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Person Wonders “What Eventually Disappeared Without Anyone Noticing?”, Receives 35 Various Replies
And yet, you must admit that Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for a reason! At least for the phrase The Times, They Are a-Changin', which perfectly embodies the ruthless flow of time. And indeed - just yesterday something or someone was literally on everyone's lips - and now it is already in the past. Just like Dylan himself...
But old Bob is still with us, and there are things that have disappeared completely without a trace, although it would seem that only yesterday they worried our minds and were of interest to the whole world. And this viral thread in the AskReddit community is dedicated to just such things. So please fasten your seatbelts, our time machine is about to dive into the misty depths of the past...
More info: Reddit
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#1
Fireflies aka *lightning bugs. I live rural and I used to see hundreds on a warm summer night. Now I get excited if I see just one. I mentioned it to other people who live in the same area as I do and they were just like "Huh. Yeah. You're right!"
RELATED:
Some of the things you'll find in this Bored Panda selection have lost their meaning simply because the phenomena they were directly associated with are gone. For example, telephone booths - just because there is no more need for street pay phones. Some have moved into the category of museum exhibits simply because they found a replacement - like video game cartridges. And some are still with us, but we do not pay the same attention to them as before.
#4
I never see swarms of Monarch butterflies anymore.
Saint Tim the Godless 1 year ago
We traded our monarch butterflies for billions of people that we don't need.
#5
Places children and teenagers can hang out without supervision
Almost sunny 1 year ago (edited)
Thanks to the wrong people! Edit: I meant obviously your there supervising but not watching them like a hawk every second, like I have had to do with my son because I was terrified of anything happening. My comments get taken way out of text people.
For example, postcards. Back in the '90s, postal services around the world sent millions and probably billions of postcards for festive occasions... and for no reason at all. But communication standards have changed several times since then - and who would think of waiting a whole week for a postcard when you can just call and see anyone's face on Zoom? Postcards have gradually become an anachronism - although you will agree that getting this small modest piece of cardboard with handwritten (another anachronism, isn't it?) words is still damn nice.
#9
Those coin-operated rocking horses you used to see in front of grocery stores.
By the way, have you noticed how we gradually forgot how to write by hand? Moreover, with the spread of voice messages, even the skill of typing is gradually losing its importance and significance. And still, nostalgia is not the same as grumpy lamentations, as it was good before. In the end, in the years of my student youth, when we had to take notes a lot, I would have literally sold my soul for one of the voice transcription services widely available nowadays...
#10
Having many Family photographs in homes.
Not completely gone, but homes used to be plastered in them. The only times I really notice them is in homes of older people.
Be that as it may, times are changing, and we are changing with them. And yes, for the first time this phrase was uttered back in the days of Ancient Rome, and it cannot be said that all the innovations of humanity since then have been to its detriment. So please feel free to scroll this list to its very end, enjoy this slightest touch of nostalgia and be sure - the best is yet to come!
#13
Longevity in careers – this is a big one nobody seems to have said.
Longevity in careers has largely gone away. People used to get a job and after being there for decades reap the benefits of being seasoned employees (higher salaries and better perks).
Maybe it’s because I work in the Entertainment industry, but I feel that longevity in careers has gone away. Meaning, people can be amazing at a job, but after 5+ years the employers start wondering if they could be doing better with a younger/cheaper candidate for the job.
I understand if you ever want to move up in a works place they expect you to bring your A-game, but 30+ years of being incredible is hard. Some years will be better than others, and if employers don’t have loyalty to their employees anymore, it is likely the good employee will be fired or let go at some point.
I feel like in recent decades this has forced many people who normally wouldn’t, to switch careers. Can someone work successfully up the ladder at any job without having to shift to another company for a promotion?
A combination of employers halting upward movement of their staff while they look for new employees to fill higher roles, and the fact that they “get bored” of their seasoned employees has largely killed the idea of anyone having a single career.
#14
The magnetic tape from a crushed audio cassette blowing across the sidewalks and roadways.
#15
Phone books
Jeffrey Keffer 1 year ago
Phone books !! I never had a personal phone book at one time I could remember like 20 different numbers .. Now I have a hard time remembering mine... the only number I still remember is the old time and temp number and it shut down in 2018 😞
StrangeOne 1 year ago
I want to get a new phone book. My stupid cordless tends to die and I'm not sure I trust the longevity of the battery. Cellphones can be easily broken, stolen, lost. I'd rather all the numbers I need be in a book, safe at home and accessible without technology. However, whip out a phonebook in front of someone and they act like you took your shoes off and started clipping your toenails over their plate of food. I don't get why people are so offended or upset over none tech stuff.
Robert T 1 year ago
That's not a phone book, BP. A phone book is printed by the telecoms company and lists home and business numbers in the local area. The kind the Terminator used to find Sarah Conor. The last one I got is titled 2020/21. It is very much thinner than it used to be as so many people are now ex-directory. I've never used it!
Glen Ellyn 1 year ago
I still have my personal phone book from a couple of decades ago. Every once in a while, I look through it and sadly realize how many people I've forgotten about or can't remember.
David 1 year ago (edited)
GOOD RIDDENCE! Soooo many wasted trees. They were great when we didn't have the internet and my telephone was not also a computer and data storage device. I can find any number in my local phone book in seconds via multiple online sources. In recent years the printed phone books finally stopped showing up at my mailbox. For probably the past 15 years at least the ritual has been - phone books show up (for a while I got three a year from different competitors). I place phone book in cabinet because MAYBE I will need it some day if the internet is down. Next year phone books arrive. I remove unused last year's phone books from cabinet and place in paper recycling and put new phone books in cabinet. Lather, rinse, repeat.
ThatBlackNightingale 1 year ago
I'm Gen Z but I made a phone book in case all my numbers accidentally become erased
Blyss Blyssylb 1 year ago
For phone numbers and addresses and to be used as booster seats! Now these relics can be found digitally under "contacts", booster seat option not available.
Kika González 1 year ago
I don't know an emergency number if I needed it and I know exactly who's number I should memorize
Deborah Rubin 1 year ago
Phone books. Those big volumes you could use to prop up furniture or use as a stepstool. And the numbers for time and weather...oh, I really miss those.
Michael Largey 1 year ago
What if you need a number for the first time - one that isn't saved on your phone?
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Five Years 1 year ago
I still get phone books, a quarter the thickness and the phone landline costs twice as much
Andy Frobig 1 year ago
The last Manhattan Yellow Pages I got, probably 7 or 8 years ago, was about the size of a Reader's Digest
Kristy Sambey 1 year ago
I have a book but it’s full of passwords, instead. I still remember my my home phone number from when I was 12, though.
#16
Walmart opened for 24 hours.
Bloobee bloobee bloo bloo bloo 1 year ago
As someone who works overnights I miss that so much. It was so nice to get off work and go shopping without my kids. Especially at Christmas/birthday time
#17
Epstein's client list
Ima Manimal 1 year ago
There’s some rich people who are very nervous about that……… time to spill the beans.
#20
my favorite illegal streaming websites
TheGoodBoi 1 year ago
I miss the days of being able to watch a new movie before it even comes out in theaters. Terrible quality but still lol
#21
Custom ringtones.
(obviously I know some people have them but we somehow went from virtually everyone having them to almost no one giving a s**t.)
Doctor Strange 1 year ago
I don't know anyone who Doesn't have them, save for my one friend's work provided phone.
#22
We're in the process of full size can of Arizona teas for $.99 disappearing.
I'm seeing a lot of places starting to carry the smaller plastic bottles for $.99 or the larger plastic bottles for more. I'm honestly surprised that they've lasted for this long at the same price.
#23
Postcards.
And not just in the usual places, like museum gift shops and tourist traps.
There was once a time when you could buy at any truck stop or roadside motel a postcard of the small town you were driving through. But not anymore.
No point when you can just text your friends a photo.
Bloobee bloobee bloo bloo bloo 1 year ago
I still see them. They are probably more prevalent in tourist areas tho
#24
Newspaper machines at random corners
Tina Kathrarg 1 year ago
Cigarette machines outside of stores & sometimes next to the gumball machines in store entrance. And the gumball machines were 1 cent for a handful of gum/candy or 5 cents for a plastic "egg" with some kind of toy in it.
#25
TV bumpers. There used to be a little sequence between the show and commercials. Some of them were really interesting and creative. I think my generation remembers the "wand IDs" on the Disney channel (where a Disney celeb would use a wand to make the logo). There were also bumpers that were PSAs or other actual content.
Edit: yes I watched THAT documentary on YouTube. It's amazing. Everyone go to Defunctland's channel and watch the one on the Disney channel jingle. Just trust me. Don't look up spoilers.
#27
"Ringback" tones or "CallerTunes". Where you could assign a song to play when people called you instead of them hearing ringing.
#28
The hole in the ozone.
#29
Lobster tanks in grocery stores! Not that I particularly want them back, but those are nostalgic af
#30
People fainting when something unexpected happens. And people carrying smelling salts for just such an occasion. It’s so 19th century…
#33
Blimps, helium is expensive and drones can do some of their missions.
#35
Sobe drinks.
What do you think ?
StrangeOne 1 year ago
"Punch buggy. No returns" Does anyone still do this whenever they see a Volkswagon Beetle?
Jeffrey Keffer 1 year ago
Some body down voted you I brought you back to even because it's true .. with the change of dog food to be healthier there is less bone meal meaning less calcium so as the 💩 dries it does not turn into a white glob of calcium rich excrement... And now you know and knowing half the battle G.I.Jooooooeee ( the other half is violence, orphan and widowmaking violence)
Load More Replies...
Samsquatch & Monko 1 year ago
Unrelated but once my dad went to a gardening type of store to by coconut husk for our urban worm farm and the cashier was acting like a high person and said “you know, it’s legal to grow w33d here in Canada, right?” In a very, very excited voice…
Johnny Ogden 1 year ago
#43 - Crop Circles. For decades they appeared all over the planet by the tens of thousands... And then... Surveillance cameras began appearing on poles around fields. Suddenly crop circles faded away. Not because aliens are camera-shy, but because the real sources - mathematically talented pranksters - could no longer do their thing without getting caught. Nearly everyone in my family swore they were signs from aliens and some still insist it, saying the aliens now work in politics. LOL
The Original Bruno 1 year ago
Yeah, the culprits have admitted how they do it.
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Littlemiss 1 year ago
Very true, often lingers then fades as if it were never once there.
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Huddo's sister 1 year ago
Now that's a good one, I had completely forgot!
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Marc 1 year ago
Check out people bagging your groceries. Give me a discount if I have to do it myself
Monday 1 year ago
That's still very much a thing here in South Africa. I can't think of a single shop that requires me to bag my own things. Most actively discourage customer bagging since frankly the staff are much better at efficiently bagging groceries.
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marianne eliza 1 year ago
A physical owner's manual for appliances, large and small. Now they want you to download an app instead. I don't do apps.
Huddo's sister 1 year ago
All the appliances I have bought still have them. Maybe it's country or only higher end ones that use an app?
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Patti Disbennet 1 year ago
No, I can't. If I click twice it just undoes it (is undoes a real word?)
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Huddo's sister 1 year ago
I still see it every once in a while, actually probably only once a year or two now I think about it.
Load More Replies... StrangeOne 1 year ago
"Punch buggy. No returns" Does anyone still do this whenever they see a Volkswagon Beetle?
Jeffrey Keffer 1 year ago
Some body down voted you I brought you back to even because it's true .. with the change of dog food to be healthier there is less bone meal meaning less calcium so as the 💩 dries it does not turn into a white glob of calcium rich excrement... And now you know and knowing half the battle G.I.Jooooooeee ( the other half is violence, orphan and widowmaking violence)
Load More Replies... Samsquatch & Monko 1 year ago
Unrelated but once my dad went to a gardening type of store to by coconut husk for our urban worm farm and the cashier was acting like a high person and said “you know, it’s legal to grow w33d here in Canada, right?” In a very, very excited voice…
Johnny Ogden 1 year ago
#43 - Crop Circles. For decades they appeared all over the planet by the tens of thousands... And then... Surveillance cameras began appearing on poles around fields. Suddenly crop circles faded away. Not because aliens are camera-shy, but because the real sources - mathematically talented pranksters - could no longer do their thing without getting caught. Nearly everyone in my family swore they were signs from aliens and some still insist it, saying the aliens now work in politics. LOL
The Original Bruno 1 year ago
Yeah, the culprits have admitted how they do it.
Load More Replies... Littlemiss 1 year ago
Very true, often lingers then fades as if it were never once there.
Load More Replies... Huddo's sister 1 year ago
Now that's a good one, I had completely forgot!
Load More Replies... Marc 1 year ago
Check out people bagging your groceries. Give me a discount if I have to do it myself
Monday 1 year ago
That's still very much a thing here in South Africa. I can't think of a single shop that requires me to bag my own things. Most actively discourage customer bagging since frankly the staff are much better at efficiently bagging groceries.
Load More Replies... marianne eliza 1 year ago
A physical owner's manual for appliances, large and small. Now they want you to download an app instead. I don't do apps.
Huddo's sister 1 year ago
All the appliances I have bought still have them. Maybe it's country or only higher end ones that use an app?
Load More Replies... Patti Disbennet 1 year ago
No, I can't. If I click twice it just undoes it (is undoes a real word?)
Load More Replies... Huddo's sister 1 year ago
I still see it every once in a while, actually probably only once a year or two now I think about it.
Load More Replies... Related on Bored Panda
