It was a glorious time to be alive. The proliferation of tech was nonexistent. We had Usenet which was like forums. People for the most part were working and those who weren't were not enabled to continue being unemployed. No one was offended about every little thing. The president was hosing an intern and football players were killing their ex-wives. There was no "reality" TV but we had plenty of daytime trash shows like Jerry Springer and such. Music was still good although the alternative scene was in its twilight and punk was going commercial. Comparatively, things are cheaper now but they still weren't too bad. People made and lost fortunes on this new internet thing. The cool kids learned how to share music and movies and other files which made Metallica mad. It would take hours to download a CD and even longer to rip a movie. Celebrities weren't overtly political, Hollywood didn't shit out remakes every three years and prime time television was still family friendly. TV Networks made their Identity off it, the bigggest being ABC and their "TGIF" block of programming. There was still modesty; to most in my social circle, sex was a big deal. We all wanted it, we all talked like we did but no one was getting much. The girls who gave it away you didn't want to be associated with and the ones who you did want to be around weren't putting out. I remember my first time at 13 with an older HS girl. She was of questionable repute and not one of the "it" girls but it was a huge deal because I had gotten what no one else had.
Drugs were awesome. The pot wasn't as strong so you could get the full experience and not just be uselessly stoned. Coke was king and heroin wouldn't kill you as fast as it does today. MDMA was new and scared a lot of us from horror stories we heard. Regardless, we rolled. Prescription Opiates weren't nearly a problem like they are today and methamphetamine was for bikers and truck drivers. If we wanted up, we took bennies. Quaaludes were gold and I miss them.
I didn't have time to think about CTB I was too busy living the best years of my life. I watched a lot of friends die; car crashes, overdoses, murders and suicides but it was just part of life. We had a guy CTB by fire at our HS before classes started and we continued like it was any other day. The things I did and saw have came back to haunt me in later years. I have permanent damage from my years of "clean living". I was stabbed, my body is beaten and broken, I took every substance known to man and suffered through withdrawal, legal consequences, heartbreak and soul shredding sorrow.
I had all of the freedom and none of the responsibilities. That freedom allowed me to distract from what I didn't know was Borderline Personality. I moved between social groups and experienced so much in just a few short years.
Everyone was so much more accepting; I would spend one night in the ghetto and the next with skinheads. All anyone wanted was to have a good time. The cops were different. They didn't break your balls about everything but if you smarted off, they'd tune you up and you were better for it. I don't recall anyone ever being sectioned. Mental health was nonexistent. People just dealt with their shit and relied on their friends to get them through the hard times.
We all knew about problems in the world but they were the world's problems. The US would lob a few missiles into the desert and that would calm things down. There were dictators but they kept the lids on their sewers so no one cared. That all came crashing down on Sept. 11. The world just got more evil after that. Our freedoms were taken by politicians, people chose sides and looked for any way to zap the others. It was now right against left. Black against white, male against female and all the infighting amongst the subgroups. Everyone was given an audience, everyone was validated and used against others. Like the cops who smacked you around for being a dumbass, Gone was common sense.
it was a great time and I miss it
