It is a common circumstance for teenagers to wish they had been born a decade or two earlier. They complain about their generation and wish they could go back. “I belong there,” they say. They hate the trends now, they like fashion from past decades. Teenagers always say just how “cool” everything used to be. It’s me, I’m one of those teenagers.

Basically, what I’m saying is that I’m not the first, nor will I be the last, to wish that they could have been born in a different generation. If I had my pick, it would be awfully difficult.

Would I go back to the fifties? Would I go to sock hops in my poodle skirt and worship The Diamonds and Elvis? Would I go to the drive-in movie with my greaser boyfriend?

Or what about the sixties? Would I be listening to the Beatles and going to anti-war protests? Would I go to Woodstock?

Maybe the seventies, going to discos and listening to Aerosmith, or roller skating down the street.

Or the eighties, with the jazzercise and the hair metal and MTV. Would I use a can of hairspray every morning and peg my jeans?

Of course, the nineties were great too, grunge rock, clothes that are four sizes too big and denim-on-denim.

Every single decade brings a completely different vibe to the table. Each has their own problems, culture, trends, history, and so much more. I think it would be almost impossible for me to choose just one to experience.

While it is easy to look at just pop culture and decide which seems more fun, you must also take into account the advances we’ve made and what you’d be willing to part with.

Technology for one, would you rather never be introduced to it in the first place? Or do you appreciate it too much to want to live a life without it? Another point is political issues. Would I want to live during a time period that oppressed women and centered around a patriarchal society? Well, no, definitely not.

All in all, there is no way to reset time. You are born into the generation you’re stuck with, but do your best not to despise it too much. Yes, I just wrote a whole story about time periods I would like to see, but that doesn’t mean this generation is any less important or exciting. Make it your own, wear the clothes you want to wear because you like them, not because it’s what is popular. Listen to the music you want because it’s your own ears. Sure, the fashion and music changes over time, but there will always be high school memories, childhood friends, breakups, blockbuster movies, and top hits on the radio. There will always be kids that never want to grow up and kids that want to go back in time. But the times are not as different as you might think.

My Final Decision

The 80’s

This decade was nothing short of a ten year party. After the constant social revolutions that encapsulated the sixties and seventies, this decade was very much the opposite. There was now an emphasis on consumer goods and materialism, which is one aspect I wouldn’t particularly enjoy. However, this was just an overall great decade.

The movies were undoubtedly better, featuring a ton of classics that we continue to watch today. “The Breakfast Club,” “The Outsiders,” “Back to the Future,” “Ghostbusters,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “The Goonies,” “Die Hard,” “The Lost Boys,” I could probably write an entire story just on the movies alone. There was just something so raw about the coming of age stories, something so unsettling about the horror movies. They were just, for the most part, beautifully done.

As for the music, I may be biased being as though I was raised on 80’s rock. But it doesn’t take a genius to realize that this was revolutionary music. Nothing like it had ever been done before. Motley Crue, Guns N’ Roses, Skid Row, Twisted Sister, and Poison. The self-expression and rising androgynous style, the overall freedom of breaking the norm. And maybe rock isn’t your thing, but don’t worry. The 80’s had it all. There are so many classics that you could turn on right now and a good percentage of kids would still know every lyric, despite not growing up in that generation. Why? Because good things stick around. The 80’s were simply amazing.

The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the GENESIS staff. Email Rayna Minix at [email protected] .