you in week. It's a staggering change in technology, almost unthinkable in the modern year.

Well I never owned a video camera nor did my family. I don't believe most people did either tbh. Those things were quite pricey, and you couldn't just bring it to a live event at an arena or sports stadium.

Well, in the early 2000s places were able to develop your pictures a few hours after you gave it to them. It depended on the camera and type of roll, though. Tbh it made each picture more special and not everyone and their mom was taking duck face selfies everyday.

Well I lived through both already, though a child in the 80s.
I also hate being out without my phone in case of an emergency and I hate when I've moved house and had no internet for a few days...yet I managed okay before I had these things.

Huge camcorders and it still looked like sh**.

When my last phone broke I spent sometime without a cell phone. It wasn't that bad, tbh. Probably because I never text or call anyone. So it really didn't hold me down that much. It would have definitely been a problem if I was job hunting at the time and having to pay attention to my cell phone, but other than that I was mostly annoyed at not being able to check the time anytime I wanted to or being able to play a quick game or browse the internet briefly while waiting in line.

I'd just kill myself.

Sorry, life.

The 80's in a nutshell:

https://www.simplyeighties.com/resou...nd%20phone.jpg

Huge camcorders that you had to lug around just to film, and the only mobile phones were those huge brick antenna phones. How the hell did anyone carry these things around? :lol:

I went through the 90s with no problem so I'd probably be able to do it again.

80's, in a heartbeat. Most of the biggest pop culture properties were born during that era so to see it first hand would be incredible. I was there for the 90s. I don't need to relive it, as great as it was.