Today I received an email. Basically, it said, when we were little our parents said, "When i was your age, we walked to school up hill both ways." And how when we got to their age and had kids of their own, they wouldn't say stuff like that, no matter how easy or how hard life was now.

Well this email got me to think. Things really have changed since I was born. Everything actually. From how we communicate with one another, to how we read our newspaper... everything has changed. The only thing preventing it to fully change, is those people in the world that are stubborn and refuse to change. But even they can't hold everything off from changing.

I was born in 1982. So i was a child of the 80s & 90s. I'm sure you've all read the "you were in a child in the 80's if..." rants... I know I have read several. I'm not going to bore you to death with facts from there, however I am going to bore you to death with some facts of life (lol yes it was an intential pun).

Life as we knew it in the 80s:

• Start of the Computer Age - 8 bit computers sold for about $849 US
• Post-It Notes introduced
• Start of Cellular phones, gaming systems etc
• Movie Stars that got their starts: Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds, Harrison Ford, Michael J Fox, Eddie Murphy, Tom Cruise, Arnie Schwarzenegger.
• Popular Bands of the 80s: Olivia Newton John, Police, Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, Culture Club, Bruce Springsteen, Queen, Abba, U2. MJ Relases his "Thriller" Album
• Tv shows: 80s was an important TV starting point for a lot of stars careers. Tvshows that started were: Married with Children, Baywatch, Dallas, Matlock, MacGyver, Cheers, Growing Pains, Taxi, Happy Days, Cosby Show, Dukes of Hazzard, Knight Rider and the list goes on and on. Golden girls, The Simpsons etc.
• Toys: Board Games like Connect 4, Trivial Pursuit. Consoles -Nintendo

Hrm.... come to think of it, the 80s weren't really that bad!!!

Life in the 90s:

Life in the 80s was different, laid back you could say. Welcome to the 90s. Start of wonderful things as stores being open 24/7, start of stores being open major holidays (christmas, new years etc).

Toys: Beanie Babies, Nintendo GameBoy, Rollerblades, Pogs, Sega Gensis, SNES

Music: Ahhh the wonders of Boy Bands. NKTOB, NSYNC, BSB, 98 degrees, All 4One, Spice Girls, Britney you gotta love the 90s. It was mainly pop. C+C Music Factory, Hammertime, Fresh Prince. Yes it really was a world of marketed music.

Clothes/MakeUp/Hair: OMG... everyone had to have a pacifier as an accessory. I am guilty of this one myself. Crop tops, Goth Makeup, "Updo"s for special occasions...

Y2k - Now:

As we close on to another decade, I can't help but think... Sure I was a privilaged child, who didn't have to walk up hill both ways, and who grew up with most of the the modern technology we have today. I guess I call myself a child of technology. I grew up with cable TV, with gaming consoles etc. But when I really think about it... I didn't have a lot of what was available either. I have only had the internet for about 12 years. It was available when I was younger, but we couldn't afford it. And it wasn't high speed. YAY fo dialup. Free Dialup no less.

Overall I guess my point is, all this... the kids now a days, seem to take for granted. Everyone pratically has a cell phone, internet, computer etc. But they don't realize what it would be like if tomorrow they woke up and POOF. If it was all gone, could they survive? Could any of us?

I know personally for me, I can be honest here, and say that I couldn't. To think to have to write letters via snail mail... and have to pick up the phone to talk ot someone vs msn or text msgs. I really don't think I could do it.

So why? Why do we take all this for granted? It's simple. It has been slowly migrated into our lives. The TV didn't babysit me 24/7 like it does the kids of today, but that's not their fault. It's not even their parents fault. Everything now a days is rush rush rush. Stores open 24/7, and not just for Xmas Time. All the time. If I had a kid, as much as I would like to say I wouldn't put them in front of the TV, I have to say at some point, I'd get frustrated and tired and go "plunk" watch TV.

The part I find most interesting about this blog, is that 20 years from now, I could probably type the same thing into a blog and it would be no different. In the year 2000 we were supposed to have cars like the jetsons, that fly around. The fact is simple, as good as technology is it's not THAT good. If it was, why do people still die of things like Cancer, Diabetes, Heart Disease etc.

If technology and education really have improved significantly over the past 30 or so years, why does it seem our youth are growing up faster? Our elder are dying younger, and the rest of us "adults" can't seem to find our way in this world yet.

Why can't I go back to the 80s or 90s when life seemed so much easier. I often wonder, if I enjoyed those decades and their simplistic measures, I bet I would have enjoyed the 50s and 60s more. Oh wait, I can't go back because I am an adult, I have migrated with today's technology, and I'd be lost. Oh right. I already am.