As a Tuesday child, I was born on September 22nd, as a last-minute summer offer (astronomical autumn began at 6:04 a.m. local time on September 23rd, 1970, when 1 liter of gasoline still cost about 60 pfennigs).
“1970 – the year I decided to crash the party! While Apollo 13 was barely making it back, the first Boeing 747 was taking off, and Simon & Garfunkel were storming the charts with ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water,’ my contribution to world events was initially… well, mostly screaming and sleeping. After all, I was born into a time of cool music, wild wallpaper patterns, and flared trousers. Some say ‘old,’ I say ‘retro classics with excellent timing.'”
My personal journey through time – a brief overview while the world went crazy:
- 1974-1977 (Phase 1: Kindergarten – The Building Block Era): While Germany won the 1974 FIFA World Cup (yesss!) and US President Nixon stumbled over Watergate (oops!), my world primarily consisted of correctly matching wooden shapes and diplomatically resolving crayon conflicts. The founding of Apple in 1976 passed me by without a trace – my most advanced interface was a pot of finger paint. My biggest worry: Will my afternoon nap last until the next sandbox session?
- 1977-1981 (Phase 2: Elementary School – Pen Stains and Catching Baskets): The world experienced the “German Autumn” (1977), sent the Voyager probes on their epic journey, and gained a new pope in John Paul II. I, on the other hand, struggled with my multiplication tables, the perils of erasers, and the question of why my lunch was already gone. The introduction of daylight saving time in 1980 was more relevant to me personally than any political crisis – playing catch for an extra hour!
- 1981-1987 (Phase 3: Secondary School – Walkman, Pimples, and World Politics): While Helmut Kohl became Chancellor (1982), Gorbachev surprised Moscow with glasnost (1985), and the world collectively held its breath after Chernobyl (1986), my thoughts revolved more around the next hit on the radio (perfect for recording on cassette!), the shelf life of three-weather Taffeta, and how to discreetly ignore the math teacher. Admittedly, the news about rockets was disturbing, but hey, that’s what the Walkman was for! And Boris Becker won Wimbledon in 1985—that was important!
- 1987 – Present (Phase 4: Workplace – Coffee, Crises, and AI): Well, and then the serious business of life began. While walls fell (1989), the internet exploded, cell phones could suddenly take photos, euro coins clinked (2002), and what felt like a new global crisis was declared every five years (finance, viruses, energy, AI…), my main task often consisted of outsmarting the vending machine, paying bills on time, and wondering if I’d turned on the washing machine. World history is racing along at the speed of light—most of the time I’m just stuck in traffic, trying to figure out my navigation system.
Conclusion: World history is exciting, but sometimes the fight for the last swing in kindergarten was simply more important! 😉
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