Older men of reddit, how was life in your 20s, and how is it now by comparison?

15 comments

  1. I was 21 in 1994.

    The music was awesome. Concerts were full blown chaos with stage diving and running through the band while they didn’t even let up playing. Movies were awesome. Life was off the chain socially and new technology was starting to appear.

    I couldn’t have chosen a better time frame than to go through my 20’s in the 1990’s…it’s a wonder that any of us doesn’t have a ton of wild stories from that era.

    It’s just blah now. Society looks and feels different from then in countless ways.

  2. I was very social in my 20’s, going out every weekend, playing sport every weekend, when I wasn’t in a relationship I picked up often, wasn’t a dick about it though like some blokes, worked hard Monday to Friday & partied hard on weekends after sport, 30’s started to slow down a little & now due to health I have a very non social life.

  3. None of the 20 year olds today could survive being 20 when I was, well except for my son.and a few of his friends. 20 year olds are too soft now. Everything has to be a “condition” of some sort. For instance, liking to spend time with someone you love is “co-dependant”. For Christ sake, 20 year olds as emotionally muture as 12 year olds and can’t do shit for themselves.

  4. I have lived a fucking amazing life so far and wouldn’t trade it for the world.

    Biggest difference is that that women, drugs, alcohol, manual labor, and other physical vices I blasted through at 20 wreak fucking havoc on me for days now.

  5. 20’s, things were not too exciting, I lived at home, worked, had friends and got married at 26, then started having kids.

    Divorced in my 50’s, I have a fulfilling social circle, actively date, am athletic, and most importantly worked through so much mental health minor things that I am pretty happy. Also appreciate having skills dealing with people and life problems that I was sorely lacking back then. Just more confident & less nervous I would say.

  7. 1999 I was 22 years old and life was spontaneous.

    Cell phones had just started becoming main stream.

    Bars and night clubs is where I found myself. Drinking like a fish with my buddy’s, gambling all the time.
    Life was one big point spread.

    Lasted about 4 years, then it was time to get serious about a career.

    Now married 19 year with 3 kids- my life is work, barbecues and ball games.

    Now I’m 10 years out from retirement.

  8. 20s were much more spontaneous. Much more lively. When nobody’s job was of consequence and people actually had savings, you could just do whatever, fuck that job. Social media wasn’t prevalent and cell phones had crap cameras with minimal offload capabilities. So if you did something embarrassing, maybe 5 people saw it. Everything was less expensive compared to income, so you and your buddies with crap jobs could still pitch enough money and go get a room for a beach weekend. People would still make an event out of a weekly TV series.

    Life’s still good in my 40s but very different. I’ve got a family now and see my friends a couple times a week as opposed to every day. And we prefer to stay in and hang out at each other’s houses rather than go to the bars for the sake of going to the bars. Bars, for that matter are awful these days. There’s rarely just “the bar”, it’s always something. Trivia, Karaoke, and DeeeeeeeJaaaaaaay Can’tHearTheFuckingGuyRightNextToYouuuuuuuuu spinning his weird-ass off timed overlaps of two different tracks you don’t like togetherrrrrrrrr. Can I just get a beer and talk to some people? Maybe a game of pool?

  11. Back then the drugs were fantastic and now they suck . Quality control is out the window .

  12. 20s were fun. Made bank, spent stupidly. Tried to get an education but refused to grab my ankles.

    Now, meh. Make bank, save somewhat. Being forced to still get an education but refusing to grab my ankles.

  13. life was shit in my 20’s but it was life as I’d made it. All the potential in the world but too lazy to do anything with it. Didn’t appreciate hard work so did fuck all and then complained that life was shit. Was fit and strong but didn’t workout to the extent I do nowadays. I had a job that I hated and did the bare minimum to survive and subsequently was borderline poor. I didn’t go out much, I just liked chilling. Always had a girlfriend, always.

    Nowadays I’m fitter and stronger and enjoy working out. I have a job that I love and work hard to be successful and subsequently make decent money. I have friends and get out and life is the best that it’s ever been. I stay away from women in general, got too much to do to give enough time and attention to a woman right now.

    I was an idiot in my 20’s, wasted so much time. I just think of how big, strong, rich and successful if I had taken life more seriously 15 years ago instead of 5

  15. Life is so much easier in my 50s. In my 20s I was working and going to school while having and raising kids. Then went straight into a high stress, high workload job. Now, I have grandkids and an established job where I can control my hours. I actually make less now (when inflation is considered) but the demands on my income are dramatically less and I earn more than enough to fund my very happy, albeit modest, lifestyle.

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