Halcyon Days

[WWFChilli]

What were your Halcyon Days of youth? When you had less responsibility, you could stay out during summer holidays. School cred was based on your threads/lunchbox, Saturday night TV, kids non alcohol club nights. Video shops. Everything.

 

It's something I've been thinking about recently. Obviously we have so much at our fingertips now its mad, but this is a thread for discussion of a simpler time. The growing years. What are your Halcyon days?

[Sergio Mendacious]

Don't really remember my Halcion days of yore, it's all a blur, but I'm sure they were great.

[The Gaffer]

We were insane repeat offenders for skiving off school, and both my parents worked all day, so my house became one of the go to places for a small group of us to hang out in the mornings. Those are the biggest halcyon, misspent youth memories that come to mind. Four or five of us in my mums kitchen skinning up and making tea for each other, meltybrains by noon taking turns on San Andreas with Tiesto and Infected Mushroom going on the YouTube.

 

We'd all disperse in to town late in the afternoon to shake off the mongyness and then blearily return to our homes with a pleasant reality settling slowly in. 

 

"How was school?"

"Brilliant, thanks for the toast. Goin' bed."

[Gus Mears]

The summer after we all got our GCSE results was the best of my life and it's brutally depressing that it's never likely to get that good again.  Every day just seemed to be some house party or camp out in some field, bad quality drugs, bad quality cider, awkward sex and inevitably the police being called by some poor neighbour. I couldn't be bothered to get a summer job, so spent most of the time scrimping money so I could afford 6 litres of Frosty Jack's for £5 from Iceland.

 

You never thought that summer would end, the weather was superb throughout (in my head at least). Then, of course, it did end. I ended up being the only out of our close group who chose/got the grades to continue at a Grammar School and we all slowly drifted away. It's a horrifying thought that I'll never have that lack of responsibility again until within a hairs breadth of death.

[Mr.E]

End of high school/college for me

 

Following school finishing and me getting my GCSE's, I spent what felt like the longest summer in history, milling about with friends on push bikes, lounging about in the park, generally having fun like a kid, probably for the final time. Me and my friends spoke of future plans, how we'd always hang out/go to uni together/etc, and generally acted like nothing else in the world mattered

 

By the time College rolled around, we all took different courses and most of them I've never spoken too again in all honesty. I spent most of this time acting awkwardly around girls, finally getting a girlfriend and falling for her very hard, (which later caused many issues for me personally, as she wasn't a very nice person, it turned out), breaking up with said girlfriend, discovering drinking (by the time college finished) and generally staying up real late watching the "late late" movies on bbc2 or channel 4. Got my first full time job around that time, and didn't act very grown up about it (turning into work with a hangover most days), until I jacked it in some 12 months later.

[Lenin]

Early years at uni. Commuted from home with my mate. Friday/Saturday used to go round each others houses, bottle of Jack or Southern Comfort, choose songs for a playlist, watch classic wrestling matches before heading into town to meet the gang. Terrific banter, terrific feeling that things would always be this way and then one day it wasn't. And it sucks majorly. Nothing screams adult life like not being able to arrange one night out due to family/work.

[Kaz Hayashi]

I was a horrid prick for my lovely parents, not intentionally, but I had older friends (2-3 years older) from about the age of 13. I was bang in to my skating, hip hop and rock n roll, not many were in my neck of the woods, so the ones that were knocked about.

Started smoking, drinking and getting monged at around 14, fucked up the last 2 years of school, dossed about until I was about 20... waste of years. But because I fucked it up, I assumed I couldn't achieve, rather than couldn't be arsed.

Moved away and started college from scratch, went to uni and got a first, so proved myself wrong.

21-24 were Fucking incredible years, I was living with my band at the time, studying music and doing well, all the while drink and other things were still in abundance, but I had direction.

Knocked all narcotics on the head in mid 20's, and now I enjoy a occasional craft beer because I'm one of those.

Honestly though, 14-24 was Fucking crackers, really fun, depressing at times, a blue in many places, and I wouldn't change any of it.

 

All has been pretty sweet for the last 10 years, married with child enroute, great job, own a house... I have no idea how I managed to pull this out of the bag if truth be told based on my decade of destruction, but I'm so thoroughly grateful.

[bAzTNM#1]

I remember being slagged off by the teachers for being a chubby lad, which wouldn't really be on these days.

[Guest]

Because the kid would knife them, probably.

[SpursRiot2012]

Around the end of school, after getting my GCSE results. By that point, you had your core group of mates and everyone was past caring about the stupid shit you cared about a couple years previous. I got shitty grades but I didn't care. I was young, still able to drink without going crazy, had yet to encounter more than weed and we were all just completely care free. I actually feel depressed every year when GCSE results come out and it's mentioned on the news. It reminds me of that time and how much time has passed and how I'm 30 in a few months and haven't achieved very much, haven't experienced as much as I perhaps would have liked to and have too many responsibilities.