What was daily life like in the 80s/90s/00s?

[perthblue]

Hey Bigfooty,

I am trying to get a rough idea of daily life as an adult in the 80s/90s/00s.
Today I woke up, went gym, had breakfast, and have been watching YouTube videos for the past half hour. Now I'm posting online.
I am wondering, what would I, as a 30-something year old, be doing on a Saturday if this was 1994 or something?

I was born in 1991, so I have fond memories of the late 90s, but my most distinct memories are from the 00s, and I was a kid, so it was mainly just school and mucking around with friends.

I just want to know what your average daily life was like? What your Saturdays were like?
I don't really care that a pint was cheaper or that there was less security at the airport. I want the boring stuff.

 

[VicPark Bitter]

Saturday morning 1994 id be lying on the couch hungover skimming through a 3 hour vhs tape of friday nights Rage.

 

[Kram]

The video shop was a big thing.

 

[Cuzz09]

Blockbuster video on a Fri night to get a 3 day hire or couple of overnights etc

Going to the city was a big trip on the train which included pre planning meeting spots etc and coins for a phone box.

$20-$50 could get a whole day though I reckon as a teenager in the 90s

I remember summers were hot watching Australian open and ODIs laying on the floor melting bored. Doesnt feel as hot anymore imo or used to it and doesn't bother me too much prob coz I work arvo and go from cool house to cool work.





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[Kram]

Oh yeah in the 90's a lot of people (and school!) still didn't even have basic exaporative cooling let alone alone a proper refrigerated system which was rare.

 

[Cuzz09]

We had 1 giant wall one in the loungreoom but it was carpeted and facing the West and the end of the day was scorching. My room was east and would be boiling in the morning I'd wake up drenched lol but would cool off slightly as the day went on

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[Spirit Level]

5 weekly xbox games for $10

Those were the days

 

[PT Bar None]

1993 was the first year I lived somewhere with an air conditioner.

1994 was the first year I lived somewhere with a working air conditioner. Ah, share houses.

Saturday mornings were always a little slow as would have been out until the AMs on the tiles, unless I was playing footy.

It's hard to compare 1993 to 2023 because it's more that I was 30 years younger than it is being 30 years ago, if that makes sense. I do things at 50 that I'd never do as 20, and things I did at 20 that I'd never do at 50. But it has little to do with beer costing a crap load more than $1.05 for a pot of Carlton and Blockbuster going broke.

So much sport and activity in the 90's. Probably as much if not more accessible now, just that I'm too broken down and decrepit to take advantage.

Playing home video games in 1991 was harder. No save games on the NES. I remember leaving it powered up all weekend as me and a mate played through SMB3.

More boring stuff. Manual ticket checkers, "unmanned" stations and those scratchy met cards. That was the gear, didn't pay for a ticket into the city for 3 years early 90's, and a good success rate not paying on the way home by waving an unscratched scratchy.

Before 1992, "deader than Melbourne on a Sunday" was a well deserved idiom. Everything shut pretty much. I 'member going to meat a bloke at Elizabeth St Maccas, drove in and had my pick of parking spots on Collins St. No casino, no Docklands, little Southbank. Spencer St station was underground and a shithole.

Many more pubs used to do gentleman's lunches and afternoons, mid week. Pretty common in Adelaide through to the early 00's. Lots more dingy pubs. Hard to find a pub with proper dinge these days.

 

[Cuzz09]

I remember having showers at Spencer St station after getting the bus all night at some place where it was like $2 for everything. Towel, soap, shower use etc separate cubicle thing.

in the actual Spencer St underground toilets/lockers was all those blue druggy lights everywhere and you'd be watching your back.

Anywhere on a Sunday was dead really.

Our local mall here was shut and we'd practice driving in there

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[Cuzz09]

Pizza hut dine in was a big night out

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[Cuzz09]

and Sizzler

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[VicPark Bitter]

rang the MCG on a rotary dial phone (via the operator) during a Collingwood vs Essendon game (either 1991 or 92) to ask if the game was being broadcast on radio into Alice Springs.
was transferred to the media centre where some bloke gave me a running commentary of the match over the phone while someone went to find out.

 

[Cuzz09]

rang the MCG on a rotary dial phone (via the operator) during a Collingwood vs Essendon game (either 1991 or 92) to ask if the game was being broadcast on radio into Alice Springs.
was transferred to the media centre where some bloke gave me a running commentary of the match over the phone while someone went to find out.

That's brilliant.

I can remember in 1992 there was only 1 spot in the back garden where my dads old wireless would pick up abc from melb.

I can remember the only way I could find out the Eagles score from Princes Park when we played Carlton was via "around the ground" updates and had to listen to other random games waiting.

Was actually way more nervey than watching


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[Gough]

Change from a fiver for 25 cigs.

 

[Kram]

Cars were way, way more unreliable.

Today even ones like 10+ years old often still run flawlessly.

 

[Lets Roar like '44]

It was simple, easy and we took nothing for granted. We lived life as it was.

 

[VicPark Bitter]

That's brilliant.

I can remember in 1992 there was only 1 spot in the back garden where my dads old wireless would pick up abc from melb.

I can remember the only way I could find out the Eagles score from Princes Park when we played Carlton was via "around the ground" updates and had to listen to other random games waiting.

Was actually way more nervey than watching


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listening on the radio is definitely more stressful then watching on TV.

being at the footy and having updates from the other games added to the drama of the day. now you can be watching 9 games at the same time these days.

 

[Cuzz09]

Yeah and those things in the record

A Hawthorn v D Melbourne
G Richmond v K Footscray

etc

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[VicPark Bitter]

Change from a fiver for 25 cigs.

as a 1980s teenager we thought it was outrageous that anyone would buy smokes if the price hit $2

 

[ioppolo]

People seemed to socialise more from what I'm told. In person that is.

 

[Cuzz09]

A HUGE bag of mixed lollies at our local deli was $1.

Now there are hardly any deli's and a bag of mixed lollies is close to $5 for half the amount

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[Gough]

Gay was still a joke in the second half of the 00s. Transphobia was still big. Sam Newman still had a TV show.

Should have been around in the 80s, gay meant to most people AIDS then.

 

[Cuzz09]

Yeah if you watch 90s sitcoms they tiptoe around gay issues.

Seinfeld probably made big leaps with "Not that there's anything wrong with that!" catchphrase

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[Cuzz09]

even Friends if someone says eg "you went out with a man?" they are taken back and aggressive "NO!"

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[Channels]

Pre 00’s:

No responsible service of alcohol rules and cheap drinks at bars - plenty of $1 shooter or cheap beer promos, and even all you can drink packages at some places.

Saturday and sunday mornings watching Rage and/or Recovery.

No internet, 4 tv stations, channels 2, 7, 9 and 10. Wanted to watch something different, Blockbuster or Video EZY were your only options. And most houses didn’t have a VCR until the mid-80’s.

Music was expensive, $30 for an album.

Actually, everything except booze and petrol was expensive. TVs, cars, sports equipment was expensive.

No email so work had a mailroom, need to send a form to another department, into the internal mail envelope.