The Decade that Was

Well everyone else was doing one, so I thought I would too.

2000 -
  • Turned 18 - party time!
  • Finished Year 12 and got my HSC - again, party time!
  • Sydney Olympics, the best party Sydney has seen without a doubt.
2001 -
  • Went to Uni for 6 months, pretended to go to Uni for 6 months
  • My grandmother, the greatest, passed away, funeral was on my 19th birthday
2002 -
  • Got my first ever job selling Optus products door-to-door - Worst. Job. Ever!
  • Got my second job working in a Bible bookshop in the City
  • Met the love of my life, Mr.P
2003 -
  • Partied
  • Took a lot of drugs
  • Partied some more and turned 21
2004 -
  • Did a bit more partying, but started to settle down a bit - ie. didn't go on 48hr benders every weekend
  • Got my third job, working for the Chain Bookstore
  • Mum got re-married
2005 -
  • Started putting on weight
  • Quit smoking
  • Dad got re-married
2006 -
  • Quit working full-time at the Chain Bookstore and went to casual
  • Got a new job with book importer & distributor as the office all-rounder, known as Kylie Can-Do
  • Got engaged
2007 -
  • Got promoted to sales rep
  • Celebrated 5 amazing years with Mr.P by...
  • ...buying our very first house! Signed the contracts on our anniversary
2008 -
  • Lost 15 kilos
  • Got married on our 6th anniversary
  • Went to Fiji on our honeymoon, first overseas trip for both of us
  • Got promoted to Special Sales Manager
2009 -
  • Started a blog
  • My sister got married and I got to be bridesmaid for the first time ever!
  • My grandfather, also the greatest, passed away
So that was my decade in 30 points or less!

Before I go I just want to ask you a question. You know how there are things that happen in history, where you will always remember exactly where you were and what you were doing when you first found out?

My memory like that for the 90's would be finding out Princess Di had been killed. I was 15 and my grandmother's church's 50th anniversary when I overheard her saying to someone how tragic and sad something was, and those poor boys. From what I could gather I thought she might have been talking about Princess Di. I went and found my Mum and asked her and she told me, she'd been killed in a car accident. I think the reason I remember it so well is because Prince William and I share a birthday, and all I could think was how horrible it must be for him, to be 15 and his mothers has dies, thought about how I would feel if it was my Mum. Sad day.

There were moments like that in the noughties too. The three that stick in my mind are -
  1. September 11 - I was sitting with my girlfriend in the computer room, playing Sims and watching Rove Live, it was about 11pm, and in the ad break they had a news update saying a plane had hit the WTC. We were like, woah, how does that happen? Then went back to playing the game. 5 mins later and another ad break, with speculation it could be a terrorist attack. They crossed live to the US, I think it was NBC or something and they said another plane had crashed. From then on I didn't move from the screen for about 4 hours and bawled my eyes out when the towers fell, knowing I was watching the deaths of thousands of people at that very moment and there was nothing that could be done to save them.
  2. War in Iraq - I was sitting in the Town Hall food court in the City on my lunch break when the screens went to a news broadcast to say that the US was going to invade Iraq. Felt weird hearing a decleration of war in a foodcourt on my lunch break.
  3. Michael Jackson's death - Obviously it wasn't that long ago, but I was a huge fan of his music. I got up to get ready for work in the morning and Mr.P was watching the Today show and he told me he was dead. I didn't believe him at first as there had been a hoax report about him dying before, maybe the year before. But then I saw the tv and knew it wasn't a hoax and I felt sad. As sad as you can about someone you don't know dying. More a sympathy for his family and children.
So that's it. What are your moments in history that you'll always remember where you were when you first heard the news?

Here's to a fantastic 2010 everyone!

Comments

Mia said…
But the decade still has a year to go.
See I was wondering about that! I was under the impression that 2010 would be the last year of the decade and then everyone started going on about it. I remember in year 11, 1999, and everyone was carrying on about the millenium, and my English teacher said that the first year of the new millenium was actually 2001.
Mia said…
Most people are bad at math. Decades go from 1 to 10, not 0 to 9.
Bill said…
There are mathematical decades and cultural decades. Of course the century and millennium began with 2001, but tell people that 1990 was the last year of the 80s and they'll look at you strangely, even if they get the point. Since the 80s couldn't finish soon enough, I'm happy to give them that one.

To answer your question, my first such moment was the murder of John Lennon. Although I had heard of the Beatles at the time, I wasn't old enough to know them all by name. I remembered it first because it was my first experience of mass shock at an event. And I also remember it for it prompting a mini-lecture from Dad about how this is why he wouldn't let me play with toy guns.

With Sept 11, I was doing much the same as you, only I was watching The West Wing. These days, I guess it's easier to know what we were doing because it's usually sitting around a TV screen.

I remember where I was when I heard about Michael Jackson because I was at the airport waiting to meet my dearest, so it was already an emotionally busy day.

By the way, I know where I was when you were born. I was sick that night and as a treat, I was allowed to keep the radio on all night and they had hourly updates.

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