Picture from Pixabay. Because pretty.

Replies to this week’s questions at The Friday Five @ Dreamwidth.

1. What toys were popular when you were a kid?

Um, barbies? I’ve no idea! I don’t recall noticing toys that were popular, and wanting them… I myself had this doll that I called Mollamaija that was hugely important to me, but I never saw anyone else have it. Barbies are the only toys I can remember seeing every family having. Even I had one! Although I almost never played with it.

Now thinking about it, I don’t remember what toys I played with, other than the two pistols my Dad made for me from wood because I loved playing Indians and cowboys, or cops and robbers, or other adventures where a gun was needed. What I do remember is that I, my best friend (a girl) and all the boys read comics… other girls didn’t read comics except for Aku Ankka (Donald Duck) which didn’t count as comics reading as far as I’m concerned. Comics are/were things like Tarzan, The X-Men, John Carter, Star Wars etc. etc. I also don’t remember wanting some particular toy in any particularly intense way. Hmm, I think I’ll have to ask Mom if she can remember if there were any toys I was really into.

2. What musicians were popular when you were a teenager?

Dingo, Duran Duran, Bon Jovi, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince, Whitney Houston, REM, Wham!, Paula Abdul, Laura Branigan (Self Cotrol only), New Kids On The Block, Tina Turner, Cyndi Lauper, David Bowie, Phil Collins, Bruce Springesteen, Whitesnake, Alice Cooper… there’s lot s and lots of others but these jumped first to my mind. Feels like I couldn’t turn the radio/tv on without one of them being played. Dingo was a Finnish band that was HUGE starting mid-80s

3. What unique personality traits do you think you have in common with others born around the same time as you?

A lot of us, around me at least, have experienced (and still are) unemployment a lot, and most of the people in my age bracket around me have had only poor paying part time or temp jobs. Just overall financial insecurity; a lot of us never made it to the level our parents are (even if they are only low/medium income) because steady jobs went away with the early 90s economic depression, made worse by emerging automatization and computerizing and right-wing politics. So we’ve had to find the meaning to our lives somewhere other than work, and value ourselves for other things than having a job, or what we can provide to an employer.

4. Do you think stereotypes about your generation are accurate?

I don’t know what the Gen X stereotypes are and can’t be bothered to google….

5. What do you admire about other generations?

I don’t admire any generation as a whole, only individuals such as my Grandma who went through the (Finnish) Winter War and Continuation War against Soviet Union around the same time as WW2 started. Or state leaders such as Churchill or Roosewelt without whom WW2 might have gone quite differently. Or individual people who give their time everyday helping others and you never hear about it in the news. I think mostly people do what they have to and what they can, with what they have.