Wish I Can Turn Back The Clock

@neildc (17239)
Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
July 19, 2011 10:33am CST
Not that I really want it totally turn it back. But with what is happening around us now, I couldn't help but wish this is the 70's or at least the 80's. It's just too difficult to imagine, at least for me being a father of 6 children, that life now is a lot different from at least 2 decades ago. When prices were low, things like the fuel prices, the grocery items we commonly need at home, fares, etc. Although salary and wages are higher compared to ages ago, our basic consumption were also lower, too much cheaper to live life. Even small things like sugar, milk, paracetamol, and other lots of small things, but means a lot for the family, you couldn't afford to buy, especially in times between paydays. Too sad that we are also loaded with loans, credits, etc. And not to mention, at the end of the month, when it's payday, and all you will receive is not even enough for the house rent, water and electricity bills. Much more when you have telephones and broadband subscription. If you could turn back the time, at which decade will you wish to be in, 70's or 80's or which one? Could you share some good things you had on those decades? ~~ NEILâ„¢~~
9 people like this
27 responses
• United States
19 Jul 11
I often wish, like you, that I was born at least a decade or two earlier. Things change throughout the years and I would have loved to have lived in the 70's, because this was the golden age for disco, and I've always loved that kind of music. In the 70's, Elvis Presley was also alive, and I would have really enjoyed going to one of his concerts. But we shouldn't live in the past, because we'd be very miserable since there is no way to turn back the clock (sometimes I wish I had a time-turner, like Hermione in Harry Potter!). We must look at the good side of things in our own time, and await the future with open arms. ;)
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
19 Jul 11
i should welcome you first on mylot and hopefully you will enjoy the site as we the old timers enjoy for a long time. well, i should agree with you that the 70's is one of the greatest decade in the music industry. if i am not mistaken, those were the days of aerosmith and even the beatles which until this times, their music still rolls and rocks the airwaves. i could also agree with you that we shouldn't live in the past and look at the good side of things of our time. but sometimes we really cannot help but wish this is the past when we are facing the hardship in terms of the economy.
• United States
19 Jul 11
Thank you =) Oh yes, the beatles, aerosmith, many great artists lived at that time! I understand that very well, knowing people who have suffered during this crisis and having had to, myself, spend much less during this period of time. We can still look back at all those great decades with a smile, and profit of what is still left from them, like all that great music!
1 person likes this
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
20 Jul 11
very well said.
@jaiho2009 (39141)
• Philippines
19 Jul 11
hello neil, I want to go back to the year 80's. I was born on 70's,and witness life more in the 80's and i can say that life before is much much easier than now. You are right,the wages now are higher,5 times fold than before,and all necessity prices were higher of 5 times fold as well. I missed the old province of my grandfather,which is now one of the most developed provinces in the North. The river dries,and fruit tress are now gone. The place is dressed differently as it was 20 years ago.
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
19 Jul 11
talking about the province and the rivers sis, you remind me of the river in our province. the last time i saw it, you couldn't imagine how we enjoyed swimming there in the 80's. the river is so dirty and black and full of garbage. if you remember or if you hears about the "pagoda sa wawa" in bulacan?
1 person likes this
@jaiho2009 (39141)
• Philippines
19 Jul 11
dear sids Yes,i am a princess right? a MAHARATI And "Snow White" for Vidhya's sons
@thesids (22180)
• Bhubaneswar, India
19 Jul 11
old province of my grandfather... I told my di that she could be a princess
1 person likes this
@myfb2009 (8296)
• Malaysia
20 Jul 11
In term of the prices of goods and our daily food items had gone high, it is of course life in the 70's is the best. I remembered seeing my parents buying lots of food items with just a $10. For nowadays, we can't buy much things with $10. But, i don't think i have interest to go backward and stay in the 70's. Because i am satisfied and happy with my present life although things are getting expensive. It makes my life more meaningful since i have a supporting hubby and a lovely child by my side.
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
20 Jul 11
i even remember going to the grocery store for a weeks consumption with just a hundred of pesos in hand going back home with two bags of grocery items. these days, one hundred is almost nothing. you need to have at least a thousand before you could fill the fridge with enough food for the week.
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
21 Jul 11
that's another sad news. problem with employees like me is even how you strive more with work, the salary raises not so fast. prices go up so fast following an increase in the prices of fuel, the basic commodities for example, but the salary remains the same. it would be raised eventually but it's hard to cope up.
@myfb2009 (8296)
• Malaysia
21 Jul 11
Yes, the prices of food seems getting very expensive nowadays. That's why, we need to try to earn more, so able to maintain our daily healthy way of eating. I heard the prices of some food in my area is going to hike up again...
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
19 Jul 11
I can understand how you feel right now. Since aged 11 I have been writing in diaries (and still do) and am currently blogging them. I have noticed that, despite relationship problems with guys I was happier in the 80s especially due to the fact there were no demands on me. I lived with my parents, my outgoings were low but money gained from work DEFINITELY lasted longer. In my first major job from 1982 to mid 1988 or so my wages were miniscule BUT I didn't half have a good time. It's not as though I didn't give my Mum any board money..I did and it's something kids today should have to do..too many of them don't pay anything and I think it's wrong, to be honest. If I wanted to save up I did..took me a while and I sacrificed some nights out along the way..but the sense of achievement doing so was immense. You see, everyone else was in the same boat. Not many people had credit cards as they were harder to get in those days. During the 90s and beyond credit was too easy, which is why we're in deep do-do now. It's called living beyond our means. Fortunately, I'm not up to my eyes in debt but I know my husband struggles to get by. It's not easy just having one wage coming in and the soaring bills don't help either. The cost of living is way higher now than in the 70s and 80s. Food is becoming scarce, overfishing is killing our oceans..we're just not looking after the planet and haven't done for quite some time. I don't know what the solution is but whenever I get depressed I remember how it used to be. Such a shame I didn't realise it at the time!
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
20 Jul 11
i totally relate to what you have stated, the first job, credit cards and living beyond our means, soaring bills, etc. if only we can see our future, i guess we are not what we are now.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
20 Jul 11
I have bought stuff on credit in the past but only when I knew I could afford to pay it back. I don't even have a credit card now as they're dangerous things to have when you're skint! Do you know what I mean?
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
21 Jul 11
got it. i too had two credit cards before. but at that time i still had that extra job, very active on mylot and other online earnings while doing this regular job i have now. those days, i can pay the bills easily, but not anymore these days. both cards left me drowned in debts when i lost the extra job and left me with this regular job where i receive a monthly salary which is not even enough to pay our monthly bills.
@thesids (22180)
• Bhubaneswar, India
19 Jul 11
How about late 70s and early 80s? I would go for that time. Wait. I could also opt for the late 80s and early 90s... I have many small phases or patches in life that I would want to relive. Not just about the economy but a part of my life that I am sure will never return back to me...
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
19 Jul 11
could you state a thing or two which you had or had passed and you think will never be back to you?
@krajibg (11922)
• Guwahati, India
19 Jul 11
@thesids, If not the days of the Harappa and Mahenjaro, why not O Time take back to the 70s or 80s? Yes, me too have settle things that now I repent why I did that and why not that. To this Andrew Marvel concludes his poem "To His Coy Mistress" asking this beloved that if they could not stop the time at least with their lovemaking they could make the Sun faster.
1 person likes this
@thesids (22180)
• Bhubaneswar, India
19 Jul 11
@neil: I was a kid those days in the 70s and 80s - enjoying the time with grandaprents, less of studies and all those games that we used to play those days - today's kids do not mostly get to see those games (forget playing them - example - kite flying) In the 80s -90s segment - I was a teenager, in college and those days are always memorable for whatever reasons... arent they? @Rajib Da: Harappa and Mohenjodaro are too old and ancient... and I dont think I would have known about them if it was not the early 80s in my life..
• Philippines
19 Jul 11
hello neildc, If I can turn back time I wanted to go back to those days were we have a family bonding when life is easy for us no hassle, no stress and all I do is to eat,play and study But somehow I enjoyed my life. Maybe I would like to live during 70's where food are doesn't cost too much happy mylotting hugs to Zay and ate Pat
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
19 Jul 11
you are really in to food and eating and food and eating i remember bread (hot pan de sal) in the 70's which only cost 10 centavos if i remember well. i love it too much when i was a kid and i can eat a lot of it at breakfast. so my uncle had a deal with me that he will reward me 5 pesos if i can finish 5 pesos of bread in one sitting. imagine how much was 5 pesos of bread and how big was our pan de sal at that time. and imagine, i ate that all and was so full.
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
19 Jul 11
letran, cheaper education at those days i guess made us more intelligent than the people of today. what i mean here is, more people had been to school, the people of the olden days compared to the people of these later days that because of the getting more and more expensive the education today, we cannot send them all to school to be more educated.
• Philippines
19 Jul 11
Would have been better If I was good enough planning for my future while playing the role of being a kid. I think life was even better and people where more intelligent and educated during those times.
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
20 Jul 11
50s gas was 25cents a gal or if gas wars going on got to 20 cents a gallol movies were 50cents att the time I am thinking there wasnt a war going on only thing is DOnt know if I owuld have married the x but then I would of had my 3 boy 60s was great to gas still wasnt to high married 2nd hubby had 2 kids and life was good even able to buy a brand new car in the 70s lolololol Most music form each decade I can stand
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
21 Jul 11
yup
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
21 Jul 11
gas and other fuel prices never been the same as in the 70's.
@stephcjh (38473)
• United States
20 Jul 11
I wish I could turn it back to the 70's again. My life was alot easier and more enjoyable back then. My dad was still living also.
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
20 Jul 11
just as i mentioned in my previous comments, our lives in the 70's and 80's were much harder compared to our lives today. maybe we wished about going back to those years when we were just kids when we all we do was enjoy what our parents could give and didn't ask for more.
@celticeagle (167071)
• Boise, Idaho
20 Jul 11
I think that most people after they have afew decades under their belt wishes that they could go back to a better time. I am among them. I liked the 60's and 70's. I think every decade has had something positive and good. But those were the best. Young and carefree. I had my daughter in 71 and then had to work and be more responsible.
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
20 Jul 11
i agree, each decade has had something positive and even negative things. really, 70's is also one that has a great impact with my personality.
1 person likes this
@celticeagle (167071)
• Boise, Idaho
20 Jul 11
I was in my teens and enjoying the hippie era.
@ybong007 (6643)
• Philippines
20 Jul 11
Well so far our life when I was growing up was harder compared to what it is now. I recall having to use plastic bag as my bag, its the bag made of nylon but it seems i don't see any of those nowadays. There was a time that me and my sister only has bananas for our viand at school. My mother used to wash clothes for others just to supplement our families incomes, we don't have our own house etc... etc...well that was the 80's for me. I just wished that I should have pursued that engineering degree instead of pursuing another course or that bachelor of laws when I had the time...Life for me now is easier although I have the same sentiments as yours but I can say that my kids are better off compared to when I was growing up.
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
20 Jul 11
i also remember it was a hard life for us when we were in the 70's. i remember going to school with only "lugaw" for breakfast and even soy sauce or used fried cooking oil on rice for lunch. it's even a poorer life for us compared to what i can give my kids now. talking about moms, i can recall how hard it was for my mom in the 80's when she had to sell foods going from house to house (paglalako).
• Philippines
20 Jul 11
I sometimes wish for that. That life is simpler. You don't have to hurry to work and you don't work more than 8 hours a days and spend less time with my son. And you don't work too hard almost every day and get money just to spend for your basic needs. You have more time to enjoy life and the beautiful earth. But this is we are right now, we are in the new era, new generation, we are in the time where everything is almost instant, and you almost pay money for everything.
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
21 Jul 11
and we only have to live by that?
@Bannybanzie (1397)
• Philippines
20 Jul 11
Hi! Yes, life is so hard now. Back then, life was also hard but it is easier to become rich. Like if you finished college and work hard, you'll be surely successful. Now, it seems like no matter how much you try, better life is still hiding. How I hoped my parents back then looked for a better life and studied and worked hard to become a little more comfortable in life. But what can we do? Time passes. And the time that has passed is gone forever. Let's just strive with our lives today and hope that we can survive. Happy day!
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
20 Jul 11
we could not also blame our parents if our grandparents were also unable to send them to college and get better education as what we can achieve now.
• Philippines
22 Jul 11
Well that's what makes me even sadder.. My dad is an intelligent guy and his family has the means to make him study.. his brothers and sisters finished college.. But what can I do? NOthing.. past is past. Let's just move on.
@flapiz (23148)
• United Kingdom
22 Jul 11
Well I don't know what decade it is, but I want to go back to the Spanish regime. Those we see in scenes like "Moments of Love". Where every photo was sepia and women were demure and gentle. I want to experience it for a day. But I don't want to stay in it though.
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
22 Jul 11
i think it happened about 1800's
@flapiz (23148)
• United Kingdom
22 Jul 11
Oh well then I'd love to be in it for a day or two. Hahaha. I love the drama. It's just so beautiful.
1 person likes this
• United States
20 Jul 11
I understand what you mean. I know I wasn't born until the early 90s but I sort of wish I was born in the early 70s or early 80s for that matter. I also sort of wish that it was the late 80s or early 90s. Things were much cheaper than they are now. Here in Maryland, a lot of places were still about $400 or so in the late 90s. Now, it's hard to even find a $600 apartment here.
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
20 Jul 11
oh yes, that's another thing, the house rent that also keeps getting higher each year.
@zandi458 (28102)
• Malaysia
19 Jul 11
I think now is the peak of my life and wouldn't ask for anything more. In the 70s I was still under the sponsorship of my parents struggling hard to get 4+ in every semester just to please my parents. And that obligation of pleasing was like carrying a heavy luggage on my back which did not come easy for me. I got married in the 80s and it was where all hell broke loose. I never expected that marriage life is so challenging but it taught me to be strong and patient. I promised myself I won't surrender until the kids are independent on their own. I survived the domestic battlefields unscathed. Now that the children are on their own I can now breath better air as I don't have to worry about house mortgage, loans etc...I live in a mortgage free house, no more car loan for my old junk and monthly bills and monthly food expenses are paid for by my working boys. All I worry now is I have too much leisure time in hands which make life a little boring. But definitely I won't want to turn back the clock as the past were dented with many unpleasant memories that are not worth rekindling.
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
20 Jul 11
hi zandi. definitely, marriage life is one big challenge for everyone of us. sometimes, i thought i could escape or retire from it so easily but no. i wish otherwise the time could be fast-forwarded to where you are now, where the kids depend no more to the parents.
@sid556 (30960)
• United States
20 Jul 11
Hi Neildc, Well, I really loved the 70's. I turned 18 and moved out of my parent's home and the war had just ended. Life was exciting and good because now women had more opportunities and no longer were expected to just stay home and have babies. I was young and got a decent job and had no trouble paying my rent and bills. I didn't always have a lot of extra money for things but we got by just fine. The cost of things matched the average wages pretty well, I think. Even the early 80's were not so bad. By then I was a single mom and while I wasn't rich by any means, I don't recall feeling poor either. I had my own place, worked and the bills got paid and we didn't go hungry. I would not want to start a family right now and I really can't put my finger on why. Maybe it's just my age. I'm thinking that if I were young and just starting out, I wonder would it be all that different?
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
20 Jul 11
good to hear that on your side income matches the cost of things thereby cost of living can be said as normal.
• Southend-On-Sea, England
19 Jul 11
Ideally I'd like to go back to the 1950s or 1960s, but out of the two options you give, I'd probably go for the 1970s as far as society in general is concerned, but for my own personal life I'd go back to the 1980s as that was mostly a very good decade for me. I agree with everything you say about prices etc., plus I see a lot of other, what I view to be more negative changes which have taken place in such an insidious fashion that a lot of people haven't noticed it. The other day I was looking at some old Brit sitcoms from the early 1970s and I was appalled at how in comparison, our freedom of speech has been so badly curtailed over the decades since then, and that people have (since) seriously misunderstood the content of and psychology behind those programmes. I could rant on forever about this so will leave it at that for now lol.
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
20 Jul 11
it's not actually that only those decades given are the options, i just gave them as examples. anyway, i see those movies back in the 70's and even older and they seem to be so dull, considering the technology they got compared to the very high technology we have now, with regards to the audio and effects.
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
19 Jul 11
HI NEIL, I really wouldn't want to turn the clock back if i could.I had to struggle in the past, raising 2 boys etc. I have it better now than i ever have had it other than my bad health.Nothing i can do about that. I don't know how u manage w/6 kids. I know it's got to be hard for u.
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
20 Jul 11
it's really hard to have a big family. one ends going to school and the others just starting. one has to stop to give way to the other one. if i can also multiply myself so i can go and do different jobs at the same time. good thing wife has her own little store to help us with small things with our needs.
@krajibg (11922)
• Guwahati, India
19 Jul 11
Hi neildc, Time is a recurrent theme in almost all sonnets of Shakespeare. In the sonnet no 65 (if I am not mistaken) he wishes to hide his Dear Friend W H from the cold hands of Time and Time's jewel would be hidden in the Time's chest. Last year was the worst year for me for I fell seriously ill several times and in the interim period I would remain low and sad. All the events of my past life (However)I am 43 now and would remain so obsessed that new things new faces would sort of scare me. Those gone by days are gone by and we would not get them in the same form as they were when you and I and they would live a carefree life. The Romantic poets in England like Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats etc. often would resort to the medieval period. Nut Time would not wait for you , for me and for any one. So deeply I long for those days.
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
20 Jul 11
sorry that i can't relate to the names you have mentioned and i wish i could. anyway, thank you for sharing this very nice thoughts you have.
@nunezme (43)
20 Jul 11
If only one can have a time machine that can set back the time and can also send us to the future, I would like to choose the 70's and see the future at 2030. The 70's period was a significant decade because we encounter the oil crises, martial law in the Philippines, establishment of the US EPA, the formal birth of environmental ethics, and the discovery made by Prof. Marion Molina of MIT and Prof. Robert Rowland of UC Irvine of the culprit (CFC) "chlorofluorocarbon" as the cause of the thinning of the ozone layer or commonly called the ozone hole. All these sequence of events has lead us to a more complex global phenomenon in which we are now experiencing the "climate Change". We are now talking of a low carbon economy and sustainability and all targets for carbon reduction are at 50% to as much as 80% by 2030. This I would like to see in using the time machine and set it up to 2030 so I can see if the targets set now are indeed correct, in short we can change our destiny just like the movie "Back to the Future". I wish GOD will let me see my children in 2030 living a life the same as in the 1970's.
@neildc (17239)
• Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines
20 Jul 11
the world is getting worse day by day and with the sequence of events you have stated, i am afraid to look at the future to 2030. pretty scary.