I have sometimes pondered about how much the time period we were born in has an effect on us, even in ways we may not realize? I bet most people don’t think much about it. When we are born, we don’t choose our gender, type of family, ethnicity, socio-economic background, etc. Some of these circumstances can change later in life, some can’t.
However we can’t change the time period we were born in, and I wonder if it has an effect on us?
Are you content with the time period you were born in, or do you wish you were born earlier or later? I remember watching a video a few years ago, and in the comment section a man or woman mentioned they were born in the 1950s, and because of that they spent their 20’s during the 1970s, which he/she did not like. If I recall they would have preferred to be born in the 70’s so that their 20’s would be spent during the 1990’s.
So what are your views, content with when you entered planet Earth, or maybe opt for another time?
I was born in the late 1980’s, and I guess I’m mostly cool with it. Nothing prior to when I was born, thank God I am not a baby boomer!
I don’t think I would want to have been born in a different decade, except that I would, of course, like to be younger. I was born in the 40s and have lived through some momentous times. I think that my generation had it easier in many ways than more recent generations.
Hehe. I’m in the earliest phalanx of baby boomers and I’m so glad. Wouldn’t have wanted to be born any later and especially not in the 1980’s. I feel like I got to experience a simpler time and then experience the transition into what we have now. I’m very happy with when I was born.
I wouldn’t have minded being born a lot earlier, like around 1900, provided I was in comfortable circumstances and not camped out on the street in some big city. Maybe in an English village.
I would not have been a pioneer in the American West. Way too much hardship. I’d have sat in Philadelphia or somewhere until they invented cars, or at least trains. Crossing the Great Plains in a wagon? No thanks.
I was born in 1945, and I believe any time between then and 1950 would be optimal for me. I experienced the 50s, and spent the 60s in high school and college. My career began in 1970. I wouldn’t say we had it easier than more recent generations, but it sure was interesting.
I wish I had memories of the 60s, just because the Boomers have a done a great job romanticizing the decade (and the music was great). But nah, I’m fine with being born in the '77. Didn’t have to deal with Jim Crow or overt vestiges of Jim Crow. And frankly, I’m glad that I don’t have to deal with the kind of pressures that young people have to deal with now.
Born in 1954 and grew up with a classic “Father Knows Best” or “Leave It to Beaver” sort of family in a neighborhood full of similar aged parents and kids. The best. No way would I want to grow up in the 1980s or later. Divorce rate skyrocketing, single parent households, frequent moving because of or for jobs, helicopter parents, awards for every conceivable “achievement.” And “play dates”? Back when I was growing up we used to call it “going over to Dickies house.”
Nope. We’d all like to be young again, but I think my childhood was damn good.
Mostly I’m fine with when I was born - and it’s kind of pointless to dwell on it, as it’s impossible to change. But there’s one thing I kind of regret about it that might seem a little weird to other people: I’m just young enough to have no memories of 9/11. I know, I know, it sounds terrible when you spell it out like that - at first it seems like a positive. Of course, it was a horrific event, and experiencing it from whatever vantage point must have been terrible. But at the same time, there’s a certain understanding of the world we live in today that I just don’t get. It’ll probably be seen as one of the major events in US history, and . . . I was lying in a crib somewhere, completely unaware.
Oh, and I went through a period when I wanted to live in the 60s because of the music, but looking back, I’m happy I didn’t - never had to deal with institutionalized discrimination, and I can listen to the songs anytime I want.
More than content; for me it was just right. I was born in 1950. The ass-crack of the century. TV was just getting a foothold and everything was affordable. I remember when people dressed up to go downtown. My mother, grandmother, and I even wore white gloves. Then came bobby sox and saddle-shoes. Music was jumping (Elvis, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis.) Not everything was good, though. The Cold War had kids thinking about death, diving under their desks at practice drills and “walking home quickly” wearing dog tags.
In the '60s I was in my teens and it was the Twist, penny loafers, and PLASTIC—Tupperware and hula-hoops. The Beatles. The space program. Motown. The need for Dr. King and Malcolm X. The assassinations of JFK and MLK. Jimi and Janis. More protests…for Civil Rights, Equal Rights, and against the Vietnam war. Going on into
the '70s. Watergate. Secretariat. The moon landing. MAS*H. Pong. Disco.
I remember less about the world after the kids came and more about our universe but in the '80s…Atari, Pro Choice, The X-Files. MTV.
'90s Bill and Monica. The EPA. :rolleyes:
This is too long; you know the rest. But I’ve seen the mood pass from innocent to earnest to cynical to…hopeful? I’m pulling for solar and wind power and hopefully, someday, internationalism. And new colors. I haven’t seen a “new hue” since taupe.
OMG yes. I was born in 1979. I got to experience life without and with all the current technology. I had black & white TV, rotary phones, a typewriter, a cell phone, email…awesome.
My parents are boomers so I got to experience all of rock 'n roll up to 1979 via them, so I’ve got an appreciation for all of it. I’m also proud of my father’s military service in Vietnam and I’m proud that my mom was able to be a working mother.
I don’t think I could have handled life as a teen in today’s digital world. I would have been left out technologically due to my family’s income. I would have regressed more socially thanks to the Internet than I did with BBSes. And having so much news at my disposal probably would have made me more sad and scared. I’m glad I was in college before this all really took off.
Wow you are really young, not more than 15? I feel your point regarding the world prior to 9/11, I feel the same about the Cold War, I know about it, but I never lived it in real life. Heck I was 14 when 9/11 occurred and sometimes I find it hard to believe that it and the subsequent events occurred. Bizarre.
Hmm, well…other than digging the computer era in general, I’ve always thought that I’d be well suited to the 1870s or so, under multiple circumstances. My favorite books growing up were the Little House on the Prairie and Little Women series. I’m mostly an old-fashioned homebody who likes gardening and crafty things. I wouldn’t mind managing my household with a bit of Victorian-style domestic help, however. I’d love to while away more of my non-working hours making botanical sketches or fancy crochet or homeschooling the basics, instead of figuring out a cheaper cellular plan or trying to figure out what the heck my kids’ teachers are assigning for homework that has nothing to do with the textbook they aren’t allowed to bring home regularly. Or helping my husband with his medical practice that he runs from our second parlor in exchange for fresh eggs instead of doing–um, I mean organizing–his CME and helping to figure out the latest Medicare BS. I’d like to host charming musicales–parties where everyone plays their instruments or sings badly but unselfconsciously. Or breaking horses and figuring out whether we should plant corn or wheat next year.
Nema98–I was born in 1978. Other than what I wrote above, if I, instead, had a time machine, I’d love to have spent 1978 or so as a 22 year old. I love disco and I love to dance, and I also love the fashion and tempered joie de vivre of that era.
I’m an optimist so I like to think society is just going to get better and better so if anything I would have liked to be born later when technology will have solved many of the ills of society (yes, I mean essentially like Star Trek). The past is interesting to read about but by and large was awful to live in. The people from then didn’t know any better so to them it was just how life was but from high atop my hill in the 21st century I do so no thanks
1947 Boomer here. I had a good childhood in a lower middle class home, and I believe I benefited from personal interaction rather than the passive modes that substitute for human communication now. I also benefited from having my entertainment provided by me (instead of for me), as in being outdoors whenever possible and being physically active instead of being an online gamer. TV became a big part of my nighttime entertainment in the late 50s, however. As somebody mentioned, it’s been great seeing all the advances in electronics, and I keep up with it pretty much, other than the texting and smart phone culture, as I have no need for either one. An interesting side note (IMO): I think I remember perhaps two obese children in all of my years of primary and secondary schooling. They were outliers rather than the norm, whereas it’s far more common now.
I was born in 1973 which I don’t think isn’t a great time to be born. It is too recent to have experienced the big transformations of the 50’s and 60’s and everything was on a big downhill slide at the time. My early childhood threw me straight into a very bad economy, disco music and the height of the Cold War :eek: The 80’s weren’t a great time to grow up either if you have any class. I like the nostalgia now but there is nothing good about big hair and parachute pants when you live it every day. The cars were laughable in general as well.
The only thing good about being born in 1973 was that I started working right when the internet revolution took off. I work in IT so that was an ideal time career-wise in the mid to late 1990’s up until 2000. I don’t think I will ever be as in demand again even with much more experience. I am firmly in the middle of Generation X and I don’t think we will ever get a catchy name like the Baby Boomers or the Millennials because the media barely acknowledges that we even exist even though many of us are middle aged now. The Boomers have gotten constant coverage since about 1950 and they are bracketed with coverage about the problems the younger Millennials are having but there is very little about us.
Still, I think I was lucky compared to people graduating college today so I don’t mind if the media highlights their structural issues because I believe they are real too. Jobs are harder to get if they exist at all, they require more time and money and it is really difficult to afford a first home especially if you expect to have children before your biological clock runs down.
I think I would have liked to have been born about 1930 oddly enough. I would have gotten to experience the Great Depression, the Golden age of cinema, WWII, the race to space all the way up to modern day technology. That would be an amazing timeline both good and bad.
This would be my answer if I were sure we’d not be radioactive and under water then.
I was born in 1951. Since we didn’t get blown up, it was pretty good. No money worries during most of my childhood not because my parents were rich but because back then most jobs didn’t have the constant threat of unemployment there is now. There was a lot less stress. I got a job right out of grad school, a really good one, without trying very hard. The first ten years of my career when I went home I went home - no home email or remote logins. And whole on-line search and shopping is great, I didn’t miss it much. More time to read.
Plus, I’ll be dead before the planet is wrecked.