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If you were in your late teens/early 20's now

  • 05-01-2016 03:12PM
    #1
    Mister Vain
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,401 ✭✭✭


    Would you be happier/better off than what you were when you were actually that age? I remember when I first starting drinking and going out to bars and clubs. I absolutely hated it, mainly because smoking was still allowed in those places back then. I remember having to claw my way through a cloud of smoke to reach the bar and the horrible stench off my clothes the following morning. lack of social media and online dating meant there were less options to meet people, (although some may argue it was actually easier back then.)

    Today people live online and are glued to their smartphones. There are obvious downsides to the changes in technology but in saying that, I've met people and done things in the last few years that just wouldn't have been possible pre facebook. I think there is more for young people to do now but I'm not sure if they're better off.


«1

Comments

  • #2
    whiskeyman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,564 ✭✭✭✭whiskeyman


    probably worse off.
    As I was just coming out of college in the crazy boom times, I'd a lot of cash from summer jobs during college and enjoyed it all.
    I was able to job-hop aplenty in my early 20s too.
    Although things are improving, I wouldn't fancy coming out of college or being young in the workforce with little experience these days.


  • #3
    SEPT 23 1989
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 43,038 ✭✭✭✭SEPT 23 1989


    Smokey nightclubs talking face to face with women with no assh0le photo documenting your drunken escapades

    those were the days:(


  • #4
    Captain Flaps
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,839 ✭✭✭Captain Flaps


    I'll be 28 later this month, but I've been a scout leader since I was 18 so I've been exposed to the evolution of the 'culture' of that age bracket since I was that age.

    I am absolutely thrilled to have grown up when I did, though admittedly I'd say older folk saw the whole emo thing the same way we view the hashtag generation now.


  • #5
    Birneybau
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,450 ✭✭✭✭Birneybau


    I'm glad I got through those years with no social media, I can imagine the 'pressures' (obviously as seen from somebody mid-30s) would be crippling in some cases.


  • #6
    CINCLANTFLT
    Closed Accounts Posts: 781 ✭✭✭CINCLANTFLT


    Have you seen what young ones wear today!!! I'd love a go off some of that... All they wore in my day was jeans and a body top... These days it's little bodycon mini dresses and such! The best I can hope for now is to stalk my younger cousin's friends on the Facebook :-(


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  • #7
    the evasion_kid
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,740 ✭✭✭the evasion_kid


    youth is wasted on the young...


  • #8
    Dodge
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,291 ✭✭✭✭Dodge


    Captain Flaps wrote: »
    I'll be 28 later this month, but I've been a scout leader since I was 18 so I've been exposed to the evolution of the 'culture' of that age bracket since I was that age.

    If the bit in bold is true, the last line isn't true


  • #9
    Magico Gonzalez
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,328 ✭✭✭Magico Gonzalez


    Yeah, the whole no job things would be a pain alright. I had my first tastes of freedom and excess in the 90s. It was our generation's equivalent to the 60s. Supposedly the end of politics, democracy had won. It felt like progress and economic growth were eternal. Grunge ended and was replaced by (really really good) pills and rave culture. If you went to college you were pretty much guaranteed a job afterwards.

    The first major jolt to the system was the Internet bubble bursting, then the massive calamity of 9-11 then the various economic crisis that lead us to today. Seems like a hard place to be young to me. The world is a much more tense place, the global economy is spluttering, the EU and free movement is on it's knees.

    I'll take the 90s every time. No amount of shiny phones and mobile internet could change that. Also, if half the idiotic things I did were caught on social media I'd probably have chucked myself off a tall building. There's nothing better than things being in the moment and captured only in the memory of those who were there. I hate the phone cam culture of today, twitter shaming and all that horrible nonsense.


  • #10
    Fleawuss
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,681 ✭✭✭Fleawuss


    CINCLANTFLT wrote: »
    Have you seen what young ones wear today!!! I'd love a go off some of that... All they wore in my day was jeans and a body top... These days it's little bodycon mini dresses and such! The best I can hope for now is to stalk my younger cousin's friends on the Facebook :-(

    I'd guess they have a word for that Admiral.


  • #11
    biko
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 81,060 ✭✭✭✭biko


    I'd do it all over again, with as much added sexy-time as I could muster.


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  • #12
    Mister Vain
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,401 ✭✭✭Mister Vain


    Magico Gonzalez wrote: »
    Yeah, the whole no job things would be a pain alright. I had my first tastes of freedom and excess in the 90s. It was our generation's equivalent to the 60s. Supposedly the end of politics, democracy had won. It felt like progress and economic growth were eternal. Grunge ended and was replaced by (really really good) pills and rave culture. If you went to college you were pretty much guaranteed a job afterwards.

    The first major jolt to the system was the Internet bubble bursting, then the massive calamity of 9-11 then the various economic crisis that lead us to today. Seems like a hard place to be young to me. The world is a much more tense place, the global economy is spluttering, the EU and free movement is on it's knees.

    I'll take the 90s every time. No amount of shiny phones and mobile internet could change that. Also, if half the idiotic things I did were caught on social media I'd probably have chucked myself off a tall building. There's nothing better than things being in the moment and captured only in the memory of those who were there. I hate the phone cam culture of today, twitter shaming and all that horrible nonsense.

    This I would agree with. PC brigades everywhere now too.


  • #13
    eviltwin
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,495 ✭✭✭✭eviltwin


    I'd hate to be coming of age now in the world of social media, excessive political correctness and the situation globally with extremism. I was a teenager in the 90's and life was as crap for us as it is for today's teens in many ways but it was fun. I'm so lucky that I got to make my mistakes away from Facebook and camera phones.


  • #14
    Larry the Logster
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 91 ✭✭Larry the Logster


    Fleawuss wrote: »
    I'd guess they have a word for that Admiral.

    Stalking?


  • #15
    m5ex9oqjawdg2i
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,217 ✭✭✭✭m5ex9oqjawdg2i


    CINCLANTFLT wrote: »
    Have you seen what young ones wear today!!! I'd love a go off some of that... All they wore in my day was jeans and a body top... These days it's little bodycon mini dresses and such! The best I can hope for now is to stalk my younger cousin's friends on the Facebook :-(

    Mother of god... :eek:


  • #16
    One eyed Jack
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,439 ✭✭✭✭One eyed Jack


    Mister Vain wrote: »
    Would you be happier/better off than what you were when you were actually that age? I remember when I first starting drinking and going out to bars and clubs. I absolutely hated it, mainly because smoking was still allowed in those places back then. I remember having to claw my way through a cloud of smoke to reach the bar and the horrible stench off my clothes the following morning. lack of social media and online dating meant there were less options to meet people, (although some may argue it was actually easier back then.)

    Today people live online and are glued to their smartphones. There are obvious downsides to the changes in technology but in saying that, I've met people and done things in the last few years that just wouldn't have been possible pre facebook. I think there is more for young people to do now but I'm not sure if they're better off.


    I wrote this before -

    One eyed Jack wrote: »
    I feel bad for children and young people today because they can't get away with anything without it being recorded and uploaded, shared, and judged for it, a permanent digital reminder of their naivety and occasional stupidity that follows them long into adulthood.


    If I was that age now again, and growing up in the world as it is now, I know I'd be miserable. There's so much pressure on young people nowadays to be somebody else just to fit in. I couldn't be dealing with that even now, never mind when I was a teenager.


  • #17
    Duggy747
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,295 ✭✭✭✭Duggy747


    I'd be paranoid that some gobshíte would upload the stuff we got up to back then.

    Social media wasn't really something that took off here yet where the likes of MySpace reigned supreme in some parts, some people used to think it was pretty odd that others would do such a thing :pac:.

    I do remember becoming friends with a few Irish girls through Faceparty, which was kind of like Bebo before that came about.


  • #18
    Mister Vain
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,401 ✭✭✭Mister Vain


    One eyed Jack wrote: »
    I wrote this before -

    Originally Posted by One eyed Jack viewpost.gif I feel bad for children and young people today because they can't get away with anything without it being recorded and uploaded, shared, and judged for it, a permanent digital reminder of their naivety and occasional stupidity that follows them long into adulthood.


    If I was that age now again, and growing up in the world as it is now, I know I'd be miserable. There's so much pressure on young people nowadays to be somebody else just to fit in. I couldn't be dealing with that even now, never mind when I was a teenager.

    Well said. I feel sorry for the kids who are bullied now too as it doesn't end in the classroom.


  • #19
    _Kaiser_
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 29,965 ✭✭✭✭_Kaiser_


    Born in the mid-70s so had the benefit of the 80s (great movies, music and a more copped-on attitude generally) and the 90s (better economy, job since I finished college - 1 year aside) but without the nonsense of everything being recorded and uploaded somewhere, or the whole cyerbullying thing.

    My little fella is 3 and has already mastered the phone and tablet, but I do worry a bit what things will be like in a few years when he's in "big" school.


  • #20
    harry Bailey esq
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,814 ✭✭✭harry Bailey esq


    Fleawuss wrote: »
    I'd guess they have a word for that Admiral.

    Off topic, but are you old enough to remember the original ads on TV for birdseye fish fingers? Captain Birdseye looking like uncle Albert sailing the high seas on a sailing ship crewed exclusively by little kiddies,and he always had one of the 'crew' bouncing up and down on his lap with him grinning from ear to ear?Never once saw him at the steering wheel,or helm to use a more nautical term.Jesus I always wanted to be one of those kids,but looking back now,it all looked very, very sinister.


  • #21
    the evasion_kid
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,740 ✭✭✭the evasion_kid


    Mister Vain wrote: »
    This I would agree with. PC brigades everywhere now too.

    trying to tell a joke these days is like...

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CVZP3I0U4AAXFjF.jpg


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  • #22
    Captain Flaps
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,839 ✭✭✭Captain Flaps


    Dodge wrote: »
    If the bit in bold is true, the last line isn't true

    Go on?

    You do realise 'scouts' as a broad term covers ages 12 to 21 right?


  • #23
    ArnoldJRimmer
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,533 ✭✭✭ArnoldJRimmer


    Definitely not. I had a hard time in school for many years, but at least I had the sanctuary of home every evening and weekend. The fact that bullying alone can continue on social media now is enough to make me thankful that I'm not currently a teen

    In my later teens and early 20's, I went a bit nuts and at times did some extremely stupid and embarrassing stuff. It was all hilarious at the time, but at least its stayed in the past with no permanent record on the internet.


  • #24
    xzanti
    Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 10,464 Mod ✭✭✭✭xzanti


    I'm so glad I had my 'hay day' before technology took over!!

    I wouldn't change anything about my twenties, they were amazing!! No regrets.


  • #25
    Fleawuss
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,681 ✭✭✭Fleawuss


    Larry the Logster wrote: »
    Stalking?

    I think it begins with P.


  • #26
    brummytom
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,572 ✭✭✭✭brummytom


    I quite like being in my early 20s. I also like lock-ins when we can smoke inside.


  • #27
    desertcircus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,648 ✭✭✭desertcircus


    Mister Vain wrote: »
    This I would agree with. PC brigades everywhere now too.

    Yeah, it was much better when the government was brought to court for criminalising homosexuality and you could be a violent homophobe without fear of backlash. "PC brigades" is shorthand for "people who insist on pointing out I'm being a cock when I act like a cock".


  • #28
    diograis
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 435 ✭✭diograis


    To all the people who say they'd hate to be young because of political correctness and social media:

    Your age is showing.


  • #29
    One eyed Jack
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,439 ✭✭✭✭One eyed Jack


    diograis wrote: »
    To all the people who say they'd hate to be young because of political correctness and social media:

    Your age is showing.


    I'm nearly 40, I have no idea what, or even who my child is talking about any more, and he's only 11 ffs! :pac:

    (It's all Wizz Kalifah and skinny jeans :rolleyes:)


  • #30
    One eyed Jack
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,439 ✭✭✭✭One eyed Jack


    desertcircus wrote: »
    Yeah, it was much better when the government was brought to court for criminalising homosexuality and you could be a violent homophobe without fear of backlash. "PC brigades" is shorthand for "people who insist on pointing out I'm being a cock when I act like a cock".


    I'm not a member of any PC Brigade, but... :D


    Seriously though, nobody was talking about being violent homophobes or any of that nonsense.

    They were talking about identity politics advocates that have disappeared up their own arse and feel a need to make sure everyone is as miserable as they are. Well, they try anyway! Thankfully as I'm now older I'm free to completely ignore them, but I do wonder about their influence on young people, who as I said are under increasing pressure to fit in and conform to certain people's ideas for society.

    It's ironic when you think about it really.


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  • #31
    Magico Gonzalez
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,328 ✭✭✭Magico Gonzalez


    diograis wrote: »
    To all the people who say they'd hate to be young because of political correctness and social media:

    Your age is showing.

    Good !!

    I'm very happy to be 40 and have missed the over exposure era when growing up.


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