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“What’s One Thing Normal At Your Time But Is Now Bizarre To Even Think About?” (50 Answers)
There used to be a TV series called "Beyond 2000". It aired in the 80s and 90s. People would watch it for a fascinating glimpse into the future. Sometimes it’d blow our minds. Imagine not needing a key to unlock a door, and using a card instead? A “lap” computer! Or a robot that could play chess? Just wow.
Now that we've moved two decades beyond 2000, we have biometric access systems, robotic surgery, 3D printed limbs, electric powered cars. Things certainly have progressed. Redditor u/Red_Baronnsfw found out just how much the world has changed when they asked older people: What's one thing normal at your time but is now bizarre to even think about?
From paper maps, dialing telephones, written letters from penpals, to having to flip through the Yellow Pages to find a phone number… Keep scrolling for an epic trip down memory lane. And find out what life was like for people born before 1980.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Childhood autonomy.
Once you were a certain age you were free range.
You were expected to act right out in the world and be home when you were told.
Other then that nothing was expected.
No play dates, no cell phone.
And certainly no posting the f*****g stupid thing you just did so others could see it.
When you did stupid s**t you kept it to yourself!
Graham_Illegal 3 months ago
This is still common in countries with excellent public transportation, greater public safety, and much less paranoia.
RELATED:
#2
I used to have several pen pals in different countries. There was nothing better than coming home from school and finding a letter.
#3
Arriving at the airport shortly before takeoff, checking your luggage with minimal to no hassle, and boarding your flight.
r/AskOldPeople is a cool spot online where you can ask older Redittors pretty much anything about life back in the day. It’s not a place to seek personal, health or mental health advice. It’s more for people to come together and reminisce about days gone by. Or for the curious, younger generation to find out how things worked for our forefathers. The community has built up an impressive 739 thousand members. Their main rule is that you can’t answer any of the questions unless you were born in or before 1980.
Some of the previous gems that have appeared in the sub include what people were scared of as kids that seem ridiculous now, and what meals their parents constantly made that they refuse to eat as an adult. But it was a question about things that once seemed normal and are now totally bizarre, that got us at Bored Panda thinking. Not just about the past but about the present and future too.
#4
The sounds younger people will never know of listening to your modem connect to the internet. It was such a specific, strange series of noises that is instantly recognizable to anyone who lived during the time of dial-up modems.
#5
Paper maps. You had to figure out your own route to where you wanted to go and road trips seemed more of an adventure back then.
#6
Rampant sexism. I couldn't even open a bank account when I got married.
everyonesmom2:
Same. My husband had to sign so I could get a driver's license.
Nowadays, smoking is frowned upon by some, and often strictly forbidden in public places. But there was a time when second hand smoke was everywhere. On planes, in restaurants, offices, cars carrying kids, and even hospitals. And before 1950, doctors would even appear in cigarette adverts. They had no clue that smoking causes cancer.
By the late 40s, people started seeing a spike in lung cancer and even death. But it wasn’t until the late 1980s that smoking on planes became illegal. And even then, it was only banned on U.S. domestic flights of less than two hours. International flights were finally made smoke-free in the 90s. Really not too long ago if you think about it.
In sharing their comments, Redditors spoke of how their schools had smoking sections, how they could smoke on submarines in their Navy days, and how a hospital ward was once filled with smoke after they'd just had throat surgery.
#7
The Yellow Pages.
not_falling_down:
And phone books in general. If you knew someone's name, you could find their address and phone number. And if you did not want you name and number in the book, you had to pay extra to have an "unlisted number."
#8
Having all the phone numbers of my family, friends and work memorized because there were no cell phones.
Gavin Johnson 4 months ago
485 2509, I left that house 32 years ago, 485 7503 the girl who dumped me 34 years ago, 486 7703 Grandma & Grandad now sadly deceased. Area code deliberately left off obviously.
#9
Making ashtrays as a craft project in elementary school.
Just as cigarette smoke was considered sexy, safety wasn’t taken too seriously. Seatbelts were there for show. Some cars didn’t even have them. In the 1950s it became mandatory for racing drivers to wear seatbelts. And in the 60s, American passenger vehicles had to have them. But still, people didn’t really have to use them. That included babies and children. Believe it or not.
As Defensive Driving reports, “The National Ad Council ran countless ads for 25 plus years encouraging drivers to ‘Buckle Up’. States slowly starting implementing laws and by 1995, every state except New Hampshire had “Click it or ticket” laws. Currently, all states have a seat belt enforcing law.” And just as well, because the National Safety Council says seatbelts saved almost 375 thousands lives in the country between 1975 and 2017.
#10
World Book Encyclopedia.
If you were rich, you'd have the Encyclopedia Britannica.
Don Adams 4 months ago
Not rich. A local grocery store (around 1968 or so) sold the Columbia Encyclopedia at around $3.99 per volume (22 volumes in the complete set). Decent enough encyclopedias, but it took like 5 months to collect all the volumes (in alphabetical order). Luckily I did not have to do a report on the Yangtze River early in the school year...
#11
Sitting on my dad's lap while he was driving. He let me steer, too.
Also--cramming ten kids into a VW beetle (aged 10-14, birthday parties or picking up friends to play for the day), no seat belt, of course.
#12
Parents whacking kids with things. Belts, sticks, hangers, wooden spoons, rulers. It’s what parents did. Nobody even blinked when it happened.
My dad wasn’t the spanker in the family and one day my mom got mad and said he had to do it. I was scared because Dad was really strong. I put a book down the back of my pants. When I came and bent over his knee he saw my square butt and started laughing. My mom got so mad but Dad just couldn’t hit me and couldn’t stop laughing.
He never hit me once ever.
Secondhand smoke and a lack of safety precautions might not be sorely missed. But there are some things a few older Redditors want returned. Like pen pals and posted letters. “I used to have several pen pals in different countries,” wrote u/minsandmolls “There was nothing better than coming home from school and finding a letter.”
If you don’t know what a pen pal is, the Oxford Dictionary defines it like this: “a person that you make friends with by writing letters or emails, often somebody you have never met.” Almost like how we chat to strangers on social media. But it took a lot longer back then. Both to send a letter, and to receive a reply. Here is a really sweet story about two pen pals who finally met for the first time after 43 years.
#13
Photos were expensive, more rare, and took time to even see how they turned out.
You too pictures, dropped your film off (e.g. at a photo booth/stand with a person in a grocery store parking lot or at a film processing shop) then waited for the film to be developed and printed (roughly a week), extra cost to expedite.
Gavin Johnson 4 months ago
I remember one hour photo production coming to our local chemist, thinking it was amazing and we’d never get faster. Now I can take a photo and send it straight to my photo quality printer in 30 seconds, no need to even leave the house. Even better I can email it to my cousin in Australia (I’m in the U.K.) and HE can print it in under 30 seconds. The world’s gone mad!
#14
When I started working, women were required to wear nylons/pantyhose. And dresses/skirts were preferred. "Pant suits" were considered "casual".
The year I graduated from high school, I would not have been able to secure a mortgage from a bank as a single woman, salary notwithstanding. Even purchasing a car was iffy, banks did not lend to women without some sort of male guardian co-signing the loan. In the US.
It was routine to be passed over for positions as a female. There were no repercussions, it was normal. It was not considered discrimination; men needed the jobs more.
...and so very, very much more. And no, I'm not 80 years old.
Limey 4 months ago
Same OP. I am not 80 either and I remember ALL this. It’s much closer in time than young people imagine now. The time that woman have been free to do/work/dress as they please is SO MUCH shorter than the time we weren’t. That’s why we must not let certain people take us backwards to that, here in the US
#15
Smoking in hospitals and on airplanes.
Disastrous-Variety15:
Or even better: in restaurants.
frank-sarno:
There was a smoking section in my high school. I remember a girl who I had a massive crush on coming back from the smoking area and thinking, "She's smokes. She's so TOUGH."
similarly 4 months ago
My high school not only had a sanctioned smoking area for students, there was an unsanctioned area for smoking pot out by the tennis courts and EVERYBODY knew it. You could see the kids smoking pot over there. I think the teachers just thought "Well, we know where they are ..."
In an age of instant communication, it could seem strange having to wait days, weeks, or months to receive correspondence from a friend, family member or even lover. But that’s exactly how it was. u/Airplade said they remember “Running to my mailbox hoping to get a letter from my girlfriend away at college. Or finally getting that cool thing I mail ordered eight weeks ago.”
A type of email was invented in the 1970s, before the internet existed. But it wasn’t until the 90s that email, as we know it, became publicly popular. And today, we have text messaging, and even video calls. Folks back then could never imagine the instant gratification of greeting someone face to face. While using a mobile phone. And sitting, standing or walking on opposite sides of the world.
#16
Always carrying dimes, later quarters, when on a date, in case things went sideways.
allflour:
Phone booths. Dude every now and again I need one still and they are gone!
#17
Calling the movie theater to see what was playing and what the showtimes were.
#18
No seatbelts and having 2car keys. One ignition key and one trunk key.
Shark Lady 3 months ago
I can remember going with my dad to get seatbelts fitted into our car.
In the 70s and 80s, people thought there was a real possibility of living on the moon. It was thought that by the year 2000, we’d have colonies in space and we’d be “driving” flying cars. The "Space Race" had blasted off years earlier. Russia and America were going head to head to explore the great unknown. In 1975, Nasa even hired an artist, to illustrate their futuristic view of life on Mars and the moon. But as we now know, it was not meant to be.
#19
As soon as I turned 13, it was assumed by the entire neighborhood that I would babysit. It was common for me to have three kids under the age of seven for hours at a time. This was considered normal for all my friends, too.
PeepPeep the duck 4 months ago
I was so lucky I was the naughty girl kid growing up so no one in their right minds would have ever trusted me and I wouldn’t have wanted it 😂
#20
Children going off to friends' houses all day, without their parents knowing where they are. Kids traveling around like feral animals in packs, riding bikes, chasing the ice cream truck.
#21
Having to actually, get up off my butt, to change the TV channel or to answer the phone, hanging on the wall.
On New Year's eve 1999, parts of the world held their collective breath. The masses waited for planes to fall from the sky, computers to stop working, bank vaults to burst open, and the world to end. Billions were spent preparing for the worst. The Y2K bug was about to bite as the clock struck 12. Or so some thought...
As Forbes reported, "computers around the world weren’t equipped to deal with the fact of the year 2000. Their software thought of years as two digits. When the year 99 gave way to the year 00, data would behave as if it were about the year 1900, a century before, and system upon system in an almost infinite chain of dominoes would fail. Billions were spent trying to prepare for what seemed almost inevitable."
#22
Just not knowing. If you were meeting up with a friend at a certain place and time, and they didn't show up, there was no way to follow up. If you didn't know whether a certain celebrity was alive or dead, you asked a friend and hoped they were right. Where is the closest veterinarian? What does it mean when my car makes a beeping sound? What year did the Hundred Years War end? What should you do if you break a toe?
Pre-internet, all of these things were mysteries and you had to hope you had smart friends or a very well-stocked library nearby.
Editing to add that applying for jobs was the worst. You'd have to submit your resume in paper, then go home and wait for a call that might never come, meanwhile you could be out looking for other jobs.
Ava Lemar 3 months ago (edited)
Without cell phones, my parents would leave the telephone number of the restaurant they would be dining at for the evening for us on a piece of paper. And in an event of emergency, you could call the restaurant and ask them to find your group or parent and have one of them come to the phone.
#23
Small corner stores, “I’m buying beer/cigarettes for my mom/dad/grandpa” and coming home with exactly that.
Mike F 3 months ago
The owners of the stores where I grew up knew our parents, and us, before we could talk. You knew what was in the area behind the check-stand because you saw it from the time you were a toddler. They knew your name and let you slide if you were a nickel short and would sell you smokes with a note, but never alcohol. Perhaps it was different before the 60's, but certainly not in our neighborhood.
#24
The dewey decimal system was the only way to find a book.
Li_3303:
And Librarians! (I’m a retired librarian).
In a bizarre "twist of fate", on 1 January 2000, we entered the 21st century. A whole new millenium. Much ado about nothing. Babies were born. Life went on. Not a single plane fell from the sky. The masses breathed a collective sigh of relief and continued partying like it was 1999.
Just as we find some things super strange about the past, it’s quite likely that the kids of the future will look back on the 2020s and wonder what the hell we were thinking. Afterall, with every new era comes a new normal. What do you think seems normal now but will seem oddly peculiar in a couple of years? Let us know in the comments.
#25
Running to my mailbox hoping to get a letter from my girlfriend away at college. Or finally getting that cool thing I mail ordered eight weeks ago.
#26
The milk man. Milk, eggs, cheese and other dairy-adjacent items delivered to the house weekly. And the milk and OJ was in glass, returnable bottles.
Bernd Herbert 4 months ago
Well, the reusable bottles were definitely better for the environment.
#27
Anytime you answered a phone you had no idea who was calling you.
Not knowing 1 single person's phone number - except my vet's office of of 30 years. For some reason it is the only number I still remember. Not including Jenny's number of course.
#28
The last day of school before Christmas in 1975, in my small town in California, the school bus broke down and the principal gave us a ride in the back of his Chevy pick up truck.
PeepPeep the duck 4 months ago
I once had a late detention where my mums wife wouldn’t let my mum pick me up from school and made me walk home, my vice proncipal saw me half way and said ‘get in but don’t tell anyone’. I was so lucky he gave me a lift home, I’d be walking for 2 hours and had 2 more to go and it was already getting dark 😂
#29
How utterly unsupervised we were as tiny children. I remember taking care of my brother by myself for the full summer while my parents worked starting at 8, he was 4.
alwayssoupy:
Yes, and my parents would leave us 4 kids in the car while they stopped for groceries. It seemed like they were gone for a while, but I'm not sure now. At least long enough for everyone to be dared to honk the horn, run the windshield wipers, and if we were really brave, get out and run in a circle around the car.
#30
Dogs pooping everywhere. NOBODY picked up dog poop.
Free roaming pets, especially dogs which is far more rare now except in rural areas. It was common to have one or two neighborhood dogs that everybody knew by name, just wandering around.
Mabelbabel 4 months ago
And dog poop was mostly a different colour-it was a clay/pale grey-white colour, not poop brown. It was something to do with the ingredients in commercially available pet food at the time I think.
#31
Gas stations where they pumped your gas, checked your oil and washed your windows for that dollar or two you were spending. In the early 70s we would get 50c worth of gas to run around on all night.
#32
Also hand me downs. Most kids lived in had downs. Even me the only girl got my brother clothes. People would b*****k you if you got a mess on you because ‘that jumper goes to your cousin Samantha next. It had already been through Debbie and Lyndsey now me. You have to look after your stuff especially clothes and we were taught to fix clothes too
Toys. You got one or two. Not a full room. By time your 10 it’s full but took time to build up a collection. I had a pink car. Brother 1 helicopter and brother 2 train so one toy each till we were like 4 and 5. We could play with toilet roll tubes. Coat hangers. Make up our own toys. We got hand me down toys aswell. But it was never just buy a toy. It was earned. Birthday present or Christmas or earned by doing good work or a job
ynyrhydref56 4 months ago
Veteran of the 'girl child wearing older brothers' hand-me-downs' here
#33
The father of my children was 21 when I met him, I was 15. No one batted an eye. This was 50 years ago.
Mary Hiers 3 months ago
My parents met in school when they were 15. They married after high school and remained married for 67 years before dying within weeks of each other. I think they were both exceptionally lucky for one, and were both good, strong people willing to build a real partnership. (I've been divorced twice and refuse to ever marry again, so I know their commitment level isn't hereditary, lol.)
#34
Chicken pox parties.
Scottybt50:
My wife recalls as a kid being sent over to visit a friend who had chicken pox.
Ava Lemar 3 months ago
My mom had my brother and I play together when I was experiencing chicken pox to ensure hed get it too. The thought was that it would be better for the household to get it all at once and be done with it.
MC C 3 months ago
It's also better to get this when you are young, and build the immunity to it it can be much more serious when you are older
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Joshua David 3 months ago
I still have a forehead scar from them things. In fact, i got it 2wice.
Upstaged75 3 months ago
I have a couple of them on my face. Thankfully I only got it once. But it caused me to miss Girl Scout camp and I was SO mad.
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notlikeyou1971 3 months ago
I didn't get chicken pox as a kid. I got them as an adult because some selfish parent decided to send their kids to school with chicken pox and where I lived myself and the kids all caught it from that infected kid. It was unfair and miserable. Parents should not send sick kids ( especially with chicken pox): to school. My niece caught whooping cough because of a selfish parent doing this . Messed up .
whineygingercat 3 months ago
1989. 2nd grade. I was out of school for two months with a broken foot, cast up to my knee. My sister, 1st grade, brings home what her ENTIRE CLASS, and half the elementary school had, THE CHICKEN POX. Even a few teachers got it. It all began when one kid got it from a cousin...
Susan Reid Smith 3 months ago
My doctor couldn't believe I hadn't gotten it by age 50 so vaccination time.
Tim Douglass 3 months ago
My wife's cousin died from complications of chicken pox. Her family didn't do any of that nonsense.
Mary Brizendine 3 months ago
My husband and I were on a cruise and my mom was taking care of our three kids. I found out when we got home a week later that she ended up having to take the week off because my son came down with chicken pox. I put all the kids in together and said if you're going to catch do it now. 21 days to the day my youngest caught it. My middle never did catch it, despite being exposed several times.
Taryn Bailey 3 months ago
I was in either kindergarten or first grade, I can't remember which now, but because just about everyone in my class had the chicken pox at the same time, we all just went to school instead of staying home.
The Redhead 3 months ago (edited)
In 90 or 91 my family visted my homestate I was about 9 & had already had the chickenpox in probably '86. Anyway while we were there I was visiting a friend and she had chickenpox when my parents found out they promptly made me take my 3 year old sister over so she could get it & get it out of the way. lol The old days.
Laserleader 3 months ago
We were allowed to play with neighbor kids when we got it, because everyone would get it over with. But we had to stay away from our old man neighbor who had never had it, since we were told it could kill adults. Honestly he must have actually been like 30, but we really thought he would die if he got it.
Steve Hall 3 months ago
When my kids were little, the daycare center didn't even bother telling anyone when the chicken pox hit each year. It was fine, just keep sending them.
Montanavanna 3 months ago
My mom took me to two, never got them. When I was 12 I was babysitting two young cousins who had it. I had them lick my hand then I licked it (I know, super gross). I was so afraid of not getting the chicken pox as a kid because obviously that meant it would kill me when I caught it in adulthood. Still never got the chickennpox, this is how I die, I guess.
Kangaroo 3 months ago
It’s not, actually, chickenpox is much easier on kids than adults. I had it when I was 6 and they tried to get my twin sister to catch it - we’d share utensils while eating, swap clothes halfway through the day, and sleep in each others beds etc. She didn’t end up catching it, but my 36 year old dad did. He nearly died, I remember him being in the hospital for a very long time. He’d never had it as a kid so he didn’t have the antibodies.
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Kris 3 months ago
They still do this, but usually its enough sending your kids to kindergarden
Upstaged75 3 months ago (edited)
Kids don't get chicken pox anymore. There's a vaccination for it. A friend of mine's kid contracted it somehow just before she was old enough to get vaccinated and most of the staff at the Pediatrician's office had never even seen a case before.
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#35
If you wanted to watch your TV show you had to be in front of the television at the time it came on. If you missed it, you had to wait ages for it to show up and reruns. And you had to time your bathroom breaks with the commercials.
#36
I remember getting up extra early on Winter mornings to go across town before elementary school to add water and shovel coal into my grandmother’s boiler, stopping after school go shovel more, running over after supper to keep it going and again before bed. Had to keep granny warm if I wanted her brownies. .
Judy Reynolds 3 months ago
Sounds like a good arrangement - your muscles in exchange for her brownies!
#37
Someone dropping in for an unexpected visit. We always had neighbors or friends just stopping by when I was younger.
These days I don’t even think I’d answer the door for my sister if she dropped in unexpectedly.
#38
Rushing to the bank on Friday to cash my paycheck.
nottheactualphoto 4 months ago
One place I worked had frequent trouble making payroll. So yes, we would all race to the owner's bank to cash our paychecks.
#39
Putting my oldest child on the floor boards in car. This was before car seats. She was a newborn so it was clean, I couldn’t just put her on the seat otherwise when I stopped at lights she’d roll off😂.
#40
Riding bikes and skateboards without helmets and pads. Also building ramps to see how many kids you could jump your bike over. (Thank you Evil Knievel and the Wide World of Sports).
#41
Girls couldn't wear pants in elementary school. Lots of pictures of snow days and we're wearing knee socks!
Little Wonder 3 months ago
At one of our school assemblies in the early 90s, the Vice Principal stood up to say he was disappointed that so many of the girls were wearing jeans instead of the Winter Uniform and said firmly "Tights are just as warm as jeans" which to 300 teenagers was the funniest thing, and we started asking how he knew.
#42
I was talking with a young person yesterday and asked her if she knew what a "mother's little helper" was. In the 60s, suburban housewives were taking valium. It was legal, and commonly referred to as "diet pills." You could easily get a prescription. So many pill poppers back then.
#43
Vehicle gas cap located behind the license plate.
Richard Graham 4 months ago
1950s GM cars (Chevrolet, Pontiac, Cadillac, Oldsmobile) had the gas cap behind a tail light. 26eb0a51b4...075273.jpg 
#44
The sissy test. My sibling’s peer group required you erase a patch of your skin to prove you weren’t a sissy. I am female but I was no sissy! I was an idiot, however.
#45
"Airing out water"
I grew up with my grandmother in an inpoverished area. The wealthier people (middle class) had the good water. Everyone else had water that was extremely sulfuric smelling/tasting. Think like strong eggs smell. We had to set out water overnight in open containers so the sulfur would evaporate. After a night of this then the water would taste/smell fine.
#46
As a child in grade school we had nuclear bomb drills. Yup. We’d all hide under our desks. Seriously! It’s kinda like TSA now - as if, what we doing, would somehow make everything alright.
#48
When I was around 14-15 years old, there was a famous pop singer/guitar player in the neighborhood who would seduce all the 13-year-old girls we wanted to kiss. He was around 30-35 at the time, according to his Wikipedia bio. We obviously hated him with a passion, but that was because he was a much more successful competitor; it never crossed our minds that there would be something morally wrong with what he did ("grooming" was what poodle owners did to their dogs, back then). After all, all he did was what we wanted to do!, or so we thought.
I still hate that guy, and his songs, and the horse he rode in.
Apatheist Account2 3 months ago
We never heard the word "paedophile" back then either. My mum cautioned us to be aware of "funny men" (not meaning comedians or clowns - but looking back...).
#49
Hitchhiking.
I never did it bc I was too young (in the 70s) when it was popular, and it had pretty much faded out by the time I was a teenager, but I remember hitchhikers were EVERYWHERE in the 70s.
#50
Typing homework. And keeping citations on index cards. God help you if you dropped the cards.
What do you think ?
Hassel Davidhoff 3 months ago
The thing I miss from my youth is that I could go somewhere and it wouldn't be farking crowded. Everywhere I go now there are people. Like, I used to spend a lot of time outdoors; hiking kayaking, all that. Now everyone is into it, destroying the peace and isolation that made it nice in the first place. Part of this is that there are 3 billion+ more people on the planet. The other part is that, during the pandemic, people who previously weren't part of the outdoors/hiking/kayaking community suddenly realized they could do that to get out of the house. I'm happy y'all discovered nature but it used to be so much more peaceful without EVERYONE and their dog on the trails and rivers, taking selfies and making noise.
John Harrison 3 months ago
1. Agreed. 2. A counter example: The movie theater sure is less crowded, nowadays.
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E2U&U2 3 months ago
Hose water. We were expected to entertain ourselves for hours outside in the summer when school was not in session. Parents didn't want us inside where we might mess up the clean house. The only rule was that we had to be home when the street lights came on. We neighborhood kids would roam for miles like free-range chickens, making up adventures. When thirsty, entering anybody's yard to get a drink from their hose was okay. The water was always deliciously cold and refreshing. We'd drink, spray ourselves down on hot days and be on our way. That was the life!
Breadcrumb. 3 months ago
Teenage pregnancy. It used to be 50% of all births where from teen moms. My highschool had a daycare for the students children Now we have given young girls a better education and start in life, which is something to be celebrated but instead this is something American politicians want to bring back because low birth rates effect lining there pockets from low income earners.
Wielder of Yielder 3 months ago
YOUR HIGH SCHOOL HAD TO HAVE A DAYCARE FOR STUDENTS' CHILDREN?!?!? What the everlasting f***??? To a Dane like me, that sounds like some sort of bizarre dystopia.
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Sven Horlemann 3 months ago
This was interesting. And yes, you realize, you are one of the old ones, too, now.
MrsFettesVette 3 months ago
I can remember finding out my favorite band was on tour from MTV or Rolling Stone Magazine, or checking the newspaper to see the schedule of local music venues. If you wanted to see someone, you'd have to go to a Ticketmaster "outlet" (computer that sold concert tickets) in specific stores- ours was in a local camera store, inside a strip mall. You'd collect the cash from your friends and go buy everyone's tickets together, then go back and distribute them. And God help you if you lost one- you're better off keeping it on your bulletin board until the big day came.
Sand Ers 3 months ago
Camera store? That’s weird. Ours were all in record stores.
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Bec 3 months ago
My room and my parents room were an addition put on when they moved in, they didn't run heat ducts into those rooms until I was about 15. I had a ton of blankets on my bed in the winter and would sit on the heating vent in the hallway when I had to get up in the morning.
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Aroace tiger (she/they/he) 3 months ago
A lot of these makes me feel glad i was born too late for all this instead of making me feel guilty for being young thank goodness
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 3 months ago
You shouldn't feel guilty for being young. It's not like you arranged it. Each generation is different, and has/will have different challenges. All points of view are legitimate. However, it's not our differences alone that define us, but also our similarities. Do the best you can, try to be kind, and enjoy yourself as much as you're able.
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Hassel Davidhoff 3 months ago
The thing I miss from my youth is that I could go somewhere and it wouldn't be farking crowded. Everywhere I go now there are people. Like, I used to spend a lot of time outdoors; hiking kayaking, all that. Now everyone is into it, destroying the peace and isolation that made it nice in the first place. Part of this is that there are 3 billion+ more people on the planet. The other part is that, during the pandemic, people who previously weren't part of the outdoors/hiking/kayaking community suddenly realized they could do that to get out of the house. I'm happy y'all discovered nature but it used to be so much more peaceful without EVERYONE and their dog on the trails and rivers, taking selfies and making noise.
John Harrison 3 months ago
1. Agreed. 2. A counter example: The movie theater sure is less crowded, nowadays.
Load More Replies... E2U&U2 3 months ago
Hose water. We were expected to entertain ourselves for hours outside in the summer when school was not in session. Parents didn't want us inside where we might mess up the clean house. The only rule was that we had to be home when the street lights came on. We neighborhood kids would roam for miles like free-range chickens, making up adventures. When thirsty, entering anybody's yard to get a drink from their hose was okay. The water was always deliciously cold and refreshing. We'd drink, spray ourselves down on hot days and be on our way. That was the life!
Breadcrumb. 3 months ago
Teenage pregnancy. It used to be 50% of all births where from teen moms. My highschool had a daycare for the students children Now we have given young girls a better education and start in life, which is something to be celebrated but instead this is something American politicians want to bring back because low birth rates effect lining there pockets from low income earners.
Wielder of Yielder 3 months ago
YOUR HIGH SCHOOL HAD TO HAVE A DAYCARE FOR STUDENTS' CHILDREN?!?!? What the everlasting f***??? To a Dane like me, that sounds like some sort of bizarre dystopia.
Load More Replies... Sven Horlemann 3 months ago
This was interesting. And yes, you realize, you are one of the old ones, too, now.
MrsFettesVette 3 months ago
I can remember finding out my favorite band was on tour from MTV or Rolling Stone Magazine, or checking the newspaper to see the schedule of local music venues. If you wanted to see someone, you'd have to go to a Ticketmaster "outlet" (computer that sold concert tickets) in specific stores- ours was in a local camera store, inside a strip mall. You'd collect the cash from your friends and go buy everyone's tickets together, then go back and distribute them. And God help you if you lost one- you're better off keeping it on your bulletin board until the big day came.
Sand Ers 3 months ago
Camera store? That’s weird. Ours were all in record stores.
Load More Replies... Bec 3 months ago
My room and my parents room were an addition put on when they moved in, they didn't run heat ducts into those rooms until I was about 15. I had a ton of blankets on my bed in the winter and would sit on the heating vent in the hallway when I had to get up in the morning.
Load More Replies... Aroace tiger (she/they/he) 3 months ago
A lot of these makes me feel glad i was born too late for all this instead of making me feel guilty for being young thank goodness
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 3 months ago
You shouldn't feel guilty for being young. It's not like you arranged it. Each generation is different, and has/will have different challenges. All points of view are legitimate. However, it's not our differences alone that define us, but also our similarities. Do the best you can, try to be kind, and enjoy yourself as much as you're able.
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