Did you prefer and enjoy the 80s or 90s more?
Posted by Ok-Ninja-3039@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 699 comments
Gen Z here with Gen x parents, they said 80s all day, including some 70s. My dad even said “the 90s was nothing” lol . Just wanna see something here.
North-Country-5204@reddit
I was in my teens and 20s in the 80s so…
Ray_The_Engineer@reddit
Gotta go with the '80's, because that was high school and college. It's close though; a lot of cool stuff happened for me in the '90's, between career, meeting my future wife, motorcycles, backpacking, etc.
melnve@reddit
90s - clubbing in London, best times of my life
tampaforfun@reddit
90s because I was growing up with 90210 and Bel Biv Devoe. The 80s I was a young kid but also very cool. I am 50 now and got a little taste of the 70s too.
Ok-Ninja-3039@reddit (OP)
love that song! My dad too, do you also remember 1992 jump jump by Kriss kross?
tampaforfun@reddit
Yeah they were totally crossed out
Unexpected_Cheddar-@reddit
🎵Never trust a big butt and smile🎵
Thin-Solution-1659@reddit
I like this person.
Dapper_Tap_9934@reddit
80s were HS and 90s college-best times ever!!
elgrandragon@reddit
1988-1996 were the best
Mike_R_NYC@reddit
80s were the best because I was young and didn’t have real responsibilities yet.
CaptainMajorMustard@reddit
In the 1990s I turned 16 and got my license. graduated high school, graduated college, went out of the country for the first time, had a serious significant other for the first time, partied like it was 1999 in London on 12/31/99, and so much more. 90s all the way.
slartybartfast6@reddit
The thing about the 80s is the level of freedom from observation, you could just be, without worrying that someone would post something embarrassing somewhere, clubs were for dancing not being seen and the attitudes were different, less selfish.
forkmerunning@reddit
I was supposed to graduate from high school in 1992, but I was already in thr army by then.
The 80s were my fun times
Brilliant-Onion2129@reddit
Yup, for sure!
SnooRevelations3603@reddit
80s
OneCallSystem@reddit
90s all the way.
IcyPuffin@reddit
Irs the 80s and 90s for me. Both were great in thier own way. I look back and miss the 80s more, but looking back tge 90s were pretty good too.
Neat_Ad4712@reddit
The 80s were just fun, bright, optimistic, colorful, very innovative, and you really felt all that compared to the earthier, more analog 70s (which I also loved). Those first home computers, the video arcades, cable TV, all that new music and the videos on MTV, guys were starting to dress better and pay more attention to fashion— things were definitely different. And all the freedoms we had to go anywhere or do anything— that was maybe the best part, it really was free-roaming times for a lot of us in my suburb close to a major West Coast city. Economy was also absolutely booming everywhere in my region, and you saw and felt it in material terms.
Scottybt50@reddit
Both were great in their own way, the last half of the 80s and the first half of the 90s were amazing times to be a teen at university and then young adult living away from home early in my working life.
grunkle_dan78@reddit
im the tail end of genx, and it's the 90's for me. graduated high-school, dropped out of college, and drank like a fish. what I remember was a great time.
Fulghn@reddit
I started high school and graduated college in the 80s. The 90s was working hard, drinking hard, and then working even harder - you can sleep when your dead kid. Good memories in both but the 80s was overall more 'enjoyable'.
ToughCareer4293@reddit
Both decades were equally significant and enjoyable for me.
The 80s showed me there was a bigger world out there; foreign became familiar. We got to hear new genres of music and see new ways of self-expression. The fashion and style of the decade still inform how I dress even now. With the advent of music videos we had visuals of things that seemed fantastical but not improbable. I was all for it since much of my formative years happened during the 80s. I became a teenager in ‘82 and turned 21 in ‘90. I was in the sweet spot.
Now the transition into the 90s was easy as I was still being drawn to whatever was new. I really fell wholeheartedly into the emerging rave scene. I had just as much fun as I did when New Wave changed the music scene. But as an adult in my 20s, I had freedom and independence to do whatever I wanted, when I wanted. In hindsight, I had many experiences that I probably shouldn’t be alive to talk about but I definitely don’t regret any of it.
MienaLovesCats@reddit
90s; I was 15 to 25.
padall@reddit
Hmm, that's hard. I was a kid in the 80s, so from a core nostalgia aspect, that's going to win, but honestly, the 90s were better. The economy was good, crime was down, human rights were valued, and the Internet was in its infancy. Oh, and the fashion was better. Lol
Basically, they were both great for different reasons. I'm going to give the 80s the edge in music, though 😉
Zed64K@reddit
Culturally, the 80s really stood out. Some awesome music. Home computers at the time were a lot of fun. Our parents let us skateboard across town and watch R-rated movies at age 10.
Neat_Ad4712@reddit
Yep, all the R-rated movies on HBO and Showtime we shouldn’t have seen but loved. Pretty wild stuff, too, for the early 80s.
Proper_Buffalo_2923@reddit
70s and 80s.....bar none
kk11235@reddit
80s. For me, it’s not even close.
Neat_Ad4712@reddit
Exactly the same.
Cruise1313@reddit
Same
stargarnet79@reddit
Lmao shenanigans in the 80s impacted the 90s
Fit-Bus2025@reddit
80's were more fun. Even my daughter says it looked like we had akit fun.
Cruise1313@reddit
80’s
Voodoocat-99@reddit
90s!
raikougal@reddit
I prefer the 90s simply because it has a lot of my favorite TV shows. I mean the 80s did too but the latter portion was kinda meh for me. (Born 81.) I liked the 90s because everything seemed to be on such an upswijg and we actually had hope. Also, at least for the first two years of that decade all of my family was alive. I wanna go back there.
ErnestBatchelder@reddit
I think it depends if your teens and young adulthood were better than your actual childhood or vice versa. For me I did a hell of a lot more freely in the late 80s/ early 90s & believe it was one of the last great creative periods for DIY and living without the voluntary self-surveillance, social media, and constant contact that became the norm by the 2000s.
That said, 80s music & 80s fashion. I'd say late 70s to 80s. And, I mean every genre from metal, punk, hip hop, R&B, pop, arena rock all of it. I was meh on grunge and pop in the 90s, punk got poppier, rock ehhh, though some 90s hip hop is great, some female vocalists, but still nothing compared to 80s. 80s fashion had joy in it, even punk, and pushed limits. 90s fashion was just brown lipstick, chokers, sneakers, and weird baggy pants.
hexadecimaldump@reddit
90s by a mile.
Weird_Consequence938@reddit
80s all the way. 90s was just meh. Like I barely remember the 90s and I lived through them.
fanacapoopan@reddit
80s. I was young and had no problems like I do now.
CH47Guy@reddit
80s for sure.
sportsbunny33@reddit
90s hands down
otbnmalta@reddit
80s all day everyday
HolyHandGrenade_92@reddit
genx here. 70s-80s, no question here. the 90s brought mass mediocrity, bad music was called fantastic, bad art was called amazing, and mass weirdness started to become mainstream. and on and on. the 2k's was just a leftover of the 90s, some bad things fell off, other things continued but finally died eventually. thank god. 80s def over the 90s
afterlaura@reddit
Definitely the 90's but also early 2000's
kipy7@reddit
90s were pretty awesome. I was a sheltered 80s kid and it was fun, but the 90s was when I started middle school and really got into pop culture.
TheSwedishEagle@reddit
80s but early 90s was pretty choice, too
hagmech@reddit
I loved the 80s (elder Xr) but the 90s were extraordinary compared to most decades:
Cold War ended: no one today gives a second thought to the ever-present nuclear armageddon that hung over everyone's heads for decades only to end in '91. Just monumental.
Long Boom: the second-longest economic expansion in U.S. history, lasting exactly 120 months (March 1991 to March 2001). It was uniquely defined by surging private sector productivity, low inflation, and historic federal budget surpluses, making it structurally different from other major modern booms.
Balanced Budget: Both parties reached past their entrenched positions to enact an actual budget
Music industry: Flattening of the entire industry, the rise of hundreds of small publishers and 7 nationwide concert/ticket companies fighting ticketmaster meant excellent prices and competition. Also an explosion of genres.
Film: perfect balance of groundbreaking independent cinema, original script-driven adult dramas, and star-powered blockbusters. It also marked a unique visual peak where early digital innovations seamlessly enhanced, rather than replaced, tactile practical effects.
ConsistentTrainer110@reddit
The 90s were shit compared to the 80s, in every possible measure.
hagmech@reddit
Hardly.
Cold War ended: no one today gives a second thought to the ever-present nuclear armageddon that hung over everyone's heads for decades only to end in '91. Just monumental.
Loom Boom: the second-longest economic expansion in U.S. history, lasting exactly 120 months (March 1991 to March 2001). It was uniquely defined by surging private sector productivity, low inflation, and historic federal budget surpluses, making it structurally different from other major modern booms.
Balanced Budget: Both parties reached past their entrenched positions to enact an actual budget
Music industry: Flattening of the entire industry, the rise of hundreds of small publishers and 7 nationwide concert/ticket companies fighting ticketmaster meant excellent prices and competition. Also an explosion of genres.
Film: perfect balance of groundbreaking independent cinema, original script-driven adult dramas, and star-powered blockbusters. It also marked a unique visual peak where early digital innovations seamlessly enhanced, rather than replaced, tactile practical effects.
Open_Confidence_9349@reddit
Personally, I preferred the 2000s. The 70s had good spots, but what I mostly remember is two people who NEVER should have gotten married and feeling like I didn’t fit in with my own family. Much older brother from my mom who I grew up with and from my dad, my siblings were old enough to have children my age.
The 80s, early in the 80s I had a single parent when everyone else’s parents were still married. All of 80s, my mom was working a lot to pay bills in a neighborhood where kids got new cars for their 16th birthday, so I still felt kind of like an outcast.
90s, I was busy working full time and going to college. Yes it took all of the 90s, don’t change your major as a senior.
2000s, finished college, started my career, met and married the nicest guy on the planet - he’s awesome, had a baby, etc. There have been losses that I would love to change, but overall I like my adult life best.
Spiritual-Fruit8348@reddit
Is 85 to 95 an option?
iangeredcharlesvane2@reddit
Depends where you land in Gen X for birth year. I’m towards the end so I don’t remember the 70s, was a kid in the 80s. It was fun, but the 90s were THE SHIT for me, just the perfect decade for my HS/ college years. Being in College and a young adult in the 90s was the best time of my life and I fit perfectly into the grunge scene.
My older brother and sister are ten years older than me so they did HS/college in the 80s, so I know they would say they liked the 80s best. I know they had a lot of fun too!
pantheroux@reddit
I’m xennial so I will say ‘90s as that is the decade where I went from being a child in 1990 to an adult in 1999. It’s the decade where it felt like I was discovering music and fashion for myself, and there were some truly great things.
I will say, there’s lots of ‘80s music I like. The ‘80s was a great time to be a kid with neon, synth pop, and amazing toys/video games.
Minute-Frame-8060@reddit
My life was better in the 90's but after experiencing the 80s, the 90s had no real defining cultural effect on me. Everything was wild in the 80s! So yeah, 80s all the way even though I was sad and broke. That's how boring the 90s were.
r22-d22@reddit
90s hands down. I'm an 80s kid and the 90s was my high school, college and early twenties years. But even when I adjust, I really like 90s culture so much more. I prefer music and movies from the 70s and 90s over the 80s, though the 80s had some great blockbusters from Lucas and Spielberg of course.
Double_Device_1626@reddit
80's. It's hard to put into words.
Amazing_Effective758@reddit
80s
ravenx99@reddit
Graduated in 86, I miss the freedom of highschool, etc. But the 90s were best for me because of my friend group, dating and marrying my wife... married in 93, had a kid in 2000, our friend group drifted apart, responsibilities got real.
I've not had a group of friends like that since. I'm super nostalgic for my teen years, but I miss my 20s the most.
So it really has little to do with the world and more about my life stage. But the roleplaying and board game scene was really growing and that's what my friends and I were into.
gemma-digger@reddit
80’s. No question.
PhotographsWithFilm@reddit
90s for me.
80s was highschool - a total drag. I hated it.
90s defined who I am, the culture and music I enjoy.
toadgoat@reddit
Well said!
toadgoat@reddit
90’s alternative is unparalleled
threemoons_nyc@reddit
80s all the way.
Ok_Responsibility419@reddit
Only good thing about the 90s were the underground raves
NOLALaura@reddit
Everything before 2000
Electric-Sheepskin@reddit
The 1990s. Everything was more hopeful then. Race relations were improving, things were looking up for women, the music scene was great, the decadence of the 80s was over and people were just chill. It was a really great time.
Starfury7-Jaargen@reddit
80s for me but I was born 71.
AshDenver@reddit
1960-2002 is the extent of my happy place.
FloatingOnTitties@reddit
1990’s RULE! Best music & best movies! Even best SNL!
Hopeful_Science2586@reddit
90s, better time in my life, better music, better fashion, better everything
Intrepid-Grade6625@reddit
The music of the decades pretty much says it all. The 80s rock was mostly about good times while the 90s rock was sad and angry.
Glittering_dahlia@reddit
The 90s were the coolest and most romantic time. Great grunge music, roaring Clinton economy, affordable apartments as a young person. Little to no internet. I’ve been recently realizing that that might be the best time of my life.
GroovyGramPam@reddit
I think people enjoyed most any time more than our present state of chaos in the country and world.
KerryBoehm@reddit
Guaranteed in 30 yrs people will yearn for the simple days of the 2020’s
Intrepid-Grade6625@reddit
That won't be good times!
eerae@reddit
It’s hard to choose. Grew up as a kid in the 80s, started high school in early 90s and witnessed the rise of alternative from the beginning, and was in college for the 2nd half…. I will say the 80s felt like the most happy, optimistic time…
Expensive_Yam1684@reddit
Fellow 76er? This sums up my feeling. 80s felt more fun, 90s more serious but may have been my age.
eerae@reddit
‘77. But I was hanging out with a good neighborhood friend who was 1 year older and connected to the new music scene. So we were listening to Jane’s Addiction, Ministry, Alice In Chains, Rage against the machine etc back in 90-91 before everything went mainstream, which was cool. But I love all the 80s music too. I would say I had a pretty happy childhood, at least until junior high. My parents stayed married and we lived in a new subdivision with lots of new parents and other kids my age. Riding bikes, exploring the woods in the back of the sun, building a fort out of stolen construction materials in the woods, running away terrified when the mosquito truck came through. Reagan was the only president I had known for my whole life back then. Lots of great memories back in the 80s…
Intrepid-Grade6625@reddit
I recently reminisced of Reagan's era and found myself on YouTube watching videos of his joke telling. We need that now!
Fit-Yogurtcloset3023@reddit
90’s I was a grungy little teenager. Got to go to AWESOME concerts and experiment drugs, mainly LSD. Awww those were the days 😇
voteblue18@reddit
Me too. 90s was my entire high school and college life. The internet hadn’t yet permeated every part of our lives. My every movement wasn’t tracked by my parents. It was great and I’m grateful I got to live my youth then.
LuckyAd2714@reddit
80s it was the most amazing time / the 90s gave us good hip hop
KindaKrayz222@reddit
The Escape Club 'Wild, Wild West'.
"Sitting in a back room, waiting for the big boom I'm in a bedroom waiting for my baby She's so mean but I don't care I love her eyes and her wild, wild hair Dance to the beat that we love best Heading for the nineties Living in the wild, wild west"
This song summed up the transitioning of the 2 decades along with Jesus Jones's 'Right Here, Right Now'. That entire song. Also the 90's were my college/party years. Not to say 1988 & -89 weren't also crazy.
marspigsmoke@reddit
80s because I had nearly zero responsibilities. I was kicked out of the house all day, every day, in the summer; I could go anywhere on my bike that I could pedal.
wtf_amirite@reddit
90s big time.
Born ‘70, the 90s were my
20s. Epic decade.
Chevymetal1974@reddit
Agreed. What a time to be alive!
Chemical_Author7880@reddit
It’s a draw, both were times of change but in different ways.
To be exacting 82-95.
HenryLoggins@reddit
They both had their best parts…. If I had to pick, I would say between 1985, and 1995. That was pretty RAD
AboveGroundPoolQueen@reddit
80’s
wish4111@reddit
The 80s, hands down.
Glass_Translator9@reddit
Oh wow, 80s all day every day. The 90s weren’t as memorable. The music from the 80s, MTV, the clothes, the hair, the John Hughes movies. I really would love to Time Machine back to it at times.
NotNearlyNormal@reddit
I graduated from high school in 1990 and college in 1994. I found the 80s to be challenging due to family issues and my emerging chronic depression. The 90s were more fun in some ways as a young single independent person but probably more importantly the coming of age and understanding myself and my needs better. I married in at the very end of the 90s and am still happily married 27 years later. 😊
PalatialNutlet@reddit
I was young kid in the 80s and had a very happy childhood - my teens in the 90s were filled with angst and Nirvana (both great)
Malnar_1031@reddit
Late 80s through early 90s. Things were fresh and new and you actually were in awe of things. You talked with friends about ideas and theories, in person which made the exchange more meaningful because you could see their body language and facial expressions. I don't recall people in my circle being close minded or argumentative if they didn't agree, just talked about and dropped it. You didn't have all this information coming at you at a hundred miles an hour. You had time to read, digest, form a thought without many people influencing you. Things were a lot slower. You trusted your sources of information.
Yeah there were problems locally and around the world. But it wasn't as in your face as it is today.
Goldeneagle41@reddit
The 80s. I went to college and started my first job in the 90s. I had to work through college so it wasn’t really fun. I loved my first job but it was high stress and my personal life was kinda a mess which just added to everything.
gravitydefiant@reddit
90s.
But I'm on the younger end of Gen X and remember the 90s (teen and early 20s) better than the 80s, which I might actually have begun in diapers. And obviously I don't remember the 70s at all.
Lthrr9@reddit
80’s!!
journeyingmomma@reddit
I was in college in the early 90s…so fun. I also loved being a teenager in the 80s though!
djdownhill@reddit
80s hands down.
succored_word@reddit
90’s more. 80’s were my awkward years
Livid-Ad-6439@reddit
Both. 80s high school, had an incredible time, 90s married and the best years of my 26 yr marriage. Divorced now :/
PomegranatePlus6526@reddit
I liked both. If I had to pick one though it would be the nineties. The interwebs just came out in 1994. I graduated high school in 1993. Went to college in 1993-97. Graduated with a degree in metallurgy, and started working in IT as a network engineer. Been doing that ever since. Only laid off a couple of times, and always able to find something better. Great music and great concerts. Wasn’t working full time with tons of expectations. Just going to school working part time and hanging out with friends. It was a great time.
Flux_Inverter@reddit
Slight bias with the question. Life is easier before becoming an adult. People will prefer the decade before fully adulting or the early years of adulting when things were simpler. The 1970s were great as a kid. The 1980 were solid too. Anything before the modern internet (1994) was a better life, though the internet did not suck until after 2000. Someone fed the Mogwai after midnight and threw a pool party for Y2K.
KittenGains@reddit
Agree completely
FarMagician8042@reddit
90s. All I did was have sex and make money. The two, however, were not related.
Cute_Conclusion_1355@reddit
Born in late 78 so the 90’s and 2000’s were more my thing.
reachers_toothbrush@reddit
Born early 78 and I agree.
onedollarcereal@reddit
Born late 78 and respectively disagree. 80s seemed brighter and optimistic, as others have said. 90s the gloom and doom really seemed to set in. You can tell from the music. Instead off rebelling it was more withdrawing
reachers_toothbrush@reddit
Gloom and doom was just the early 90's grunge era, the rest of the 90's was hopeful and optimistic
WelshRarebit2025@reddit
I had fun in the 90s because I was in my 20s. But after 2000 things sucked for sure. 70s childhood and 80s teenage years were awesome. I wish I had travelled more then before it got crowded with influencers and social media whores
Unexpected_Cheddar-@reddit
I was 18 in ‘92 and honestly the thing I miss the most about that particular time period was how hopeful everything seemed. The Cold War was done and it really seemed like we were moving forward there for a while? But as much as I enjoyed the 80’s, the early 90’s was definitely my favorite!
ReasonableAttitude22@reddit
70s were still better
fifthdementia@reddit
The 90s. No question. And thank God for Kurt, or we would all be neck deep in Winger albums by bow.
SweetBasil_@reddit
90s. No more Cold War or talks about nukes. Computers getting interesting and sincere optimism about its possibilities. Social media not really a thing. Low cost air travel. Alt music more mainstream. Less sexism than 80s. 90s may have been the pinnacle of human society
Ok-Ninja-3039@reddit (OP)
Do you remember and liked the late 90s into the early 2000s the futuristic, utopian scholastic, pre 9/11 aesthetic and graphics? Whenever I see them I’m obsessed. And I love the eyewitness theme song lol random but as you can tell I was raised right haha
Papaw875@reddit
I would say that the 90’s were the best overall. However, I am loving my later years more and more! Grandkids are the best!
WeberStreetPatrol@reddit
The 90’s were ecstasy.
Wyldfyre1@reddit
Oh 80's for sure 😄
Glum_Manufacturer232@reddit
I had my kids in the 90s so I loved that time. In regards to just me, I loved the 80s the most. 70s were interesting though but I was just a kid.
shuanm@reddit
I graduated in 92. I got my drivers license in 1989. I think the best time of my life was in the 90s. There was a lot of fun in the 80s though.
Noetic_Hat_Trick@reddit
Are you me?
shuanm@reddit
If I am, you're tired.
Nots_a_Banana@reddit
The 80's for me. Really 85 - 95.
GenX-tragicwaver@reddit
Me too - I'm a late Gen Xer who had a pretty great 80s childhood and while the teen years were tough for me, everything was still so much better (music, culture etc) in the late 80s/early 90s than what came afterwards.
AccurateCarry7954@reddit
The 90s. I’m old Gen X. Finished HS and college in the 80s, plus had my early working years then. While I had a ton of fun in the 80s, in the 90s, I was out most nights of the week checking out local - and not so local - live music. It was absolutely fantastic.
Basic_Assumption5311@reddit
90’s!!! But I was 13-23 in that time, so kinda like my golden years 🙌
BarkusSemien@reddit
The 90s were better for me because I was 15 to 25 instead of 5 to 15. But I’ve been watching some old shows and movies and think it would have been really cool to have been in my teens and early twenties in the 80s and 70s too.
Iko87iko@reddit
80s - dead tour was about as much fun as a kid could have
Basic_Assumption5311@reddit
90’s - they were still touring in ‘95 😂
Its_noon_somewhere@reddit
90s because I was only twelve in 1990.
MarcoNemo@reddit
90s, 70s, 80s in that order
chris2555@reddit
90s born in ‘74
cme74@reddit
Both. 90's moreso for the music and I was old enough to live on my own.
I love all music genres, but to this day, I swear, the music from the 90's is timeless.
Long-Trade-9164@reddit
Born in 1970. I will say the 80's were the best for me followed by the 90's. Met my high school sweetheart in 88 and married her in 92. Married 34 years with 6 kids and 2 grandsons!
onedollarcereal@reddit
That is awesome!
Long-Trade-9164@reddit
Thanks! It's certainly been a journey of life's ups and downs but we've still managed to keep things together.
VE2NCG@reddit
Started the 80´s at 13 and finishing it at 23 so… yeah!
dashtophuladancer@reddit
90s all day long. College, freedom, excellent music and fantastic friends 🥰
SuchDogeHodler@reddit
Definitely the 90s
SkittyKitty123@reddit
80s felt more optimistic about the future, we can heal the world, feed the hungry and fix the environment. Technology was going to benefit mankind.
90s was the start of pessimism and advancing technology was considered a great vehicle for money to be made. Music was good however.
Ustob@reddit
80s had better hooks in songs.like addicting chorus.
-I hated early 90’s sappysap like Pearjam.
I returned 99% to Slayer and Metallica during this time. By mid 90s it got better for sure.
Esp once NuMetal and sht like DrowningPool and SOAD,Disturbed.
-I also liked the stuff GIrlfriends listened to
Like Jewel and Fiona.
makeherbeg4it@reddit
80s not even a question.
zedzzzdead@reddit
The 80's was a hellscape of shit music with zero soul and a bunch of coked up lost boomers trying to get rich.
Saint_Body@reddit
BITTER! PARTY OF ONE! YOUR TABLE IS NOW READY! 🤯
zedzzzdead@reddit
Yep... It was a shit show
Saint_Body@reddit
Were you living your own version of Bright Lights, Big City or something??
Because that wasn't my experience at all! Nor a lot of us, as evidenced by the deep love so many Xers have for the time & music.
zedzzzdead@reddit
Good for you lol
Dirty_Wookie1971@reddit
Don’t know how old your parents are but I completely agree. I have very fond memories of the 70’s and into the 80’s. The 90’s I thought were a weird time. I enjoyed the mid to late 90’s but then it got angry, angry music prevailed.
Its_noon_somewhere@reddit
Having been born towards the end of GenX I wasn’t even a teenager until 1991 so my memory of the 80s was as a young kid.
Ustob@reddit
The aggro angry was my fav part of 90s around time I turned 19-22 were very fun years.
You say 70s so I suspect you are older
I’m 1974. So I was 6 going into 1980s.
Explorerofuniverses@reddit
I’d say 80s but 90s weren’t bad
88dixon@reddit
They were more alike than not, once you got below the superficial layer of pop culture and fashion. The economy did well for much of both decades. In neither decade did the Internet dominate daily consciousness... nobody was addicted to screens as we all are today. The culture had absorbed the fact that women and minorities weren't going to be quiet and not fight for their rights...that the old mid-century social order was not coming back, even though there were still battles still to be won (gay marriage, etc etc.). For most people, life really didn't change much with the coming of the 1990s, certainly not in the way that things were rapidly changing with the arrival of the 1970s.
Ustob@reddit
We aren’t addicted to screens.
-my GenX friends are all gamers but every one of loathe the phone and enjoy the time in between.
destiny_kane48@reddit
80's
PairPrestigious7452@reddit
I was a teen in the 80's and in my 20's in the 90's. Very different places in life. I liked them both, for different reasons.
Ustob@reddit
Both were awesome
-90’s cause it was party time for sure.
A lot of aggro,girls and partying.
-80s- Saturday morning cartoons and skating
And also very aggro..
Best part was how gnarly & mischievous we were…
itgoesineasy@reddit
I like both, but being a teenager in the 80’s that watched a LOT of movies, I still lean towards the 80’s. Mostly from a nostalgic perspective I suppose.
RedJive@reddit
80s
Nervous_Survey_7072@reddit
As much as I loved the 80’s, I was in my 20’s during the 90’s so it was a lot more freedom.
charcat1971@reddit
I came here to say the same thing. In 92, I was 21, so the 90’s were my decade.
madlyhattering@reddit
Same.
jthmniljt@reddit
Literally was saying today the 90s. Love the TV shows.
CompanyOther2608@reddit
The 80s were a THING. The 90s were just a hangover from the 80s.
RabbitGullible8722@reddit
1980's seemed more fun. By the 90's I was adulting not as fun.
Beautiful-Event-1213@reddit
The 80s. The music was danceable, and hair and fashion was bangin'.
WalleyeHunter1@reddit
90s.... Y2K was awesome. The sex that happened between Christmas and new years was plentiful and amazing.
SnooChipmunks2079@reddit
I graduated from college in 90. Both decades were good to me in different ways.
If the question is whether I’d rather relive the 80’s or the 90’s, the 90’s and there’s no question.
sedwardcarr@reddit
I turned 21 in 1990. Best decade for me. Lol
kepenach@reddit
80s
Automatic_Antelope92@reddit
The 90’s were better for me personally. A lot of great things happened. University. Partying. World travel. Marrying. Career.
The 80’s were personally terrible for me and I couldn’t wait to see the backside of them. But pop culture and music were a lot of fun. I miss the lighter side and absurd humor.
ComprehensiveEast376@reddit
I LOVED the 80’s because the variety & MTV & malls. It was a happy time ….but my kids were born in the early 90’s and that brought so much light into my life. I was newly married and in Alaska. It was magical. Both decades were good to me
MonicaBWQ@reddit
For me it’s an apples and oranges comparison. In the’80’s I was in HS and college. The’90’s were about building a career and a family. They were both great in their own way.
PatienceandFortitude@reddit
Agree!
DMFD_x_Gamer@reddit
I was born in 1971. By the time I hit the 80s I was an independent latchkey kid. I was riding my bike from town to town like people Uber today. 10-20 miles a day wasnt even thought about. The neighborhood i lived in was full and active. Nobody ever wanted to be indoors. Some of the absolute best memories I have are from the 80s. The 90s for me were the beginning of "adulting". So definitely the 80s 🤘
Beautiful_Bike_1823@reddit
90s > 80s. No contest.
81ehx@reddit
As an 81 baby, in my opinion the 70's and 90's were the hippest trip as far as the decades go.
KAP1975@reddit
I loved the 80’s as a kid and the 90’s as a young adult. The world changed drastically after 2001, and not for the better.
StevieInCali@reddit
Me too I think of life before 2001 and after. Feels like two different worlds.
Historical_Tax6679@reddit
Exactly.
Historical_Tax6679@reddit
The 80s!!! Fun fashions, fun hair, fun music. The 90s got more serious and did not hold my interest.
ljinbs@reddit
I graduated in ‘85 so I have so many sweet memories from that time period. The 90s for me was focusing on work and going to college at night. Meh.
Ok-Commercial-924@reddit
I lost the late 80s and early/mid 90s. I joined the navy went through the nuclear power training course, tons of hours usually >100/week. Then went on submarines with absolute shit captains we worked frequent 120hr weeks. Got out and worked at a seafood plant in alaska minimum was 72 hr weeks bu OT Highly recommend. Averaged ~100/week. Left alaska went to school 7am to 1pm while working at an circuit board factory 6pm to 6 am and I had a 45min commute each way.
So really never had time for anything before the mid 90s, but I did meet the wife while in school, she sat behind me and would wake me up by stabbing me in the butt with her pencil.
budkynd@reddit
Summer of '99
Ok-Ninja-3039@reddit (OP)
That would be my dream to experience, if time travel machines existed!
Junior_Statement_262@reddit
I feel that the 80's were "better," but I had a shit ton of fun in the 90's (turned 21 in '93 and could hit clubs for live music....ahhhhhh so much rad live music))
Apprehensive_Put4319@reddit
Same. Mid-late 90s were a blast after the recession ended in 94. A great time to be alive in America. Way better than now
Wild_Read9062@reddit
90’s.
Reason is you get both. You get all of the 80’s to enjoy, relive, but you also get the cool things of the 90’s.
The 90’s were so damned good, movies and music grew cynical. Like ‘this is too much fun, where’s that dark cloud we need?’
I don’t think I’d have wanted to be in my 20’s in the 80’s, because they have this feeling of being a little too stuck in the past and trying to break away.
In the 90’s, things seemed stable. Living was dirt cheap, and the world felt easy to understand. Tech was present but it was useful and fun. 80’s tech seemed old. 2000’s tech seemed a little too optimistic for my tastes.
I prefer music from the 80’s and very early 90’s than mid to late 90’s, but it was never too far from hand.
Channel_Huge@reddit
The 80’s were amazing. 90’s really sucked. 2000’s were a mess after 9/11 all the way through 24. Now I’m seeing things get back to normal finally. A lot of hate online, but that because of political brainwashing and identity politics…
Redditdotlimo@reddit
Back to normal? Lol
Channel_Huge@reddit
Why is that funny? The inflation rate has leveled off year to year… so that’s a good thing.
Ashur_Bens_Pal@reddit
Normal? 🙄
killslikeaninja@reddit
All of the 80’s were great for me as a kid. I’ll take the second half of the 90’s, once I got a computer and good Internet.
OkConsideration8964@reddit
84-95 is my favorite time period.
buster_de_beer@reddit
The only thing that sucked about the 90s is that the future looked bright, we thought old enemies had made peace. One could argue that made the 90s boring. Give me the 90s over most any decade.
Shar950@reddit
90s.
King_of_all_Clover@reddit
It’s actually 88 to 96 maybe 98. Let’s say 88 to 98 or 86 to 96 is the best decade by far.
Expert-Complex-5618@reddit
'74. i loved the nineties. urban living was cheap and fun. warehouse parties were rad. bands everywhere. hip hop was peaking. maybe I'm a younger gen x but the eighties were always cheesy to me.
VardisFisher@reddit
Warehouse Party? Best this country mouse could conjur were pallet fires in the desert. That sounds pretty rad.
Expert-Complex-5618@reddit
yea warehouse parties in abandoned urban areas, they're all bougie condos and coffee shops now , gross.
xt0rt@reddit
I went to so many less-than-legal warehouse parties in the late 90s. It was a wonderful time!
I drive by the site that was my go-to club around then and it's now mid-rise "luxury" apartments. I think about it and envision my young adulthood everyday. It's sad in a way, but it isgood that it's a much better area now(read: gentrified, but still), but I do miss it, and by "it" I mean my youth.
Expert-Complex-5618@reddit
nice. for sure its missing youth but even when I was young bougie sterile neighborhoods weren't my thing.
mjcostel27@reddit
80s were definitively better.
aka__carl@reddit
90s. Every time I’m at my dentist listening to the 80s hits they pipe into that place, I thank God that the 90s happened.
chloe38@reddit
Born in 71 so I grew up in the 70s 80s. The 70s were pretty awesome as a kid and the 80s was the best time of my life.
MageZero@reddit
\me too. We get senior discounts now.
ProfileTraditional28@reddit
And AARP memberships.
ScreenTricky4257@reddit
80s. The 80s were about optimism, youth, and better living through technology. The 90s were about bitterness, rebellion, and misery.
sir_culo@reddit
The '90s were about the glorification of bitterness, rebellion and misery.
ScreenTricky4257@reddit
Yeah, that's bad. Cynicism too.
Crafty_Praline726@reddit
90's because I was a young adult.
nikkisome@reddit
Both were so unique, it’s hard to compare but I may lean more towards the 90’s
CitizenChatt@reddit
When we get out of the 80s the 90s are going make the 60s look like the 50s
🤣🤣🤣🤣
IntelligentNovel1967@reddit
Happy Cake Day 🎉 underrated comment.
TheFoxsWeddingTarot@reddit
First half of the 80s and the second half of the 90s.
Slow-Objective-7440@reddit
80s
starsnocturnal@reddit
Born in 71. I became an adult in the 90’s and it was the best for me. Music, styles, culture, got my first tattoos, the best hangs with friends. The 80’s were good too, but if I could pick one decade to be in for the rest of my life - the 90’s. No question.
dadsgoingtoprison@reddit
80’s
ShutYourDumbUglyFace@reddit
The 90s. The 80s were spent with Reagan destroying everything. The 90s were irreverent and fun. Clinton was getting BJ's in the oval office. The economy was popping. And it had the best music since the 60s. Also, the movies were baller AF. Especially 1994.
kcsews@reddit
No!
GroovyGmaIvy@reddit
80s… I had my first baby in 93 @ 20yo…so you know what my 90s were like🤣, baby #2 in 1997.
Kodiak01@reddit
75er.
Preferred the 90s by far as I could protect myself much better from the daily beatings that every social "protection" mechanism not only failed to help me out of, but fed me back in for more.
IntelligentNovel1967@reddit
I’m so sorry, that’s bloody dreadful.
Munchkin_Media@reddit
The 90s. I had my daughter. Everything went so well after my life fell apart in the 80s. My boyfriend was killed on a motorcycle amongst other horrible things in the 80s. I cherish the 90s.
Ok-Ninja-3039@reddit (OP)
Oh sorry for your loss 💕
Not_a_fan_of_me@reddit
The 90’s far and away the best decade.
FriendlyAstronomer91@reddit
72 here… loved the 80s way more than 90s, but followed the Grateful Dead from 90-95, so that was fun, last half of the nineties blew
Panini939@reddit
Early 70’s here, so teens were 80’s and my 20’s were the 90’s. Hands down 90’s were the best years. Looking back I still think 90’s styles are beautiful but 80’s are just embarrassing. Music wise the 90’s is my soulmate decade. We’d just moved out and living our best lives before responsibility and bullshit took over. Best decade ever for me.
titotrouble@reddit
It depends on which Gen X birth year you’re talking about. I’m 1973 and loved the 80s but, in all actuality, my true living didn’t start until the early 90s. So I can find love and truth and greatness in both decades but you can’t deny the decade you grow into yourself at about age 23-25.
bamagurl06@reddit
I’m 1967. I say 80s. Being a teenager in the 80s WAS all that.
xt0rt@reddit
Cocaine vs ecstasy. I liked the latter wayyyyy more, but I enjoy both decades equally. I'm a Model 79.
Panini939@reddit
Dang you got got started young on the mountains
Rowan_Productions@reddit
80s for sure. Less distractions (from being an active outdoor kid) and tbh the cold war being active had a huge impact at the time. Somehow it felt more unifying to have a common enemy, even if most of us knew it was propganda BS.
PrickASaurus@reddit
90s…. I was still a young poor student in the 80s.
StrawberryKiss2559@reddit
I hated the 90s lol. Yeah, it’s better than now. But it wasn’t all that cool while we were living through it. It was lame compared to the 70s and 80s.
Horror_Ad3292@reddit
Gen X here, 1973, graduates 1991.
Literally had fun up until graduation, fun music hair bands.
The summer I graduated the music flipped on a dime, and went to college and it was like the world changed, grunge style clothes, hair and music.
basura_trash@reddit
I was a kid in the 80s and a young adult in the 90s, so it's an apples-to-oranges comparison. However, I think I enjoyed being a kid in the 80s more than I think I would have enjoyed being one in the 90s. I believe video games, the internet, and mobile phones took away a lot of what we had in the 80s.
But I don't know. This is all hindsight.
fullthrottle13@reddit
80s for music ..awesome youth experiences. 90s for the college fuck everyone and grunge. Great decades to be alive.
WalnutTree80@reddit
The 80s were awesome. To ME, that was the pinnacle of the Gen X experience.
I started college in 1989 and was working my butt off for the next several years trying to put myself through school, so some of the early 90s are like a blur to me.
Then I got married at 24, then my mom died, and the rest of the 90s felt like a weird mix of grief and budgeting and learning how to run a household.
Out_of_Darkness_mc@reddit
I feel you!! I graduated high school in 1988, at 17!!
Oh the good times I had! I was married by 23 and had a child and back to college at 24.
Loved ALL the music but fun times had ended! I had fun but was adulting with a bad marriage, loss and being broke!
SuzyQ93@reddit
The 80's had personality. The 90's didn't, really.
badhoopty@reddit
born in 73, 90s all the way!
the_natis@reddit
90s were the best. Things felt hopeful, counter culture still existed but didn't feel as taboo or strange as it did earlier.
Leading-Fly-4597@reddit
80s into early 90s, 92/93'
Professional-Bar9947@reddit
90's!! College started in 1990 for me. Great music. Nirvana, Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilot, Pearl Jam.
Ok-Ninja-3039@reddit (OP)
Love 90s rock!
Big_Dog_2974@reddit
90’s
DarkElegant8156@reddit
80's to about 93
97Whaler@reddit
93 is when I met my ex so yes that was the end of it !
DarkElegant8156@reddit
Fair enough!
chillfire12@reddit
80s. I know absolutely nothing about the 90s 🤭
robertwadehall@reddit
‘70, I’m fond of a lot of pop culture of the 80s-90s, in particular ‘84-94..the years I was in high school, college and grad school. Lots of my favorite music, movies and tv shows are from that decade. As far as life experiences, definitely the 90s. I enjoyed college and grad school much more than high school.
HunnyBunny617@reddit
I have to agree with your dad. Late 70’s & 80’s were rockin’.
Agreeable-Damage9119@reddit
The real answer is a cheat: the late 80s & early 90s.
Expert-Complex-5618@reddit
good call. also musically the underground of the late eighties set that stage for the nineties explosion.
Magerimoje@reddit
That's basically my answer.
At the tail end of the 80s the Berlin Wall came down - and what a huge turning point for humanity that felt like and then very early 90s the USSR fell, and the Cold War was over and suddenly we didn't have to worry about being nuked to death anymore.
I was born in 75, and I loved being a kid in the 80s and a young adult in the 90s.
Ok-Staff-62@reddit
Yes, and this is the correct answer. Basically, towards late 90s/early 2000s they started to learn how to make things more efficient, more industrialized. Became less fun.
honey-squirrel@reddit
Everyone experiences life differently. Decades are mostly distinct from one another by fashion, tech, and music trends, which are just surface or background features. As Tolstoy said, "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." I am not a nostalgic person. I also can't point to any period in my life as ideal.
SomeBlueDevil@reddit
80s, hands down. 😎
frog980@reddit
80's up through the mid 90's.
Ryokurin@reddit
For most people it's going to be when they were a teenager, so for me the 90s. Believe me, I had a lot of downs then, especially the early 90s for me but the optimism that everything is going to be OK in the end was what I miss. The way it's been going the last year and a half I just can't see it getting better significantly again until I'm at retirement age.
Pattycakes1966@reddit
80s had the best music
Love_to_Read1234@reddit
Definitely the 80s. 90s were all career focused for me and I hated most of the music.
Saint_Body@reddit
I was listening to the 90's on 9 on SiriusXM today and thought what a huge pile of steaming dog shit 90's music was.
Obviously there were exceptions - STP, Soundgarden, NIN - But for the most part, CackaDoody.
Yearoftheowl@reddit
From mid 80s to mid 90s was probably the most fun I ever had. I was between 13-23 or so. I think it was more about my age and what I was doing at the time, more than what was going on in the culture around me.
0hheyitsme@reddit
The 90s were way better than the 80s, and the 80s were good.
Sudden_Fix_1144@reddit
80s!!!!!!!
90s I was in the army so…. Not really.
Poor-Pitiful-Me@reddit
Your father is correct IMO
mysterioso77@reddit
80’s was awesome. The 90’s is when the music started sucking.
-Lysergian@reddit
90s was when the music started getting good.
shadypines33@reddit
90s. I graduated high school in 1990, and I would do every minute of it over again.
davidcoons@reddit
For me, 80s was middle and high school. Graduated in '89. 90s was when all the real adulting started. We got married in '91, kids in '92, '93, '96, '98 and '00. Career really took off in '99.
Tldr...90s
sandtomyneck@reddit
Loved the 80s absolutely hated the 90s, BUT it is all about my age and the fact that My career started in 1990 so much of my time was being trapped in a cubicle all day in a grey office.
Grunge4U@reddit
I graduated mid 80's, but I prefer the 90's
Revolutionary_Bee700@reddit
90’s. I feel like that’s when my life started.
sidfinch@reddit
Pfft 90s were awesome.
Signed,
Gen X
Myfanwy66@reddit
80s. I graduated high school in 85. It doesn’t get more perfect than that.
small-gestures@reddit
Your dad is right - the 90s were the aging 80s.
thestatedrone@reddit
I don't want to sound maudlin. But the late 70s, and the 80s. It was for me, a happier time (dad had passed in 73) and I grew up with just my mom and my siblings. Mom got sick and died in 87. I jad just turned 17 and my whole world changed in an instant
Extension-Rabbit3654@reddit
My formative years were the 90s so them, but if i had been ten years earlier, then probably the 80s
lovemesomezombie@reddit
80's with a hint of late 70's for sure. It was the best time to be a kid and teenager. So much freedom and fun. The music is the best and no technology! Technology was supposed to help us but honestly, I think we were better off without most of it. Medical advancement, etc... are great but walking around with our phones attached so everyone knows what we are doing and where we are is so not cool.
CivilNet5203@reddit
80’s the music, hair, and fashion were on point.
wildsnowdrop@reddit
Late 70s early 80s
SandyEggo_73@reddit
80s for sure!
HereToCalmYouDown@reddit
90s. I was born in 75 so too young to really enjoy the 80s. 1992-1997 was the sweet spot.
Gold_Structure_668@reddit
80s, definitely !
KimBrrr1975@reddit
80s for me. The 90s brought cable tv (we did not have cable available in our area until like 1992), and not far behind, internet/AOL and cell phones. Changed life too substantially.
Moon boots, OG Van Halen, all those amazing 80s movies.
1995 (I think) did have $1 gas, and that was pretty awesome. And the grunge era. Thankfully flannels never go out of stock where we live 😂
archedhighbrow@reddit
80s, I was parenting in the 90s lol
Braincloud@reddit
I was parenting in the 90s too, but I think it gave the 90s a cozy vibe that the 80s didn’t have for me, but the 70s did. Interesting how differently we all perceive it!
archedhighbrow@reddit
Yeah the 70s is cozy #1. I was a struggling single parent in the 90s and tired a lot.
Buckeye_mike_67@reddit
Yep. Boys born in 92 and 96. I graduated high school in 85 so the late 80’s was my fun time. I will say I came of age in the 90’s. Got a bunch of experience framing houses in the first 10 years out of high school and started my business in 96. Still kickin it running a couple crews.
mbgameshw@reddit
80’s by a country mile
Ok-Actuator8579@reddit
90s wins by a smidge for the freedom that comes with early adulthood.
Substantial_Diver_34@reddit
Late 80’s and all of the 90’s were fire. 🔥
FloridaSalsa@reddit
Best music!
Substantial_Diver_34@reddit
Early 90’s it was like every other week an amazing album was released.
imthatguykyle@reddit
90s by a long shot
notevenapro@reddit
When were you born? That is the factor.
imthatguykyle@reddit
yurtfarmer@reddit
Born in 70. All teen age years in the 80s, and 20s in the 90s. Tough choice, pros to both, but leaning towards the 80s. Younger, everything was new , coming of age
onions-make-me-cry@reddit
I was too young in the 80s. The 90s were pretty amazing culture wise, so I'm gonna go with 90s. I only got to be 10 at the very end of the 80s though.
Epicassion@reddit
80s for lack of responsibility, fun and 90s for earning an actual income.
Phobos1982@reddit
90s were peak humanity, then 9/11 happened and it’s been downhill since.
dreaminginteal@reddit
90s for me. Part of it was where I was in my life—had a job I loved, got into some great hobbies, made some really great friends, had an awesome girlfriend or two…
The culture in the Sf Bay Area seemed more authentic as well, somehow.
jchasse@reddit
Your dad’s a smart man
suzymae27@reddit
The 90’s were better for myself. In the 80’s my life was filled with so much death. Both my parents as well as my grandmother. The 90’s were great as I was out partying and having a great time.
Mike-ipedia@reddit
The 80s were fun and the 90s were responsible. Comparing apples to pickles.
trivialempire@reddit
This.
90s I had a “real job”, married, kids, first house…all that.
80s was high school and college. Win.
SoCal7s@reddit
80s! New Wave. MTV. Golden Age of Hip Hop. Great Rock n Roll.
Most of us thought the future looked bright ahead. Radio wasn’t Corporate programming so you heard different artists in different towns.
I think the 80s were the last time you could feel authenticity; if you didn’t like the popular stuff there were always many more options.
By the end of the 90s everything was getting pretty cookie cutter - same stuff everywhere you went.
I only liked the NBA & NFL more in the 90s.
Genny415@reddit
For me, 90s, no contest.
80s were teen years, just couldn't wait to get out of the small town an away from parents and what felt like oppression
And then it was like all my dreams came true in the 90s, living in the big city on my own, with freedom and my own agency, even as a broke-ass young adult, it was incredible!
cnation01@reddit
It was incredible. I remember being broke but it was manageable. Broke-ass adult was different back then I feel. The kids now, it just seems like they cant get ahead and its overwhelming
Sucks for them. I wish everyone could experience what I had in the 90s as a 20 something year old. Was a great decade to be a young adult. Didnt have much, but damn, it was fun
Genny415@reddit
I dunno. I was broke broke. Living off of student loans and a part time job. Eating pasta for most dinners because it was so cheap. Using passes from the weekly entertainment newspaper to get into the clubs without cover charge, but you had to get there early.
An unexpected $50 windfall had me in tears of joy!
Kids today seem coddled by their parents, compared to the "you're 18 now, you can look after yourself" parents
Not saying that either is right or wrong, just that I made the best of what sucked because it sucked a lot less than what I dealt with before that. And I don't wish any of that suckage on anyone else.
CoveredinCatHairs@reddit
90’s all the way.
magneticca@reddit
I enjoyed the 90’s more because I was finally old enough to experience the excitement of being a young adult. As a teenager, I loved the 80’s music, MTV, movies, but hated living at home under parental control.
Curiousferrets@reddit
This is exactly how I feel. Going clubbing mid nineties was amazing.
Southern_Ad5843@reddit
I say 90's no contest but I was born 74 so that was HS collage for me. I really don't think there is a argument that best music was 90's best rock/grunge/ alternative best country and definitely best hip hop early 90's is what took hip hop main stream
SDL68@reddit
I preferred the 90s over the 80s simply because of the music.
keirmeister@reddit
I lived my best life in the 90’s: college, clubbing, sex, good paying jobs, my own place, disposable income…
…But it was the 80’s that was the era of fun music and not a care in the world.
I’m not sure I can choose.
Responsible-Coffee1@reddit
Probably makes a difference if you’re younger or older X. In 1990 the oldest were 25 while the youngest were 10.
ChapterOk4000@reddit
80s were great - high school and college years for me. But 90s were more fun - being an adult, starting my career, and the techno dance clubs - holy crap were those fun!! The huge NYC and Miami Beach nightclubs, all gone by early 2000s. Roxy, Limelight, Palladium, Tunnel, Sound Factory, Twilo, Club USA - all in NYC. Amnesia, Warsaw, Paragon, Twist, The Palace, The Kremlin - all in South Beach.
wellintentioned2025@reddit
I was a kid and a tween/teen in the 80s, so it was more fun being a free-range child than a responsible adult. The overall vibe of the music and clothes and movies were more "fun" too. But if I were a grown gay man or a union organizer I probably would not associate the 80s with "fun."
But I prefer the 90s. More like the 60s in that people were more conscientious about waste and consumption, there was more counterculture and alternative ways of life, a cool DIY vibe, more LGBT acceptance, and more environmentalism. The economy was fine and you could live cheaply. People were optimistic about the future after the fall of the USSR and able to be more openly critical of capitalism and find their happiness outside of buying stuff. But there was a lot of strange anxiety in the air in the 90s.
mhbentz@reddit
80s were great for getting a real job and my own identity as an “adult” while still being young and having fun (big time Yuppie!) but 90s were great for becoming a mom to two amazing kids who are now wonderful adults
OpeningFuture6799@reddit
Just looking at the top grossing movies of the 80s and then look at the 90s, the 80s blows away the 90s. 80s music is much better than 90s music, and the economy was way better in the 80s than the 90s.
medisamurai@reddit
So many bad takes here
OpeningFuture6799@reddit
Then name them!
Icy-Repeat-2843@reddit
Economy from 1995-2000 is considered one of the best economies in US history. Recession in 81/82 made the mid eighties feel good, but it was mostly recovering.
OpeningFuture6799@reddit
You didn’t graduate from college in the early 90s during a recession that made finding a job very difficult and losing your college job to layoffs. Also, the military was downsizing making that path difficult, also. BTW tell some younger Boomers how great the economy was in the late 70s/early 80s with stagflation
RetroRhythm80s@reddit
Music wise, fun fashion, tv sitcoms, & movies the 80’s win hands down. I was a teenager in high school and had the best memories! Such innocent fun. I still listen to my 80’s soundtrack everyday.
Apprehensive_Judge_5@reddit
I liked the 90s better because I was able to see so many great bands and was an adult so I wasn't restricted to where I was able to go see the bands.
Braincloud@reddit
I think I definitely vibed with the 70s and 90s more than the 80s and 2000s. Warmer, earthier decades without the glitz and artifice. At least the early-mid 90s.
CelebrationFull9424@reddit
1990’s
IAmDaBadMan@reddit
The 1990's. Music was great and so were the clubs and raves.
M-Dubb@reddit
90s...
Blephotomy@reddit
the 90s were what America could have been
asscheese2000@reddit
I’ll choose the 80s but damn if this isn’t true.
NEVAR1971@reddit
Hands down! The 80's!!
Pretend_Passenger586@reddit
I was an elementary kid who got evil step siblings in the 80’s. I was a teenager in the 90’s and my step siblings had all moved out. I definitely preferred the 90’s.
Deanslittlemama@reddit
Gen X here and 80’s all day long!
Standard-Cockroach64@reddit
Turned 20 in 90's... best decade ever.
Narrow_Pepper_1324@reddit
The 80’s were my teen years. The 90’s were my supposedly young adult years.
FallAspenLeaves@reddit
I was a teenager in the 80’s and a mom in the 90’s. Like two different lifetimes for me…LOL.
Accurate_Weather_211@reddit
The 90’s. The correct and only answer.
CaffeinatedGeriatric@reddit
The 90s is pretty much the 80s, but with internet and cellphones.
sleive@reddit
Why not both. For me, '85-'95 was peak.
Shadowcaster_Spark@reddit
Same. I would take 80s over 90s in entirety but half and half would be the tops.
ny-central-line@reddit
Agree. This was high school/college timeframe for me so it was pretty great.
biotoper@reddit
My mother died in '89, so I don't miss that era. I'm not much on nostalgia anyway. I try to make the best of whatever era I'm living in. Which is hard sometimes ever since 2016...
Ok-Ninja-3039@reddit (OP)
Sorry for your loss 💔
biotoper@reddit
Thank you 🩷
violethorizon74@reddit
I was aged 6-16 in the 80s. I love them. However, the 90s are totally my decade. I love everything about it so much more than the 80s, probably because I was old enough to enjoy it on my own. I didnt have rules about no MTV, or what music i could listen to, etc. I really think this is quite dependent on the age of the gen-x-er.
imrickjamesbioch@reddit
90’s was hands down better. Booming economy, no wars / cold wars (somewhat), way better music (grunge/gangsta rap), and festivals. MY CD m/DVD collections became massive and then my computer must have gotten 6900 viruses from all the music I downloaded off napster!
However if I had to relive the 80’s I wouldn’t be sad… Cartoons and Arcades were awesome, latch key kid, nobody being a bitch snd telling you what or wasn’t safe (no seatbelts), riding my bike everywhere, no trophies for just participating, etc
I miss movies with a storyline. June 8, 1984 widely considered the single greatest release date in movie history. Look it up kids and be amazed what your movie going selections were!
If you were more into the 90’s, look up October 14, 1994!
Fuck we live in shitty times…
notevenapro@reddit
The answer to this is not going to be accurate since Gen X spans 15 years.
For example. I am an older gens x so I graduated highschool in 1985. A younger gen x , born in 1980, graduated in 1998.
People ooo and ahh at the 80s, but the 80s had some very dark clouds around it. Just google Ryan White.
Vanman04@reddit
Yea this is me though I am a year older.
The 80's were wild but there was also a backdrop of some really dark stuff.
The 90s weren't as ... colorful but the optimism that the world was going in the right direction was much higher.
Magerimoje@reddit
The 90s at least had AZT (early treatment for HIV to try to slow down the progression to full blown AIDS).
Before AZT, a diagnosis of HIV basically meant quit your job and try to do a few things on your bucket list before you died a slow painful death in isolation.
notevenapro@reddit
Younger people should watch some of the stuff from that time.
Eddie Murphy.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/c5q4aA3mIw0
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rnJOvEdZNeU
I mean, it was a wild time.
Vanman04@reddit
Crazy that raw was like the most popular comedy video on the planet when it came out only for Murphy to have to apologize for it a few decades later.
Vanman04@reddit
Yes the 80s also had the music industry being accused of being Satan worshipers and dangerous for children.
RaleighBahn@reddit
Yes
kb81cme@reddit
80s. I was kid who played outside most of the time and ran around in our back woods near the lake. It felt like total freedom!
doobette@reddit
'80s. It was the best time to be a kid.
LostBetsRed@reddit
'80s, definitely, best decade ever, which culminated in the fall of the Berlin Wall, the reunification of Germany, and the end of the Cold War. Hard to compete with the way those days felt.
KylaArashi@reddit
I’m with your dad on this 😇
CelestineSkies@reddit
90s all the way
Substantial-Spare501@reddit
After the awesomeness of the 70s, nothing has compared since
RiTFWx@reddit
Oh geez the 80s were ass. In fact I think the current environment now is a metastasized version of the 80s.
90s 4 Eva
NorCal1977@reddit
70’s and 80’s for me! Junior High and High school in the 70’s, in my roaring 20’s in the 80’s. Concerts were affordable, fashion was affordable. San Francisco in the 80’s was a blast!!
Buckeye_mike_67@reddit
I spent the late 80’s in the Atlanta area. I remember when a ticket to the eagles concert was $100. Nobody I knew could afford that. We were seeing AC/DC, Aerosmith and hair bands for $15-$20. I remember getting DIO tickets the day of the show for 1/2 price. Me and a buddy went for $15 and a ride on the Marta train
Juanfartez@reddit
Did you graduate HS 1982 or earlier? Then you're a Boomer/Jones.
geodebug@reddit
Late 80s, Early 90s. College was fun.
worstpartyever@reddit
80s for the stuff we could get away with.
90s for the music and the comfortable fashion
SaltyPlantain1503@reddit
90s, hands down due to the music.
DiamondContent2011@reddit
80's were great!!!!....until Crack/AIDS.
90's for me.
medisamurai@reddit
99s all day.
cnation01@reddit
Im 53 and was a young adult in the 90s. It was so fucking awesome.
Had very little responsibility, a little money in my pocket, music scene was banging. Things were relatively inexpensive still and you just got by on less. It was fucking great man. Was a kid in the 80s, it was fine but being an adult but still young enough to do dumb shit, was so great.
I wish you could have experienced it. It was so fucking COOL !
Rand_74@reddit
I enjoyed the 90’s. I turned 21 in 95’ I’ve heard I had a REALLY good time.
RevToy@reddit
I’m late GenX so I’m a 90’s fan.
Dogzillas_Mom@reddit
For what? I still lived with my parents in the 80s, so the 90s means my first adult freedom. I moved 1000 miles away and controlled all my own choices. I was broke af but I went to see bands 2-3 nights a week, hustled and worked my ass off, and loved it all.
Embarrassed-Cause250@reddit
80s!!
Timely-Youth-9074@reddit
The ‘80’s were super fun, great time to be a teen, and the ‘90’s were a good time to be a young adult.
It’s been downhill ever since.
Fidrych76@reddit
90’s was peak America 🇺🇸
damageddude@reddit
'90s. I was a young adult in NYC as it was finally rebounding from the '70s and '80s but hadn't become super expensive yet (grew up there). The average New Yorker was not priced out but many places were becoming less crime ridden. Just started gentrification neighborhoods still had their souls. Real coffee stores/diners.Few big stores (NYC, even the outer boroughs, resisted for a long time). That lasted well into the '90s.
That city is not coming back. What a time to be alive.
Magerimoje@reddit
NYC in the 90s was so unique, and I loved it. I didn't live there, but lived close enough to visit frequently.
damageddude@reddit
I moved from my parents' Queens apartment to a rental of a downtown Brooklyn co-op in 1995, living with my future wife. Her mother was aghast. Mine was amused I went to a gym at the St. George Hotel in a space she swam in decades before.
Subway stop on our corner. We spent many Saturday nights in the Village. Easy subway home, or since we lived near the Brooklyn Bridge, a cab ride home. I think those were the last great days.
We were living in NJ with a newborn by 9/11. That was a "fun" ride home. Visited the area a few years later (subway museum), not the same.
sitewolf@reddit
Everyone has their phases in life, and they don't usually just follow decades. My early 80s were tough but my late 80s were some of the best years of my life, then the 90s were somewhat the same cycle. Life doesn't follow a calendar.
Chuuby_Gringo@reddit
80s for the first wave of alternative music and being free rangekids. 90s for literally every genre of music, and an absolute shit ton of drugs for cheap.
NewAcctWhoDish@reddit
I think it depends on whether youre early GenX or later GenX. I bet my oldest sister would say 80s. My older sister would probably say 80s and 90s. Id also have to say both. 80s for me was elementary through junior high. All the iconic 80s music and stupid-fun movies. The 90s was high school, freedom in college, and even more freedom after college for another year or two before 2000 came along.
Chaemyerelis@reddit
Culture wise 90's. But I probably was happier as a kid than I was as a teen/young adult.
Cute_Atmosphere_9294@reddit
Being a teenager in the 80's is what the 80's was meant for. The best time and best memories of my life!
CrushTheRebellion@reddit
Best era for music by far! I know some bands dipped their toes into synthesized music in the 70s, but the 80s were where it really took off.
salchichasconpapas@reddit
70's, 80's, 90's in that order
4158264146@reddit
Definitely the 80's. The 90's were my teen years, years that were not the best. The 80's at least had some innocence.
bonzai2010@reddit
My life really started in 84. I was a guitarist and got into my first high school band. I’d say it all petered out as I got seriously into work around 1992. So more 80s than 90s. But I got hired by one of the first real .com boom companies so I got to ride that rocket for a bit.
kittydeviance@reddit
loved the 80s for the music, movies, some shows, and being a kid with the toys back then...loved the 90s for the shows, movies, some music, and some of the new tech...it really depends on the memories of them tbh...80s was my childhood and 90s was my teens basically
SosigDoge@reddit
Aged 2-12 in the 80's and 12-22 in the 90's, so arguably I had the best of childhood consumerism. But it was a magical time to be adolescent, music and parties went hand in hand and I had a faceful of fun. I'd say 90's edged it
endlesssearch482@reddit
Most of the 90s were good times for me. But honestly, the last decade is my best decade yet.
Whipstich-Pepperpot@reddit
I wish it was 1977 forever. I was 9-years old and would go back in a heartbeat.
Frequent-Ad2981@reddit
I'd buy a ticket for that train! I was 10. I'd stay there forever.
Whipstich-Pepperpot@reddit
I hope Heaven lets people be whatever age they want. I won't be going there, but I hope my cohorts get in and can be whatever age/in whatever time frame they want.
LitlThisLitlThat@reddit
Well I was a kid 6-16 in the 80s and yeah, I loved all that freedom, roller rinks, kick ball with neighbors, and room to explore!! I also rather enjoyed the early 90s and the evolution of music at that time, clubbing, partying, etc. I loved both for different reasons at different stages of life.
AndiagoSupremo@reddit
I think for American society the 80’s were better. The 90s with LA gang violence, riots in LA, the promise of the peace dividend after winning the Cold War was lost. 80s were optimistic, 90s started off really poorly and then the WWW bubble was fun buying stocks you only knew a bit about and they kept rising until they CRASHED.
DocSportello1970@reddit
90's
WasabiChickpea@reddit
I had a blast in the 90s
queenofthedogpark@reddit
80’s
SamhainHighwind@reddit
80s and early 90s
edjen@reddit
90s!
huron9000@reddit
90s were WAY better. 80s was all greed, dark suits, cocaine.
Ancient-Complex6823@reddit
80’s were so cool and exciting! We lived in the future.
Genre_Bias@reddit
Not sure. I was born in 79 and it felt like the 80s were a perfect decade to be 0-10 and the 90s were a perfect decade to be a teenager
PopkinLover@reddit
This is the generational divide within GenX. Those of us born on the latter half of GenX were very young in the 80's and didn't get the full experience. Born in 1975, I graduated high school in '93, college in '97, and turned 21 in '96. The 90s were WAY more preferable and enjoyable than the 80's for me, but my older GenX siblings who were born in 66 and 68 think the 90's were lame and the 80's was the best decade in all of human history.
CrushTheRebellion@reddit
The 80s were amazing, but everything seemed to kick into high gear after the Berlin wall fell. For a short time, it seemed like the Russians actually became and the dread of the Cold War was replaced with hope and a brighter future for the world as a whole.
When Iraq invaded Kuwait, it seemed like every single country in the world banded together and said "no". I know it's much more nuanced than that, but it really felt like things were changing for the better. That feeling carried on through the 90s and it was a great time to be young. Technology was advancing rapidly. The internet went mainstream and cellphones became commonplace. The future looked bright.
Then in 2001, 9/11 happened and changed everything.
forgetful_waterfowl@reddit
90s: raves, RATM, the fugees, movies Friday, armageddon, pulp fiction.
fuzzybunnyslippers08@reddit
Better hip hop. Alternative was really more developed and maturing. So much better stuff in the 90’s IMO
Smart_Butterfly_7845@reddit
80s was more authentic. Before reality TV, before cell phones. Still somewhat rooted in 60s/70s culture.
melty75@reddit
80s... too much crappy stuff happened in the 90s personally
TheycallmemissRaven@reddit
Fudge that. The 90’s were better.
Better music, things like Lilith Fair existed and we had hope the world was going to move into a better future. Aqua Net hairspray and panty hose were out. Equality was a good goal, rights for marginalized groups were moving forward. Women wearing men’s wear was in ( loose and comfy). There was a moment when we thought we might become better.
Remember 80’s : Reagan, trickle down economics and the warping of the phrase “greed is good” from the movie Wallstreet were the beginning of where we are now. 90’s far superior. The only decade I (as a Gen X’er) had hope for a second.
skinisblackmetallic@reddit
The 80s was high school, so obviously the 90s.
foodweneedfood@reddit
Can I be a dick and split the difference? Like 87-96? The early eighties were pretty seventies-ish, and the nineties started sucking hard right around Clinton’s second inaugural.
reallytired-2024@reddit
80’s 100%. Not even close. It was the end of real times before everything became fake, processed, planed, overpriced and unsatisfying.
StrictFinance2177@reddit
80s hands down is one of the greatest decades of all-time. In 100 years the 80s, 60s, and 50s will be considered such picturesque unreproducible eras. The 90s.... are still good, but that's just a super unfair comparison.
Worldly-Suspect-6681@reddit
80s culture driven by cocaine. 90s culture was heroine chic.
hkusp45css@reddit
The 80s and it's not even close. The entrance of Grunge in '91 was a real blow and it just got worse from there, in my opinion.
I enjoyed the 90s a LOT more than any decade since.
QuoteHaunting@reddit
This is tough. I think I have more nostalgia for the 80s when I was young and blissfully self-absorbed. I probably had a better time in the 90s because I was in my twenties and having fun. Neither period seems that long ago.
Worldly-Suspect-6681@reddit
90s better. 80s trends were awkward.
Chibi-Skyler@reddit
70's: I was a little kid, so I don't remember much except not having any responsibilities.
80's: Awesome time. Saturday morning cartoons, malls were at their peak. We got cable, so I discovered MTV and Nickelodeon. We also got a microwave in '86, and my parents bought a new car...with AC and an FM radio. School was the main buzzkill, but I didn't start to hate it until Jr. High.
90's: I graduated in '92 and could thus focus on real life, working for a paycheck. Sadly, I lost my dad in '90, but my mom and I enjoyed our best years together during that decade. I got my first apartment and became a gamer. In 1996, I got my first cell phone...from Radio Shack! I still have my original number.
Each decade had its own ups and downs...and I'd love to be able to turn back the clock. Simpler times.
Expert-Hyena6226@reddit
I'm elder Gen X and lived through both. I liked the 90s better. The first half of the 80s, I was in high school and hated it. The ratio of shit vs good stuff was large. The 90s had better music for me for sure. I used to get laid in the 90s too.
Mammoth_Ad_483@reddit
It's probably going to depend on which generation people were in high school
aeon314159@reddit
‘69 here, I enjoyed both the ‘80s and ‘90s for different reasons, and both had their dark sides too.
‘80s had many wonderful first-time experiences of novelty and wonder, but also much struggling to figure things out.
‘90s also had lovely experiences, and very high highs, with matching lows as my drug addiction presaged my turn of the millennium crash and burn.
Both decades had absolutely banging music. ❤️
As of this year’s May 1st, I am 25 years clean and sober. 😌
mouseat9@reddit
Nice bro nice
EveryExplanation8084@reddit
The 90s were not that great after the 70s and 80s. Looking back on the decade it seems a lot better than it was especially music wise. So much better than now! The economy was great too.
Defiant-Variety-9473@reddit
90s was way better.
mouseat9@reddit
The 80’s hands down it felt both wild and hopeful at the same time. The 90’s is where the creativity and excitement began to level off.
jingowatt@reddit
Musicwise, 80s no question.
Bryanmsi89@reddit
For the USA and Canada, and most of Europe, the 1990s were 'better' in just about every way. The Iron Curtain lifted, then the USSR collapsed. There was a bit of a real 'peace dividend.' Data confirms what most felt, that the economy was working pretty well for just about everyone. Rich got richer, poor got richer, middle class got richer. Internet started to become a really interesting thing with lots of 'change-the-world' promise. The USA even managed to get to a budget surplus!
The 1980s felt more risky and alive though. Not the least of which was the constant threat of nuclear war.
AbsolutesDealer@reddit
I had money in the 90s, but no real responsibilities in the 80s… tough call.
Illustrious_Fix5906@reddit
80’s absolutely.
Frequent_Cut_1251@reddit
Yeah both. The 80s were high school and pretending to go to college. The 90s were the beginnings of big boy jobs, marriage, child, but still partying age. The music was better in the 90s
TimeAndMotion2112@reddit
90s
nygenxmom@reddit
90s were sex, drugs, rock and roll in college and after. 80s were middle school. I choose the 90s.
twodogstwocats@reddit
I prefer the 80s, but I had much more fun in the 90s.
MaximumJones@reddit
My 50s have been the greatest time of my life so far.
jt2ou@reddit
90’s by far.
NoRoof1812@reddit
I enjoyed the 80s and 90s more than I enjoy things now.
oliveoil123321@reddit
Everything goes back to the 70s - movies, music, fashion, TV. Anything popular in the last 30 years has a nod to the 70s. It was a golden age for all that. I was too young for the Vietnam war or Watergate but I was all over disco and The Jeffersons and trying to get that Farrah Fawcett hairdo.
b_newman@reddit
The good times I had in the 90s were despite the fact that the 90s sucked.
iFuckingLoveBoston@reddit
The high school jocks and nepo kids in my school loved the 80s. Aka the glory days. The weirdos, artists and rockers bloomed on the 90s.
viewering@reddit
both
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxORulyOXs8
MeasurementQueasy114@reddit
80s!
freakymack@reddit
Dang that’s a hard one little grasshopper. I’m gonna cheat and say: 1970 - 1999 were are golden in different ways. The decades did me good as far as growing up is concerned. 1970s…freedom. 1980s…teen years of drinking in orchards and cruising on Saturdays. The 1990s…angry music and mosh pits!
yountvillwjs@reddit
80’s music, 90’s me
AdmiralJaneway8@reddit
I absolutely enjoyed the 90s, but 80s every day all day. The music, the clothes, the hair. God, did I look amazing in big hair. A real telephone with real buttons I could slam down when I was mad. Analog heaven. No beginnings of the consumer internet. 80s. Every day.
WarpedCore@reddit
80's were great as a kid.
90's were beyond excellent as a person leaving their late teens and entering the 20's. There was so many things that were brand new to us and so many opportunities to live and enjoy life. Things were changing and moving so fast.
digawina@reddit
90s, hands down. Great music, great movies. Peak culture for me. I was in college from 90-94 and feel so lucky for that.
filmAF@reddit
in the 80s MDMA was legal.
Drawn66@reddit
“The 80’s” as we think of it now didn’t really start until about ‘82. I think that’s probably true of most decades.
jm134713@reddit
80’s as a kid. Had tons of fun doing kids stuff. 90’s as a young man with freedom, a place, and the club scene. So a young male whore.
just321askin@reddit
Younger Gen X here. Kid in the 80’s, teen in the 90’s - and I gotta say the 80’s were a blast to be a kid, and the 90’a were a blast to be a teenager.
I feel really lucky to have experienced those decades when I did, and I feel bad for kids and teens these days - just screens all day, day in and day out.
My nephew is attached to a tablet all day, playing Roblox or whatever, at an age when I was outside everyday, biking all over town with friends, building tree houses, exploring abandoned houses etc. Nobody knew where we were or what we were doing. Just total freedom.
shakespeareanon@reddit
Music: 80's Life: 90's
ctbadger92@reddit
80s and it's not even close.
unclesmokedog@reddit
90s
Legalouiddealerlith@reddit
80’s
Key-Cattle-2866@reddit
I enjoyed a lot of the ‘90s. I was single and worked on a large college campus. Lots of really cool concerts and fun with my friends.
Jellybeans74@reddit
90’s was better. The 80’s sucked for me
Secret-Function-2972@reddit
I was in college in the early 90's, so I'll go with that.
javukasin@reddit
Definitely the 80s! For so many reasons, but mainly because the pop culture was iconic- music and movies were amazing. Also, no cell phones or internet. If I had one word to describe the 80s it would be freedom.
No_Height_8075@reddit
My 80s sucked big time. 4 years of school being poor and not having the right clothes, etc. and then 5 years floundering trying to escape the financial hole in which I was born.
90s all day. I don't even like 80s music because it reminds me of how crappy a decade it was.
LetsBNiceYall@reddit
I loved the 80s but rock died eventually, so 90s was a musical rebirth but with women too. Plus I had more $ & less struggles until I made a huge mistake getting
Married the second time, but I remind myself my kids are from that marriage so something good came from it.
Adventurous-Topic-54@reddit
I couldn't be much more middle GenX if I tried. The late 1980s to the early 1990s was the best.
And the 1970s still suck.
gcpuddytat@reddit
agree 💯
kdbpfr@reddit
84-93 is what I’d pick.
sageguitar70@reddit
I lived the life of 10 men in the 80s
Safe-Ad9602@reddit
Fast food was cheap and it tasted a lot better wasn't pumped full of chemicals and fillers
LittleEdithBeale@reddit
Alt culture in the '90s was an awesome scene! No way I'd pick the '80s over that. I'm vintage 1975, if that matters.
ToasterBath4613@reddit
The 80’s were great.
Easy_Duhz_it_@reddit
I just became a teenager in 1990 so those were my "fun" years. If I had been a teen in the 80s I'd probably say those were better years.
I think it all depends on where you were in your life at the time.
Amateur_TimeTraveler@reddit
80s for sure
WhereItsAt75@reddit
Younger GenX (1975) I graduated high school in 94 and thought the 90's were pretty awesome.
jacknbarneysmom@reddit
Older gen x here so 80's were my jam. Im fond of the 70s too.
EntertainmentNew5165@reddit
First year GenX. 65’.
Loved being a kid growing up in the 70s. Didn’t like the 80s much. I hated all the hair bands that most of my friends liked. Stupid ballads. Every band sounded the same.
Hated the clothes people wore. Girls with the big hair and the bangs that went up 4-6 inches and back. Everything was Party Party Party.
Enjoyed the 90s a lot. Things got back to being more relaxed. Metal got back to basics. When a band came on the radio, you knew who it was. You could have taken 1990 and tacked it onto 1979 and it almost would have looked seemless.
Twisty12223@reddit
I have good things to say about the 70s through the 90s. Each decade had its own awesomeness.
cjr91@reddit
I have plenty of good memories of the 80's but I'm more nostalgic about my college years in the 90's.
lando-hockey@reddit
I did high school and college in the 90’s. I did K-8 in the 80’s. I liked the music, the movies, and the zeitgeist of the 80’s better than the 90’s.
It seemed like things tightened up, and my age was the first to have new rules on what we could or couldn’t do in the 90’s.
In the 80’s, the drinking age was 18. Hockey players didn’t always wear helmets. Cell phones were crazy expensive and big. E-mail didn’t exist. We had 6 TV channels between VHF and UHF.
In the 90’s, improvements in downhill ski technology were awesome, but after that it just seemed like the the modern day arrived and the world got smaller with the internet.
FLSunGarden@reddit
“The 90’s” was nothing.” Yes. I can totally agree with that. It was just nothingness. I’m not saying I didn’t like the 90’s, as there was a sense of normalcy that I didn’t realize we ever didn’t have before. I guess it’s hard to explain.
RipOdd9001@reddit
Kids in the 80’s, teen in the early nineties, but finished 99 getting out of the Corps to experience the aughties
Fritz5678@reddit
Loved it all. Kid in the 70s. Teen/Young Adult 80s. Adult 90s.
oneknocka@reddit
Yeah, i cant decide either. 90’s hip hop was better, but it was also so much fun in the 80’s.
Both decades were great.
gOldMcDonald@reddit
90 were amazing and optimistic but they pale in comparison to the 80s. The 80s was an endless party. The 70s were a keg party
UnrealizedDreams90@reddit
80s by far. Graduated 90
Sufficient_Stop8381@reddit
Late 80s to early 90s
Even_Happier@reddit
The 90s. Some of the late 80s (because of Madchester) but definitely the 90s.
boilersnipe@reddit
Gen X 69 , 80’s were great. Not a care in the world. The 90’s were cool but adulthood was closing in on us fast
Unusual_Memory3133@reddit
I would say ‘89-‘98 was my prime time. End of my 20’s, into my 30’s. The economy was good, I was in love and in living in a place I still miss. The 70’s were fun for sure but if people are all nostalgic for the 80’s, that tells me HIV/AIDS didn’t have much effect on them.
fyodor_mikhailovich@reddit
Yeah, I preferred the 70s and 80s to the 90s, but that is mostly because I was an adult the 90s
hadesscion@reddit
Mid-80s to mid-90s was peak.
LongjumpingResolve53@reddit
‘80s without a doubt!
glennotromic@reddit
85 to 95 was the best
fyodor_mikhailovich@reddit
83-93 for me
Armand5005@reddit
The 80’s!
Zakkrazy@reddit
Little kid in the 80s and it was great. High school and college in the 90s and it was also great, although I was high for the second half of that decade so my memory might be a bit hazy.
D05wtt@reddit
I’m with your parents…’80s with some ‘70s thrown in.
DeadMetalRazr@reddit
You definitely wanted to be a kid in the 80s for the greatest era of toys ever, and a teen/ early twenties in the 90s for the vibes.
SV650rider@reddit
I liked the 90s, but probably because I was college aged and better able to appreciate it more. Great childhood in the '80s, though. I am listening to my personal 80s mix on Spotify right now, actually, and was listening to Depeche Mode a few days ago.
MaudeLebowski69@reddit
80s!
The_ZombyWoof@reddit
1975 through to 1987, my favorite years
ddurk1@reddit
First half of the 90's were great. I spent the 80's skateboarding, listening to "weird" music and just generally being under the influence of whatever we could get our hands on. By 1980's standards, my friends and I were radically uncool. 1991 rolled around and we suddenly became cool and everything we'd been doing for the past decade was all of a sudden culturally relevant. Cute, smart girls started talking to us, I married one... and we're still married.
Large_Commission5631@reddit
Gen X here. Prefer 70s & 80s. I really lost track of new music after '92.
manthe@reddit
Two completely different eras for me. Both were very important for me in terms of experiences and development.
I went from ~ 7 to 17 in the 80s. Lots of ‘firsts’. I went from being a literal child to the edge of early adulthood. That covers a TON of proverbial ground.
I went from ~ 17 to 27 in the 90s. Also lots of ‘firsts’. I went from being a (admittedly pretty wild) teenager to a married father with a career as an engineer that I’m still enjoying. I guess meeting and starting to date my wife at 19 (she was 17) and our son being born makes the 90s the ‘winner’ by default?
From a pop culture perspective, both were awesome and meant different things based on my age at any given time.
LissaBryan@reddit
The 1990s. The 1980s seems weirdly devoid of emotion to me (a few exceptions notwithstanding.) The 90s seem more visceral, pouring out rage, hurt, and passion.
OldGamerX@reddit
80s
Big city, crazy neighborhood, bike riding with my troublemaking friends exploring the world.
I miss that era
neoprenewedgie@reddit
The 80s were just more fun culturally. A lot of it was just shallow ignorance, but it was a decade of flash and excess. The 80s were the party; the 90s were waking up the next afternoon wondering "oh no... what did I do?"
thumpingcoffee@reddit
Metal fan here. 80s metal > 90s metal
SuspiciousMeat6696@reddit
70's/80's. 1st half of 90s
jzoola@reddit
💯🎯
eriktheredcoat@reddit
90s were great.
hip-disguise@reddit
90s, the 80s sucked for me.
Feralcat01@reddit
The 90’s by a mile. I was college in the 90’s and it was the best time to be there. Grunge on the radio all the time and the 90’s were the 60’s lite.
Nouseriously@reddit
I enjoyed the 90s more because I was a young adult
Shivs_baby@reddit
90s were the best. Awesome college and young adult years. Clinton presidency so all we had was his libido to contend with. Economy got stronger over those years. Some technology but not too much. Life was good.
Extension_Survey5839@reddit
I think it just depends on the age of the gen Xer, in my opinion. I'm a younger gen X (1977) and i probably would have choose the 90s. But that's when i was a teen to adult.
ST0IC_@reddit
Well, I turned 15 and 1990, so I can't really say which I enjoyed more. I loved being a child in the '80s who got to roll around on my bike and hang out with with my friends outside until the sun started setting. But I also enjoyed the years from 15 to 25 in the '90s. It was a different kind of enjoyment I got out of being a teenager and adult in the 90s
InappropriateSnark@reddit
Late 80s through mid-90s were peak years.
Igmuhota@reddit
I’m just gonna agree with you instead of typing my own version of what you already wrote word for word. 💯.
3-orange-whips@reddit
Born in 75. I love the movies from the 80’s and the music from the 90’s the most, but it’s not exclusive
Cross_22@reddit
85-95 were all good years. Things went downhill after that.
Educational-Quote-22@reddit
90s were better but then I was a small child in the 80s so I'm biased toward being a teen/adult then a kid
West_Shirt5503@reddit
I can't decide lol
fredout1968@reddit
80's by far.. I was younger more carefree.. Pop culture was amazing. The future seemed brighter.. Spoiler alert...
whatgives72@reddit
Please don’t make me choose. The 80s were totally awesome and my 90s are pretty hazy— still awesome
Sea_Brush4156@reddit
80s. The 90s are very overrated.
marshmnstr@reddit
90's were HS/College years. Fucking hard times but also the best times of my life. Worked so hard to support myself, put myself through school. Also partied in ways that are not possible now. Warehouse parties, friends that worked at night clubs. Had 3 wonderful girlfriends that still occupy a place in my heart. Meeting new people with no way of learning about them other than direct communication.
mydoghank@reddit
80s! More variety…more innovation…more positive and colorful. 90s was gloom and depressing imo.
Electronic_Fix_9060@reddit
There were some amazing, care free times. But also horrific so no way I would wish to live in those times again. For example being gay was something to be hidden away and ashamed of, open sexism in the workplace was a part of life, domestic violence was a private matter that people pretended didn’t happen, same with child abuse.
“Go and give your uncle a big hug and kiss hello - but make sure you aren’t alone in a room with him! Your mum and I will just be over here getting drunk.“
So as long as you weren’t in any of those groups then yeah, it was the best decades ever. In sincerely mean that too. I loved the vibes of the seventies and eighties.
Commies-Fan@reddit
I liked the 80s. I lived all over in rural areas. All the bike riding, 4 wheeling, and exploring. But the 90s were the best. I spent them in the city with random trips back to the rural areas. I was 12-21. Life was just amazing then.
sane-asylum@reddit
I’d say the 90”s because I was legal at the end of ‘91 and my social life was awesome
CampVictorian@reddit
Oh, god- ABSOLUTELY the 90s. Smallish-town youth, little to do, lots of bullying since my friends and I were artsy kids. Learned not to give a shit in the early 90s, moved to NYC and became a club kid and visual designer… the City shaped me significantly, and the culture of the era set me free.
BuffsBourbon@reddit
80s. Not sure even close.
KurtStation68@reddit
80s was mostly growing up, 90s were education and footsteps unto adulting. An infusion between education, beach, and bands.
90s were better because no more high school and I was a "free man" - life was what I made it. 80s were less because of regiment of school, but I also lived overseas so that was a positive.
NecessaryMulberry846@reddit
90s
Cool-Coffee-8949@reddit
I had more fun in the nineties, and felt more at ease. I was a teenager in the 80s, and I hated Reagan and hair metal.
Ok-Ninja-3039@reddit (OP)
Hair metal sucks, not a fan of 80s rock at all I don’t know how some people sit and listen, and enjoy it
WontRememberThisID@reddit
The 80's.
David4Nudist@reddit
Definitely the 1980s for me.
While I was hooked on The Weather Channel and loved several movies in the 1990s, I was much happier in the 1980s and loved many more things during the earlier decade than during the latter.
I have no memory of the 1970s, but I loved several movies and a lot of music from that decade.
Mouse-Direct@reddit
1990s. I grew up in a tiny rural town in the 80s and didn’t have cable and wasn’t a shit kicker. 90s was college and city life. Loved it.
Square_Ad_4929@reddit
Exact same answer.
LibertyMike@reddit
I graduated in 89, so it's a mixed bag. In the 80's I was young and strong. In the 90's, I was getting fat and working mostly ditch-digger type jobs after college, so it was pretty grindy. Today I listen to way more 80's music than 90's. Plus I loathe emo music, which hit its stride in the 90's, and there was also a ton of milquetoast pop songs in the 90's as well. While there were a lot of great movies in the 90's, it was the movies of the late 70's & 80's that I like the best (Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, etc.).
LAARPer@reddit
I was 14-24 in the 90s, so those were some of my best years ever.
BraveEbb7077@reddit
I was 21 yrs old in 1990.
90’s for sure. I was free of all responsibility only looking out for my self and my women. Could do anything anytime we wanted to do. The most free I have been so far on this journey. Hopefully that freedom returns in a couple of more years.
GEN X
Equivalent_Gap_805@reddit
70s & 80s.🤘🏻
squirtloaf@reddit
70's were my favorite. 80's was a lot of big shiny fun. Big hair, big guitar riffs, colorful clothes and personalities.
90's was depressing shit. A lot of heroin came in and music became depressing. It is no mistake that every grunge singer eventually died by their own hand. (Except the Pearl Jam guy)
...but following that, the nineties got even worse with the advent of the boy bands and Britney/modern pop.
On the bright side, we had good governance and economic stability...
Happy_Confection90@reddit
The 90s, by far. I was 3-13 in the 80s, and a teen and college student in the 90s, which gave me a lot more autonomy to do things I liked.
whateverhappensnext@reddit
I split the end of the 80s with the start of the 90s in university. So my highschool years were in the 80's. I then emigrated from the UK to the US in 93 to pursue a PhD. This is all to say it is really hard for me to chose between the 80's and 90's. Being forced to chose, by a slight squeak, I would say 80's. Highschool and the first few years of college had a lot less stress. The 90's were a little tarnished by having to do more adulting.
nonotburton@reddit
A lot of this is going to depend on age and lifestyle.
I was a college kid in the 90's. Life was amazing. I had a great time in high school in the 80's, but in terms of freedom and responsibility, the 90's were better.
I was born during the 70's, so I barely remember them.
xczechr@reddit
80s for sure.
PhotographAfter7171@reddit
They both had good and bad points for me. The music was great for both, clothing and hair was probably better in the 90s. But there was something about the eighties that just felt more comfortable. But it could have been my age as a teen in the 80s and in my 20s in the 90s.
GateDeep3282@reddit
Both were pretty good. I feel like stuff really started going downhill after Y2K. Not the Y2K was actually bad, but 9-11 came next.
PhotographAfter7171@reddit
They both had good and bad points for me. The music was great for both, clothing and hair was probably better in the 90s. But there was something about the eighties that just felt more comfortable. But it could have been my age as a teen in the 80s and in my 20s in the 90s.
DPax_23@reddit
The 90s were lit.
Ok-Rock2345@reddit
90s. 80s were fun, but I was still living with my parents. 90s is when I went I jumped in head first at life and had some of the most amazing adventures in my my life.
lovemydogs1969@reddit
The music was better in the 80’s, but the 90’s was my favorite decade. I graduated college and grad school, met and married my spouse, got a dog, bought a house, and had tons of fun in my 20’s. Life seemed so full of hope and promise at that age. We had jobs but we still had tons of free time.
Small_Tiger_1539@reddit
Definitely the 80s. I was 15 in 1980 so my best years. Unfortunately my smartest years weren't until the 2000s.
haileyskydiamonds@reddit
80s was my childhood/middle school. 90s were high school/college. Both decades were great in different ways. 6th-8th grades (late 80s) weren’t great, but overall, I can’t say the 80s were bad.
Fluffymanolo@reddit
80's were rough for me. Preteens and very early teens. I lost my dad in 1984. He was my entire support system. I was awkward and didn't come into my own until I was 18/19. It turned 1990 when I was 17. So 90's all the way.
Ok-Ninja-3039@reddit (OP)
Sorry for your loss ❤️
Maximum-Still-2484@reddit
More nostalgic for the 80s I’d say.
mindymess@reddit
90s
kcjonezz@reddit
The 90’s
DubLParaDidL@reddit
90s and it's not even close
WinterBackbone@reddit
The 80’s
aran_maybe@reddit
90s. 80s were a parade of egotism, bad hair, and terrible music.
Ok-Ninja-3039@reddit (OP)
“Terrible music” lol maybe for the rock/metal, all the other genres esp pop, new/dark wave, dance, r&b and funk. The rock and metal is insufferable and unbearable for me lol I prefer 90s alt rock all day!
Ok-Ninja-3039@reddit (OP)
\^ the high pitched annoying unnecessary guitar solos and voices ugh. Although I do give my respects to it and musicians like van halen and slash
The only songs I like and can tolerate is beat it and dirty diana by Mj (and he’s not even a rock artist lol) and final countdown. But I do like the intro to thunderstruck by ac/dc
aran_maybe@reddit
I hated the pop music of the 80s the most. The funk was awesome though, and of course the new wave but it was not as big of a part of the time as we remember. And since everything was radio and MTV we only really got the mainstream stuff unless you were lucky. Alternative music is basically a reaction to how bad mainstream music was in the 80s.
No_Subject_343@reddit
The 90’s. Maybe because I was out of college and had some money by then.
ACorania@reddit
I was in grade school and middle school in the 80s and high school and college in the 90s. I would definitely go 90s, but I am not sure it is fair comparison.
pemart22@reddit
The 90’s
McSmackthe1st@reddit
The 80s were the best times
Successful_Jelly111@reddit
Band from the 80s are still on tour. Also 80s movies are still popular. Does anybody remember 90s music or movies?
cCriticalMass76@reddit
Umm.. yeah.. grunge age?
Successful_Jelly111@reddit
Grunge music died with Cobain. Or are there any grunge bands still on tour? And the grunge look with its consciously unkempt, rebellious, and anti-fashion aesthetic, its flannel shirts, ripped jeans, and band tees never made it to the new millennium.
cCriticalMass76@reddit
My point is that it still plays on the radio & kids are sporting the band T-shirts today. I preferred the 80s too but you can’t claim 90s music didn’t have an impact. That being said, grunge died in 94 & everything else about the 90s kinda sucked.
Successful_Jelly111@reddit
... and most of what came afterwards. I personally listen mostly to 70s music anyway.
JfPickups@reddit
As an older GenX the late 70s and the 80s were among the best....no 90s bands come to mind
Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Sound Garden, Green Day, STP, Sublime, Pearl Jam, Garbage, Bush, Tori Amos, Alice in Chains, Janes Addiction, Alanis Moriset, Live, Cake, Lenny Kravitz, Cranberries, Blur, RageATM, NIN, Counting Crows, Radiohead, Oasis, Hole, Mazzy Star, RedHCP, Offspring, Soul Asylum, Fiona Apple, Foo Fighters, Cracker, Beastie Boys, Beck.....
Early_Doughnut8295@reddit
90's and not even close
Informal-Gene-8777@reddit
Same. The music and arts scene was AMAZING. But I was also in my 20s so that probably colored it.
Early_Doughnut8295@reddit
Same here. Went every year to Lallapalooza and tons of other Grunge shows.
LuceLeakey@reddit
I was a teen and young adult/college student in the '80s, so that was the best time. In the '90s I was newly married, extremely poor, and unhappy most of the time.
BUT! I got on the Internet in the early '90s and although I couldn't travel much, I met tons of people online, some of who are still my friends.
So I guess it's a toss up for me. The music was definitely better in the '80s though.
RachelWWV@reddit
The 80s
supraspinatus@reddit
The 90s were superb.
vitoforever99@reddit
90s!!
Euphoric-Proposal-42@reddit
Same
Virtual_Job9303@reddit
90s by far.
I was born late in 1978, so most of the 80s was spent fleeing from adults holding belts, even as a shy/quiet honor student.
Minute-Yogurt-2021@reddit
You were lucky, my grandpa wielded shovels, hoes and whatever was closer to him.
DrDennisMcNinja@reddit
90s
achillea4@reddit
Gen X born in 60s. The 80s were great but I just loved the music of the 90s (especially Britpop) and being in my late 20s /early 30s.
aburena2@reddit
Both, but for different reasons. 80's came into my own and adulthood. 90's for marriage, family, and kids. As well as a career.
magnottasicepick@reddit
80s as a kid, 90s as a teen. Exactly how I lived it.
SouthOrlandoFather@reddit
Born in 73 so 85 to 95 was probably the best years.
FragrantGearHead@reddit
Oh definitely 90s
I was a kid or a teenager in the 80s. Most of my 20s were in the 90s.
My 20s were a LOT more fun 😂
The music was better in the 80s though.
davekva@reddit
I'm kinda torn on this. I too was in my 20's in the 90's, and I enjoyed my freedom and had lots and lots of fun. But being a kid in the 80's was just as much fun, but in different ways. I wouldn't give up either decade, they were both awesome.
I disagree about the music, though. I'll take 90's music over 80's music all day, every day.
FlamingDragonfruit@reddit
From say '83 to maybe '93 was the best. The mid-late 90s were terrible, and the early 80s were a bit weird.
wifeofbath73@reddit
Early 90s for the music and economy.
youngkpepper@reddit
It had its moments but for the most part I hated the 90s.
It is, after all, the decade that spawned reality TV.
WokeAssMessiah@reddit
90s was my first taste of freedom, so them.
Soulshiner402@reddit
80’s were a blast and the end of the Wild West where you could boom around this country like a banshee in search of the American Dream.
Emotional_Mess261@reddit
The ‘80s. Look and listen at ads, movies, tv shows over the years since. ‘80s themed parties everywhere. Our music, our beloved movies and tv shows are everywhere and many redone (poorly). You can only relive the joy if you were there.
corq@reddit
I'm GenX from '69, but I did like 90's music more, overall. This may coincide with me becoming an adult and being able to afford my fave band's CD's. Also Spin magazine introducing me to different genres.
obtuselegend@reddit
80s for the cartoons but 90s as a teenager was great
snark_maiden@reddit
90s. Best music, the Internet was new and amazing, it felt like we had an amazing future before us.
kdub1611@reddit
Oh man were we wrong about the future. The music sure was good though.
FourScoreAndSept@reddit
1990’s, all the way up to 9/11, were booming
Ill_Dragonfly8655@reddit
90's because those were my venture into adulthood years and those were the best!!
Prize_Paper6708@reddit
First half of the 90s
MinusGovernment@reddit
Loved the music and the toys growing up in the 80s but graduated in 93 and had a bunch of good times as a young adult in the 90s also. Top 40/pop music died for me in the 90s (never got into grunge) but rap exploded so I found myself listening to the oldies station at work and rap or my music collection from the 80s in my car and home. The used cd places were fantastic to build a collection also.
black_flag_4ever@reddit
At first I was going to say the 90s, but most of the stuff I like about the 90s was really pioneered in the mid to late 80s. I'd like to see this stuff happen. I'd like to witness Bad Religion touring to promote Suffer. I'd like to see when Husker Du they dropped Zen Arcade. I want to see Operation Ivy play in '89.
Glittering_Sunrise12@reddit
90s! 100% so much better. (Born 1980)
cyvaquero@reddit
80s was growing up in a union blue collar home in the crossroads of the coal and steel decline. Graduated in 1989.
90s was mostly spent stationed in Italy and Spain.
Sitting in Spain on vacation right now so I’ll have to give this one to the 90s.
SoOverYouAll@reddit
80s!
catshark2o9@reddit
The 90’s. I’m X from 1976 so those were my years.
18ekko@reddit
80s, hands down.
The music was better, the overall pace of life was better.
Crims0nGirl@reddit
80s
fridayimatwork@reddit
90s by far
Roger-the-Dodger-67@reddit
Early GenX (1967) like me peaked in the 80s, by the time grunge peaked we're were getting on with adulting... 🤪
Odd-Perception7812@reddit
Hit my stride in the 90s. It was an amazing blur.
Ok_Tanasi1796@reddit
You must be my frat brother. I was going to say the same thing.
Plenty-Run-9575@reddit
I got lucky and had the best of both, being from 1985-1995. I was too young to enjoy early 80’s fully and late 90’s was fun but not iconic.
-ACatWithAKeyboard-@reddit
The '80s were the pinnacle of human civilization.
JfPickups@reddit
LieOhMy@reddit
I think pop music peaked in 84/86, and movies peaked somewhere between 94-99.
DoctorAvailable6601@reddit
My kids are Z also. I can't choose because 80s and 90s were both different stages of life for me. Being born in 78, my childhood was the 80s but my teen years to young adult was the 90s.
KeKeFanChick@reddit
The 80s for sure... That would cover my life from ages 15-25-- I really didn't like high school but college and early adulthood was marvelous.
Ok_Tanasi1796@reddit
Graduated HS in ‘89 so 90s I guess. It was a great time to be in college. Being young before camera phones & the internet took over.
Zealousideal_Draw_94@reddit
Kid in the ‘80’s, adult in the ‘90’s. Of course I enjoyed the freedom of adulthood more.
81FXB@reddit
Definitely 80ies. 90ies is when everything started to go downhill
EstimateAgitated224@reddit
Well my age in the 90s but the rest of the 80s
Randeth@reddit
80s for sure. But I'm an early GenX (1968) so that was my prime growing years. By the time the 90s got going I was already married and out of college.
ExtremeJujoo@reddit
All the 80s and early 90s. Mid to later 90s…pffft
Lunch_Sack@reddit
1980s, the 15 year decade
PsychologicalRip6998@reddit
That’s so tough…. 90s
But latchkey 80s was the bomb!
Appropriate-Ad2307@reddit
I loved both, but came of age in the 90s so it's an easy choice
Jld114@reddit
I feel like this is pretty dependent on when people came of age. I’d venture to guess most people look back on their late teens - early twenties as being more enjoyable . For me that was the nineties
SnooCamera@reddit
80's. Music, everything. Highschool, off to active military duty for a short time for training. By the time the end of 90s rolled around, I was married twice, had lived in 3 states and was doing the adult grind.
scd@reddit
I constantly miss the ‘90s. Everything has been downhill since then.
Weird-Girl-675@reddit
That would be my favorite as well.
BuDu1013@reddit
It was all good!
count_strahd_z@reddit
80s because I didn't have to go to work.
Erazzphoto@reddit
80s, I was a kid with no responsibilities other than being a kid. The 90s is when adult life began,and with it came responsibilities, which aren’t that great when you’re a 22 year old
snarf_the_brave@reddit
80s no question. Hit my 20s in 90 and spent too much time working to survive to really enjoy the 90s.
kperry1270@reddit
Mid eighties to mid nineties
ChiefinLasVegas@reddit
Listen to your parents, we agree with them.
blackpony04@reddit
Umm...both, sorta.
I'm a 1970 kid, so my experience with both decades coincided with my coming of age. I mean, age 10-20 and 20-30 are very different yet significant life stages, so defining the decades evenly isn't really possible for me. So, I would consider 1985 to 1995 to be my favorite decade.
hesathomes@reddit
Your parents are correct
rubysundance@reddit
I was born in 1969. I was a teenager in the 80s and in my 20s in the 90s. Both were great in their own way. The 90s probably win by a small amount. My wife and I got married in 1994 and the next 5 years where great.
HigherTed@reddit
Movies: 80s Music: 90s
elidan5@reddit
90s. I was out of my parents’ house and starting to figure who I really was.
nelgallan@reddit
Late 80s early 90s was peak.
Diocletion-Jones@reddit
Teenage years in the 80s, twenties in the 90s. Teenage years were all about computer games and movies, my twenties were about women and wine. They both had their ups and downs for different reasons.
ihatepickingnames_@reddit
I don't remember much about the 90s because I spent too much time working. No work/life balance in my 20s.
EPCreep@reddit
It feels like humanity peaked in the 90s. We’ve been going downhill since.
hippiechick725@reddit
Both were totally awesome, but like, in different ways.
Alternative_Wait8256@reddit
Kid 80s, teen 90s.. both were great but in hindsight the 90s were peak, everything since he gone downhill.
I_AM_ME-7@reddit
90’s for sure.
jmg733mpls@reddit
90s. Forever.
TheSpatulaOfLove@reddit
People wax nostalgic for the 80s, but I much preferred the 90s.
Tech was advancing rapidly and offered hope for an enlightened, connected world.
Extreme hairspray / glue styles went away
Society became more environmentally conscious
I laughed at the line in the Matrix when Morpheus said the 1990s were the peak of human civilization. I look back now and I agree with that line now.
Sad_Apple_3387@reddit
Must be an old Gen X. As a younger Gen X, 90s all day long. They did a study on nostalgia for different times and people always love the time they were teens. As a child, you don’t have control or a sense of anything really so even if you enjoyed some things you probably don’t remember them correctly. Early 90s best time ever.
New-Sheepherder2239@reddit
I had so much going on in the 90s; college, first full time jobs, marriage. I think I group those things in those categories rather than lumping them into “The 90s”
Ulivoumbro@reddit
Lots of nostalgia about the 80s. But the 90s was when I experienced the most new experiences…graduating college, first real job, grad school, met my husband, finally some financial freedom and getting married. So I look back at both decades with very different feelings.
gunscythe@reddit
1980’s!!!! There was so much freedom and it felt so natural. Society started to change after that. The 90s brought in the keyboard warriors.
The-Many-Faced-God@reddit
I'm gonna say 84-94 was the best 10 year period - mostly for the music & films.
Werewoof_of_London@reddit
I was a kid in the 80's and an adult in the 90's, Both enjoyable - just in different ways!
Red_Falcon_75@reddit
For me the 90's. I was 18 in 1993 and I was in college.
Concert Tickets were dirt cheap for most band so I went to hundreds of concerts.
I learned to ski and I spent the summer of 1995 hiking from Pittsfield, Massachusetts down to Philadelphia.
I was best man at my youngest sister's wedding.
ThreedZombies@reddit
Anything past 2007 sucks
ilikecats415@reddit
Late Gen X (Xennial) with a Gen Z kid. I prefer the 90s. I was in HS and college for much of the 90s and I had a ridiculously good time being young.
SummerNights83@reddit
I think it depends how old you were. I’m an early GenX born in 1966 - the 80s were high school, university and early adulthood for me. I met my husband in 1990 and was married and a homeowner in 1992. I think many of us get nostalgic for the period in our lives when we were old enough to have fun, but before the weight of full adulthood with its responsibilities kicked in. My husband is 5 years older than me and remembers his early 20s in Australia with heavy rose-tinted glasses.
It’s the time in our lives, not the actual period. At least that’s my theory. :)
cCriticalMass76@reddit
I was in elementary school in the 80s so the 90s is when I had the most fun. That being said, the 80s felt more free. That’s back when HS students had a designated smoking area 😂
sullen_peggy@reddit
We sure did!
Curlypeeps@reddit
80s were more sexist and homophobic.
cagirlinoh@reddit
As a Gen X with Gen Z kids I think the music of the 90’s was pretty strong. It marked a different approach in writing and performance, and alternative/ grunge was the perfect counterpoint to the indulgence of the 80’s.
Fritzo2162@reddit
I really REALLY enjoyed the 80s. I was making decent money for being a teen, I had my own car ('84 Mustang GT with t-tops I bought myself), I had a really good band that had potential, had lots of confidence, and I remember finding something hysterically funny every single day.
The 90s hit, adulting hit, responsibilities hit, family life hit, bills hit....it was the end of an era.
CorsairExtraordinair@reddit
80s was high school for me, 90s was my roaring 20s.
I much preferred the 90s.
197willow@reddit
Born 1970. 70s, 80s very nostalgic but 90s were the most fun and what I would return to. Clubbing it up!!
craigechoes9501@reddit
For me the '80s were great, but I prefer the '90s because that was my high school and college years, so I was growing up and getting more freedom which was fun. And the music ruled in the '90s
Read_The_Fing_Manual@reddit
GenX parent of a millennial and cusp zoomer - 80’s by a mile (mostly because I was in HS and college and there is no digital record of anything I happened to get up too!)
KellyzKillaz@reddit
As I'm an earlier GenX, 80s is where it was at for myself. My childhood was the 70s, my teens the 80s and the 90s was where I had to start adulting. I always felt grunge music mostly blew. There was some good stuff in there, but a lot of whining, gloom and overall just blah. As a more upbeat person, I never really dug the 90s much. The 90s felt like the cops coming in to ruin the party of the 70s and 80s. I'm with your parents, 70s and 80s for the win.
psiprez@reddit
1980's!!!
toqer@reddit
I kind of feel like the 80's was a long, slow, drawn out death that suddenly got revitalized in the 90's. GHW wasn't quite as charismatic as Reagan was, and it just kind of felt like things stalled after 88. When Clinton was elected, we got new music (grunge) new styles, new TV shows, everything. We still had malls. The only thing missing was teen night clubs, but by that time I was already 18.
The hope, optimism, and money that rolled out between 93 and 2000 was insane. It was so easy to find work or switch jobs then. Tech wasn't seen as the end of humanity like it is today.
Tls-user@reddit
I am so glad I was born in 1969 and was a teen in the 80’s!!
DDlg72@reddit
Late 70s n 80s
chimpyjnuts@reddit
Graduated college in '89. 80's were fun, but I was poor. In the 90's I had money. They were both still better than today :(
Motor_Struggle_3605@reddit
90s - I was in college for half the decade. Best years of my life.
x86_64_@reddit
For music, movies and TV the 80s ruled.
For the lifestyle, technology, economy and affordability, the 90s ruled.
Dyno198@reddit
I'll take the '80s over the '90s. Being a little kid in the '70s yeah it was fun. Got to do whatever. I wanted to do the clothes too. Yeah got to dress weird back then and looked cool
TheLastMongo@reddit
80s, by the time the 90s started I was grown, graduated and in the military so I just left it to the next generation. Never realized that the 90s were also part of the GenX experience until later.
La_Mano_Cornuta@reddit
Born in '70. 1980's between those two. I was a teen-ager with a car and part-time job living free with few cares in the world. By the 90's, was fully in the you're stuck working until retirement or you die (which ever comes first), not dead, still working.
bukayodegaard@reddit
90s all the way. I was born in 75 tho, so the 90s was our time.
80s was great for kids stuff but otherwise so cheesy.
BeLikeDogs@reddit
I kinda checked out in the 90s, popular culture- and music-wise. But really, was it that monumental? I don’t think it compares with the 70s and 80s.
SomePeopleCallMeJJ@reddit
Whatever period it was when you were a teenager and early adult is probably going to be what you pick, so it's going to depend on which end of the Gen-X spectrum you're closer to.
The late '70s did have the best music, that's for sure. :-)
ONROSREPUS@reddit
early 90's for me. I was a late bloomer.
MonkeyMan18975@reddit
Same for me. The 90s were my peak human experience thanks to an overbearing fundamentalist mom.
Kimber80@reddit
80s
OnehappyOwl44@reddit
Mid to late 80's.