Would You Go Back In Time?

[Busguy2010]

I often wonder, if I could put myself and my shoes back in time, and I'm not talking just earlier on in my, or any of our lives, but way back. Like late 1800's and prior to WWII.

Do you think, with all the modern niceties we have now, would you be able/want to spend maybe a year or two in those times?

No car, no TV, barely any sports, barely any electricity, no supermarkets no gas stations, no interstate, no airplanes. Just a completely different world.

I daydream about it sometimes. I just wonder how different life would be had I been born back then. Better, worse? In which ways? I just kinda wish I could experience simpler times.

Not only that but some of the buildings they pulled off way back in that time are all the more impressive when you think about what little they had compared to now.

I always dream about going back to 1920 or something, buying a humble Sears house, getting a plot of land, and building that thing with my own hands.

Oh well, can't do it. But does anybody else kinda wonder/wish things were simple? You don't have constant contact, don't always have the TV or your phone to turn to for immediate info, don't have a car to drive, insure, and maintain, etc. It was totally different then.

So the question is, what do you imagine you would you do?

[skinzfan23]

Haha, love the thought. I think about this as well. Obviously Back to the Future helps to visualize some of it, but it would be way different. I think it would be hard to not be able to pull out my phone and check the weather or sports scores. But sometimes, being more simple makes you appreciate things more. So in that regard, I think it would be nice. But then I start to think about possibly having to work in a factory for 10-12 hrs for little pay and some of the other things we take for granted now that make life so much easier.

It is definitely something to think about (although it won't happen) it is cool to kinda put yourself in the shoes of someone from a different era.

[nebugeater]

I think a lot would depend on whether you went back in time and lived in that era, not knowing what the future was, vs. having a comparison to what life is like today

[WorldStreet]

As a fan of time-travel movies and novels, I would be like to go back to any time after antibiotics were available with the condition that I only go back for one month, can take a drone with me, and still remember everything from my future life while I'm away.

[Busguy2010]

It would definitely be tough going back with the knowledge of what we have now. No phone in the pocket, no TV, no microwave, no washer/dryer, no dishwasher, potentially no refrigerator, no AC, no car, no supermarkets, coal furnace.

But, they had a workaround all that. I wonder if having to compensate for not having all those conveniences made them more engaged in general.

It would be tough. But on the other hand, If I were actually born back then, I think I'd be fine. As long as I have basic electricity, gas, and plumbing, a bike, some gardening tools, various woodworking hand tools, some books. All of which they had back then. I think I'd be pretty good. I'd have been a woodworker for sure. Furniture makers held a lot more value back then. You can still find some work here and there, but its not easy. Its mostly a hobby nowadays, but Ive made most of the furniture I have. I think that's the real reason I wish I could go back, cause I'd have a job that actually fulfills my greatest asset and my passion.

[Erik]

This is tough for me.

As a systems engineer, I am in love with today's graphics and simulations. Especially gaming.

I game on an RTX 4090 and plan on getting the RTX 6090. Gaming is special and im excited to see the progress.

I also love access to information. Since I tend to have a better understanding of how to navigate towards real information, its a boon for me. However, the downsides are very evident and overwhelming.

The amount of bad information overwhelms raw, value data. This is what the masses have access to. I cannot even begin to explain how many times a day I am gaslit for not believing that garbage. Its very bad.

I do want to go back to a day where I can truly seperate from others. I no longer want to be around people at all.

[Garrett]

Most of human history sounds generally miserable. For as rough as current events are, the last 30 years or so are still more or less the best time to be alive in America, doubly so for most of the planet.

[Bob from Omaha]

Most of human history sounds generally miserable. For as rough as current events are, the last 30 years or so are still more or less the best time to be alive in America, doubly so for most of the planet.

I look at this from a much longer frame of reference than you Garrett. I also have the benefit of parents born in the 1930s. They told me stories about growing up and their experiences. I have to say that miserable is a relative statement.

My parents grew up during the depression and certainly that was a hard time. BUT to them, growing up in Omaha and not Europe, things kept getting better. For example, my father and his parents drove to the New York World's Fair in 1939. My father said there was an exhibit that included long distance phone calls. His aunt called home and spoke to her husband. Both of my parents spoke of constant change. Cars, food, improvements in quality of life. They also had streetcars and almost all shopping was downtown. They didn't have a lot of cash but they enjoyed growing up and experiencing life in the mid 40's to the 50's. It was a time of huge change. Cars, television, shopping, restaurants, food in general.

I was born in 1958. I grew up near 66th and Western, went to school at Western Hills, Lewis and Clark and Central High. I also rode my bike to Crossroads all the time. At Central my friends and I were all over downtown. There was still shopping then and the Old Market was really getting started. To me it was the best time to grow up. No cel phones, no cable tv, spending time with friends in person and doing things.

Back to your post. While I can assume what the basis might be I'd still like to know how the past 30 years are more or less the best time to be alive in America. If you're going to talk about technology I'm not sure that's really correct. While my generation didn't have the cel phones and computers we had a freedom that your generation generally didn't. For example, my parents had no idea where I was a lot of the time but didn't freak out when I got home after dark. All my mom would say was "Did you have fun?" These days that would have included an Amber Alert.

[Garrett]

Most of human history sounds generally miserable. For as rough as current events are, the last 30 years or so are still more or less the best time to be alive in America, doubly so for most of the planet.

I look at this from a much longer frame of reference than you Garrett. I also have the benefit of parents born in the 1930s. They told me stories about growing up and their experiences. I have to say that miserable is a relative statement.

My parents grew up during the depression and certainly that was a hard time. BUT to them, growing up in Omaha and not Europe, things kept getting better. For example, my father and his parents drove to the New York World's Fair in 1939. My father said there was an exhibit that included long distance phone calls. His aunt called home and spoke to her husband. Both of my parents spoke of constant change. Cars, food, improvements in quality of life. They also had streetcars and almost all shopping was downtown. They didn't have a lot of cash but they enjoyed growing up and experiencing life in the mid 40's to the 50's. It was a time of huge change. Cars, television, shopping, restaurants, food in general.

I was born in 1958. I grew up near 66th and Western, went to school at Western Hills, Lewis and Clark and Central High. I also rode my bike to Crossroads all the time. At Central my friends and I were all over downtown. There was still shopping then and the Old Market was really getting started. To me it was the best time to grow up. No cel phones, no cable tv, spending time with friends in person and doing things.

Back to your post. While I can assume what the basis might be I'd still like to know how the past 30 years are more or less the best time to be alive in America. If you're going to talk about technology I'm not sure that's really correct. While my generation didn't have the cel phones and computers we had a freedom that your generation generally didn't. For example, my parents had no idea where I was a lot of the time but didn't freak out when I got home after dark. All my mom would say was "Did you have fun?" These days that would have included an Amber Alert.

I'd say "Generally miserable" would cover things pre-1940 in particular, and a lot of my wariness of anything beyond the last 30 years is also just reflective of my own existence as a gay man.

For pre 1940s, my grandma had multiple siblings who died young. Medicine as we know it was just not a thing, and then there are all of the particularly brutal wars to add in on top of that. I'm not saying people didn't enjoy their lives or have good times, but they also had to worry about a lot of bad things we don't today. And that's not even accounting for the rest of the world.

[Busguy2010]

Back to your post. While I can assume what the basis might be I'd still like to know how the past 30 years are more or less the best time to be alive in America. If you're going to talk about technology I'm not sure that's really correct. While my generation didn't have the cel phones and computers we had a freedom that your generation generally didn't. For example, my parents had no idea where I was a lot of the time but didn't freak out when I got home after dark. All my mom would say was "Did you have fun?" These days that would have included an Amber Alert.

Hey, I grew up just on the other side of the district line in that same area, so I went to district 66 schools, but it sounds like we did a lot of the same things in the same area, only about 30 years apart. I'd have loved to walk a mile in your shoes back in that era, just to see what the neighborhood was like, what the dynamic was like. I'm kinda disappointed I only got to spend a short portion of my life before everything changed so rapidly. I used to ride my bike and ride the bus to Crossroads, and Downtown as an 8 year old, by myself, no cell phone, just a little bit of cash. Nowadays that'll get CPS called on your parents lol. And well, unfortunately there are valid concerns of dangers that apparently, in my experience, I didn't have to worry about back then.

I definitely don't think the last 25 or so years are the best time to live. Something changed around 2000. Hard to pinpoint it exactly. Maybe the internet, but something reaaaaallllllyyy changed with smart phones in the mid 2000's, and then Facebook, or social media in general. Video games too. We used to have to go to Family Fun Center to play video games, but at least it got us out into the world. It's just not the same as it was. People who never knew anything different probably would think this is the best. I feel bad for anybody that never had the chance to experience life before all those things (among others that I cant think of atm).

I hear from all sorts of people who were kids, teens, young adults, or well into their adulthood in the 80's & 90's and It sounds pretty much the consensus is that time period was the best.

[Busguy2010]

I do want to go back to a day where I can truly seperate from others. I no longer want to be around people at all.

You and me both. I think a lot of the appeal of the idea is there are less people. Not that I don't like people, im just not a socialite. My theory is because, as with all things, more quantity = less quality.

[Busguy2010]

I'd say "Generally miserable" would cover things pre-1940 in particular, and a lot of my wariness of anything beyond the last 30 years is also just reflective of my own existence as a gay man.

Although everybody fares differently, you couldn't say you'd be unaccepted. I have a 63 year old friend who is gay, and he has NEVER been shy about it lol. He told me his dad took him fishing when he was 4, and that's when everybody knew he was gay. And from that point forward he never hid it. He's told me many stories, and I can guarantee you, the 80's were a trip for him lol.

[Stan]

I think it would be cool and yet scary to go back in time. You'd be exposed to all sorts of bacteria and viruses that you haven't been exposed to in your life and you'd probably come back bringing the plague.

If anything, I wish I could go back to living a week as a kid again in the early to mid 90s. I had a great upbringing and it'd be real nice to just live in that carefree mindset again.

[Busguy2010]

I think it would be cool and yet scary to go back in time. You'd be exposed to all sorts of bacteria and viruses that you haven't been exposed to in your life and you'd probably come back bringing the plague.

If anything, I wish I could go back to living a week as a kid again in the early to mid 90s. I had a great upbringing and it'd be real nice to just live in that carefree mindset again.

You get to choose what time you'd go back to and at what age.

I too would love to go back to the 90's as a kid. I'd also like to go back to the 80's as a young adult. I'd probably go back to the 50's as a father. I'd also probably go back to the 20's as a young adult. The only periods I wouldn't want to experience post 1900, are the depression, through the 40's, wouldn't want to be of draft age in the 60's. And quite honestly... Now is also one one of those periods :/ Which is why I started the thread.

[mrsticka]

I wouldn't mind going back to the 70's and 80's. Seeing what Omaha was like back then.

[Busguy2010]

The Terminator just got suggested to me, and I don't mind if I do! I just watched the intro, which I had never really taken in. And oh shiz, we only have 3 more years before robots eradicate us all!

In seriousness, its crazy to think watching this movie as a kid, not even knowing what date the movie depicts the SHTF, and we're almost there. Time flies.

With how much AI has become a part of our lives in even just like the last year or two, its hard not to think "They made a movie about this ya know" lol 42 years ago.

[ricko]

I’d love to go back to 1950’s Omaha, but just to explore the places we’ve lost, and only for a few days. Most of the young people at the time had a lot more freedom; I remember taking the #9 bus (for 15 cents)to either downtown South Omaha or downtown Omaha with friends, who were as young as 12 at the time, to see a movie (35 cents); sometimes double feature, with a cartoon and newsreel, after which we would go to any number of places for burgers and fries . The whole day would run us about a buck. People were different back then; in some ways better, but in most ways worse. People tended to stick with their ethnic/racial/religious tribes and casual bigotry was just accepted as normal, and you were generally ostracized if you didn’t agree. I think people in general are more emotionally mature today than ever; adult tantrums were much more common back then. Because of the digital age, people are exposed to the world like never before, and much more aware of everything.

[Busguy2010]

Most of the young people at the time had a lot more freedom; I remember taking the #9 bus (for 15 cents)to either downtown South Omaha or downtown Omaha...

I'd love to hear more about that. The 9 that was around when I was a kid was the south 24th route. Guessing it was similar back then? What was your stop?

I didn't grow up there, but as a kid in the 90's even, I got around the whole city, by myself as an 8-12 year old. No cell phone, nothing but a wad of 1's and a pocket full of change. Its funny, I'd just walk out of the house and be gone for half a day and my parents weren't worried sick. They'd basically be like "oh there you are". ts crazy how things changed. Kids nowadays typically can't go out without a chaperone of some sort.

I'd typically walk to Crossroads, or Family fun center with a friend or two. Sometimes West Lanes. Sometimes I'd get ambitious and go visit my great grandma up in Florence, unannounced, as a 9 year old kid, riding the bus by himself through North Omaha, with nothing to go off but a paper schedule and memory. She was happy when I'd just show up now and then with some KFC after crossing 30th street.

I'd also take the 1 to the 15 and go out to Oakview when it was decently worth going to... there was a shop that sold sticker books, of all things (I was 8yrs) haha. That was my JAM. I'd take half a day to get some sticker books and a meal from Sbarro. Not once did anybody ask "where are your parents?" I guess i musta looked like I knew what I was going heh. Well, I did.

I could be wrong, but just observing the city today, most kids are just not autonomous like that anymore. Maybe their parents don't let them, or maybe they just don't have it. Probably too much time on the electronics for character building, my guess.

[ricko]

The #9 bus, which no longer exists, was what we took to downtown South Omaha or downtown Omaha. My stop was the corner of 36th & Q St.. busses were pretty reliable and often SRO during peak hours. In working class families, cars were considered a luxury, and most of us got around with bikes and buses. Parents almost never drove their kids anywhere.

[Busguy2010]

When I was exploring the city as a kid, thinking back now, Downtown South Omaha, 24th between L was a hot bed for transit activity. This was even before the South 24th revival.

Walking along 24th, any given rush hour, you could see a dozen buses in a short time. It had the 7, 9, 13, 17, and 40.