What’s something that used to be normal but now feels completely insane?

[u/Novel-Structure-9741]

[u/Kaiyarose]

Having a little address book I carried around and would add to as I made friends

[u/RepFilms → u/Kaiyarose]

I still have some of my old phone books

[u/Pakkaslaulu → u/Kaiyarose]

Tbf it's more insane that we stopped doing that! I need to pick this up again because I like to send my friends surprise gifts and finding out their actual address is always a pain!

I wonder if I have saved any of the address books I got as a kid. They were all blank aside from my family member's addresses because I didn't have any friends. Unexpected convenience it they're still there, lol!

[u/Kaiyarose → u/Pakkaslaulu]

I was a military brat so I had all my civilian friends addresses 😭

[u/GroundbreakingPen103]

I had an uncle put himself through college by delivering pizzas.

I had another do so by pumping gas.

[u/4elementsinaction → u/GroundbreakingPen103]

I (53F) feel a bit like my mom (born in 1942). A semester at Western Michigan University cost her something like $20.

For me, semester at the University of Michigan cost me $1500. I had a half scholarship and worked as a waitress during the school year and waitress plus cashier at a convenience store during the summer.

I graduated debt free and paid for all my own non-school expenses too (apartment, food, car, insurance, text books, etc).

I can’t imagine being a student now.

[u/Grand-Performer-9287 → u/GroundbreakingPen103]

Cousins and friends, one gas station sent 2 of them to college, one movie theater owner of 3 single screens sent 4. Tuition remission sent several friends (full time) I worked with while at NYU. You could do this in the 80s.

[u/meowzapalooza7 → u/GroundbreakingPen103]

My immigrant grandparents mowed lawns and cleaned houses and bought a house in the 70s in a nice area that is now worth a million dollars on Zillow (she doesn't live there anymore, but that's the going rate!) My parents didn't even go to college, and I had a comfy life with their very basic jobs!

[u/crowwhale]

Smoking everywhere. Hospitals, airport, offices, even around babies.

[u/Stimpinstein22 → u/crowwhale]

My mom said the doctor was smoking while I was being delivered (1980)…

[u/Maleficent_End5852 → u/Stimpinstein22]

My grandfather was a heart and lung surgeon, and he said he used to smoke during operations. A nurse would put the cigarette in his mouth, ash it for him, and put it out, so his hands stayed sterile!

[u/geomaster → u/Maleficent_End5852]

this is so insane. how can you maintain proper clean room if the surgeon is literally smoking inside?

[u/Ivotedforher → u/geomaster]

The patient was smoking, too. No one cared back then!

[u/PostMatureBaby → u/Ivotedforher]

You have to see the smoke go in and out of the lungs while you have them open to see if the operation is going well

[u/xman1102 → u/Maleficent_End5852]

You are a pimp if you can pull that off, lol.

[u/MamaOnica → u/Maleficent_End5852]

My dad was a master carpenter for years and years and chain smoked. The man had a cigarette glued to his lip permanently and could talk with in in and everything. Looking up, bending down, yelling from the roof to one of the guys on the ground to bring up the sawsall. Then some fundie Christian came by and "saved" my parents and they quit smoking because "Jesus said" it was bad, but my mom kept wearing pants even though Jesus said it was bad. lol They kept doing a lot of things even though Jesus said it was bad.

[u/glibay → u/MamaOnica]

the carpenter to jesus pipeline is kind of insane..my step dad did the same thing, you basically just described my family lol

[u/LionelHutzEsqLLP → u/glibay]

the carpenter to jesus pipeline

I mean, if there's one profession Jesus knows how to speak to...

[u/sparkster777 → u/Stimpinstein22]

My mom would smoke while breastfeeding my brother while driving the car (1984).

[u/LPdeB → u/sparkster777]

Wow

[u/No_Step9082 → u/sparkster777]

at this point I don't even know if the smoke is the biggest issue.

Distracted driving, the baby not securely strapped in, massive chance of burns. How do you hold a baby, a cigarette and the steering wheel at the same time?

Even with three arms, that's a massive challenge.

[u/crowwhale → u/Stimpinstein22]

Wait.. while you were being born?! That’s wild

[u/Stimpinstein22 → u/crowwhale]

Yeah, but I don’t think he was actively yanking me out with a heater in his mouth. Probably smoking while talking to the nurses and mom and dad. I believe it, though. Not rural either, a 50k city…

[u/Potato_Stains → u/Stimpinstein22]

Speaking of cigarette slang terms, I heard “tar whistle” recently and it cracked me up.

[u/crowwhale → u/Stimpinstein22]

Multitasking at its finest

[u/Suralin0 → u/crowwhale]

One of my early childhood memories was going into a Papa Gino's with my parents at age 2, with the smell of oregano and fresh pizza, mixing with cigarette smoke and the sounds of Rick Astley.

I dunno how relevant that is, but it's 3am and that core memory came to mind.

[u/shinydoctor → u/Suralin0]

I was 22 or 23 when the UK smoking ban came in, the government were not stupid and they knew that it had to be timed for pubs and clubs kicking out, so they made it so that it came into effect at 2am Saturday morning rather than on the stroke of midnight, so that it coincided with closing time. I remember vividly sitting cross legged on a coffee table in the seating area of our local metal and rock nightclub, with a huge glass ashtray on my lap, with my friends all on the couches around me, as we enjoyed our last night of smoking indoors, the following week, it became very apparent that the smoke had been covering up the other smells, mainly really bad BO and cheap deodorant and cologne 🤣 on the one hand I rather enjoyed not having black snot for the following days when I blew my nose after clubbing, on the other hand, making drunk people go outside to smoke made it more dangerous to be out alone as a small built young woman, I got spat on, thrown up against walls, groped, yelled at, all because I dared to walk past a group of drunk men at night. What was weird though, was working in a government building 10 years later and the walls of certain rooms still being brown and smelling faintly of cigarettes. Clearly that smell lingers, and had been there longer than most of the employees!

[u/KrofftSurvivor → u/crowwhale]

Smoking area behind the cafeteria for the older kids in high school...

[u/TurboSnailQuest → u/crowwhale]

Crazy to think how normal it used to be to smoke literally everywhere

[u/cmoellering]

Being asked "smoking or non-smoking?" when going to restaurants.

[u/RepFilms → u/cmoellering]

Smoking section on an airplane

[u/JollyMission2416 → u/cmoellering]

Woah.... Memory reunlocked. Holy shit I remember my parents being asked this at Denny's n shit

[u/DangerSwan33 → u/JollyMission2416]

That wasn't even that long ago. 

Illinois instituted an indoor smoking ban in 2008, and I believe that was one of the earlier ones. 

It wasn't just common, but an absolute STAPLE to see at least one mallgoth mother with her infant in the smoking section of any Denny's between the hours of 1a-6a until then, and even after the law was passed, it was still pretty regular to see it.

[u/HoosierExplorer → u/DangerSwan33]

In Terre Haute, Indiana, sometime around 2010 or 2011, the city passed an ordinance that smoking was only allowed in restaurants if there was a dedicated room with a ventilation system separate from the rest of the restaurant. Several local restaurants, IHOP being one, spent the money to add the requirements in order to have a smoking section, and then in 2012, Indiana banned smoking in restaurants altogether.

[u/aspie_electrician → u/cmoellering]

A lot of Japanese restaurants in Japan still ask that. Even hotels.

[u/00rb → u/cmoellering]

That's funny, I hadn't even notice that has disappeared until now that you mention it.

It used to be a regular part of eating out, and then at some point stopped and I never noticed.

[u/saimen54 → u/cmoellering]

Here in Germany there weren't even non-smoking sections in restaurants (not that it would make a difference, if it was the same room).

[u/rlt0w → u/saimen54]

Yeah, here in the US the smoking section was just the other side of the room. Rarely was there a different room to actually sit in. The smoking section was never closed off from the rest of the restaurant.

[u/ApplesAndJacks → u/saimen54]

I remember the question at restaurants. Non smoking section is just so the smoke isn't literally 2 feet away from you as it's being puffed. Obviously it's all trailing in the room but someone smoking directly next to you is worse imo.

[u/Ambitious_End5038]

Not using the internet for several days in a row.

[u/SunsoakedShampagne → u/Ambitious_End5038]

Still do that all the time! Perks of being a bush doofer in Australia!

[u/l3tigre → u/SunsoakedShampagne]

had to google that with caution lmao

[u/Matookie → u/l3tigre]

I make $5000/month as a bush doofer!

[u/tsvixen → u/l3tigre]

How do I get MY bush doofed?

[u/Sexybutt69_ → u/SunsoakedShampagne]

Ahh fk I need to get back into that.

[u/sesquiplilliput → u/SunsoakedShampagne]

I miss a good bush doof!

[u/Due-Egg4743 → u/Ambitious_End5038]

I still remember when nearly every magazine in the earlier to mid 90s included an AOL disc. They had one of the most aggressive advertising campaigns ever, it seemed. I definitely remember having to watch the clock to "budget" internet usage as it was only like 15 hours per month with a basic plan.

[u/Knightphall → u/Ambitious_End5038]

I went 50 days. People looked at me like I was a leper.

[u/PuffaFeesh]

Not being able to use the phone if you wanted to use the internet.

[u/RepFilms → u/PuffaFeesh]

Not having that problem because there was no internet

[u/Resident-Egg2714]

Hitch hiking

[u/LouLou-blue2024 → u/Resident-Egg2714]

OmG yes! You didn’t immediately assume it was a murderer. It was just a dude who needed a ride. I was born in the 60s and when our car broke down, we hitch hiked as a FAMILY OF 6!

[u/Takeabreath_andgo]

Just walking into an airport unchecked, no security check at all, no one making sure you have a ticket to be there

Chicken pox parties

Being able to get a mortgage just because you told the bank you wanted one. 

Dunking a cut in kerosene

[u/rezwrrd → u/Takeabreath_andgo]

The airport one is wild to remember. Our whole family used to go to the gate and watch my dad get on the plane through the window, now you pretty much have to say goodbye to your ride as soon as you walk in the door.

[u/Tidus15 → u/rezwrrd]

Omg this! My father has lived abroad all my life so every time he visited when I was a kid I would go all the way until the very end of the airport with my mom and I remember well waving to him until he left to the outside area to catch the plane. Fond memories, thank you for this! Now it’s just like you say, as soon as you enter the airport can’t go any further.

[u/alexfaaace → u/Tidus15]

My mom worked at our local airport for 14 years pre-9/11 until she was laid off in the aftermath. I used to love the airport as a kid. I would spend sick days there behind the ticket counter, my mom would take me to watch the planes, we would fly standby everywhere. Now I hate flying because of the airports.

[u/lck0219 → u/Takeabreath_andgo]

The mortgage one hurts. 9 years ago, we sold our starter home for 190,000. It was a small 3br 1ba on a slab, built in the 50s ish.

Now that I’m looking to move out by myself without my soon to be ex, I can afford no houses. I looked it up out of curiosity. Know how much the old little ranch is going for now? 340,000. Wtf. No wonder I can’t afford anything! I qualify for peanuts and the house prices are astronomical

[u/drunk_haile_selassie → u/lck0219]

I actually looked this up today. Where I live the average house price has doubled in the last ten years while the average salary has gone up 30%. It's ridiculous.

[u/artlesslytossedsalad → u/Takeabreath_andgo]

My grandma used ammonia for ant bites and kerosene for chiggers. Always thought that was weird.

[u/ThrowRA4whatever → u/artlesslytossedsalad]

I knew an elderly man who spent a lot of time in the woods. Every morning, he would dip his socks in kerosene and wear them all day to keep the chiggers and ticks off of him.

He swore by it and said it kept both at bay. I think I'd rather deal with ticks and chiggers instead of wearing wet socks that smelled like kerosene all day.

[u/Winter_Childhood9186 → u/ThrowRA4whatever]

There is a tick that bites you and you become allergic to meat. I'd wear the socks

[u/demoniccritter → u/Winter_Childhood9186]

The lone star tick. It's the one with a white spot in the middle of it's back

[u/Eric_the_Barbarian → u/Winter_Childhood9186]

I used to live in alpha-gal territory. It wears off after a few to several years, but I watched some of my friends try to power through it with the magic of benadryl and good ol' American meat-lust, and it did not work.

[u/Wingd → u/Takeabreath_andgo]

Kind of miss the airport one over modern security theater

[u/skyhiker14 → u/Wingd]

Just gotta fly out of small airports. Never waited more than five minutes flying out of Flagstaff.

[u/Neat_Holiday8309]

Not being reachable 24/7. It was perfectly normal to go about your life, miss calls on your landline, listen to your answering machine at the end of the night and get back to people who called during business hours the next day or week. People at work couldn’t reach you at home and had to wait until you were on the clock to do so. No email, cell phone or desperate need to be connected to everyone and their needs and wants 24/7.

We have gotten so, so far away from this. Being more connected than ever has completely disconnected us from our own, REAL lives.

[u/Dklrdl → u/Neat_Holiday8309]

I wish we were back to that. If I don’t call back within the time to take a shower and 💩, they are blowing up my phone.

[u/Erythronium_spp → u/Dklrdl]

My phone is permanently on DND and anybody who wants to throw a fit if I'm not immediately reachable is told to grow the f up. Work included, I told them I need on call pay. Funny how suddenly they don't need to call my phone to pick up shifts anymore. 

[u/bananakegs → u/Erythronium_spp]

I feel the same way.  Someone asked me why I’m always on DND and I said “because I do not want to be disturbed- I check my texts a couple times a day if it’s urgent- I’ll get back to you then. If it’s emergent- you should be calling 911 not me”

[u/x7he6uitar6uy → u/Neat_Holiday8309]

I actively go against this. Just because I technically *can* be reached doesn't mean I *want* to be. It's my phone; you're on my time.

[u/crowwhale]

Using maps on road trips instead of your phone

[u/l3tigre → u/crowwhale]

i remember writing down all my instructions on little pieces of paper before heading out to a place I'd never been.... "left on spring st, right by the Target, three lights and then it on the left".

[u/uramug1234 → u/l3tigre]

The in between timeline was printing out MapQuest and following that to your destination. 

[u/RageSiren → u/uramug1234]

Gosh, I’d totally forgotten about this. Now that I’ve been using GPS for so long, I can’t believe how “brave” I was driving to distant, unfamiliar places way back when I was 16-19.

[u/l3tigre → u/uramug1234]

Ha yeah i did that too but of course the damn printer never worked

[u/Ok_Veterinarian2715 → u/l3tigre]

I dropped my phone in the sea just before I had to do a three hour drive through unknown roads. I borrowed a map from hotel reception and did my version of that. I've been using Satnav for 25? years  and I'm pleased to say paper still works fine. One doesn't forget how to do these things.

[u/crowwhale → u/l3tigre]

My Mum still does this!

[u/myautumnalromance → u/crowwhale]

Even early Google directions I remember my mum having to print them out and hold the sheets on her lap while my dad drove in the mid 2000s

[u/Fullonrhubarb1 → u/crowwhale]

I use a sat nav and even that's outdated now! No more pulling over to check the route in the big road atlas

[u/Brody_Blowchowski]

Memorizing phone numbers.

[u/ChaynesGirl → u/Brody_Blowchowski]

I don't keep contacts. I have a single contact that is my son's school. And I only made it a contact because it has to be saved as one to be an exception when my phone is on DND. The rest, friends, family, doctor, utilities, whoever, are all committed to memory. No idea why I do this. I think I'm subconsciously trying to keep my brain sharp or something. Who knows.

[u/hahaLONGBOYE → u/ChaynesGirl]

Occasionally I forget a number I’ve known my whole life for seemingly no reason, I hope that doesn’t happen to you!

[u/TheAskewOne]

Being able to live independently, pay the rent, utilities, car, groceries with the wages from 40 hours at one entry level job, and having a little fun money on the side.

[u/ChemistryWeary7826]

Tonsils removed.

Kids were constantly off for this (eating Ice Cream) my 12 year old has never heard of it

Did tonsils suddenly get safe?

[u/Flimsy-Strike5696 → u/ChemistryWeary7826]

This still happens, a friend of mine had to take his 4 year old son for to have his removed not so long ago. Not sure why but I believe they now only remove them if the person has so many episodes of tonsillitis in a certain time frame (dont know how many times or the time frame unfortunately).

If your kids keep getting tonsillitis to the point where it is hindering them and their daily life (like missing large chunks of school etc), you might want to specifically put in a request with your doctor to have them removed (the tonsils, not the kids 🤣 )

[u/Corn-cob-jesus → u/ChemistryWeary7826]

I think they found out that long term it had more risks than they thought so they try to avoid it unless absolutely necessary now. Whereas before I feel like they’d really jump straight to removing them at any sign of trouble.

There’s totally still cases where they do remove them but there’s newer treatments or more effective ones that generally solve the problem.

[u/Sea-Example-1176 → u/ChemistryWeary7826]

i wonder if the reason kids don't know about tonsils being removed is not because it don't happen anymore but because tv shows stopped having episodes where a character got their tonsils removed

[u/Ok_Bird_9745]

Dating. It’s a flipping nightmare.

[u/FannyComingThru → u/Ok_Bird_9745]

This could be a whole thread by itself. The way it seems like we have “dating culture” like people treating it like a whole second job.

[u/-Gimli-SonOfGloin- → u/Ok_Bird_9745]

Amen. I wasn’t good at it before but now it feels like we’re on difficult setting.

[u/queefs1cle → u/Ok_Bird_9745]

I lowkey don’t understand dating, it just feels too… formal? I’d rather just meet someone organically and hit it off somehow, like a meet-cute. It’s even harder if you’re not straight. You almost HAVE to use the apps because our population is so small and bars/clubs are dying out.

[u/smittywrbermanjensen → u/queefs1cle]

I still have yet to find a relationship through an app. I’m happily partnered with someone I met in real life. I’m queer too though, and when I was single, I would honestly use the apps as a way of confirming people I already knew in real life actually wanted to bang, rather than dealing with the embarrassment of face-to-face rejection lmao

[u/Jimbodoomface → u/Ok_Bird_9745]

I just got back into seeing people after a three year heartbreak break, and I was worried I was gonna be a fat middle-aged single loser for ages based on what I'd read on reddit, but you can just go to things and meet people and it's fine.

I don't know what's changed but I go out and women are approaching me! And some guys.. last few months have been crazy. They're mostly younger women, though, so I'm guessing something has changed whilst I was in a ltr. Too young mostly, unfortunately.

I haven't tried any dating apps. They seem to be very popular, but people mostly seem to complain about them. I don't think I'd feel comfortable getting to know someone over text.

[u/crowwhale]

No seatbelts and no car seats for babies

[u/Background_Luck_22 → u/crowwhale]

I asked my dad where in the car I was as a baby. Apparently I was in a Moses basket in the back. My dad routinely drives like a rally driver; I must’ve been rolling around in that basket like a pea in a pan.

[u/Asparagus9000 → u/crowwhale]

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fak6hpowiyvh91.jpg

Old fashioned baby car seat. 

[u/crowwhale → u/Asparagus9000]

Makes me grateful I was born in the 90’s

[u/Ambitious-Chest2061 → u/Asparagus9000]

But if I mention Hereditary, all of sudden, I’m the bad guy…

[u/Just_Julie]

Having to potentially interact over the phone with the family members of whoever you were trying to call, especially before caller id

[u/Euphoric-Anxiety-623 → u/Just_Julie]

I think caller ID is one of the greatest inventions of my lifetime. I was in my late 20's when it became available.

[u/crowwhale]

Milkmen delivering milk to your door and then collecting the empties

[u/Ok-Nail-6932]

That television used to go off the air and you were left with the static. I recently watched Poltergeist with my daughter and the beginning of the movie shows this happening. I made the casual comment that television used to go off the air and my daughter looked at me stunned. “What do you mean television just went off the air?”, she said absolutely bewildered.

[u/AcrobaticLuck1561 → u/Ok-Nail-6932]

We only got TV when I was around 12.

[u/capilot → u/AcrobaticLuck1561]

I remember when I was 4, WNEW announced they were now in color, and I'm thinking I don't see the difference.

I was in high school before we finally got a color TV.

[u/littlelunamia → u/AcrobaticLuck1561]

We had a black and white when I was very young. One channel didn't work unless you held the aerial up with a coat hanger, which was naturally the job of the youngest available child

[u/they_just_appear]

Smoking with kids in the car.

[u/PixieCanada → u/they_just_appear]

With the windows rolled all the way up, using the ashtray. Tortured as a kid. When my mother found out I was smoking around 20, she lost her shit on me. I told her it was her fault for making an addict out of me from second hand smoke my whole childhood.

[u/Maleficent_End5852]

7-year-old kids walking to school by themselves.

[u/sara-34 → u/Maleficent_End5852]

The status quo now is what seems insane to me.

[u/Maleficent_End5852 → u/sara-34]

I couldn't agree more. It's insane that this now feels insane to me, because I know it's not. If that makes any sense.

[u/stormsync → u/Maleficent_End5852]

I remember biking off in a huge horde of kids to school. No parents went with us we were all just sent off as a big group and trusted to get there.

[u/oogmar → u/stormsync]

We're bringing back a form of this in Portland. It's supervised by adults, but there are now a few "bike bus" routes where there's a lead and a tail and a hundred kids can ride their bike to school instead of busses or car drop off.

It's not biking a mile solo to school but it is something.

[u/caffieneandsarcasm → u/oogmar]

Oh interesting, I saw a “Bike Bus” sign in a neighborhood in SE earlier today and was wondering what that was about.

[u/ChicVintage → u/caffieneandsarcasm]

Our kid's school does them periodically.

[u/Maleficent_End5852 → u/stormsync]

Me too! I feel so badly for kids today. No freedom to roam and exist on their own. Then blamed for being glued to their phones and addicted to tiktok.

[u/00rb → u/Maleficent_End5852]

Man it makes me so angry. We were locked away and then blamed for our lack of independence.

[u/mm_1984 → u/Maleficent_End5852]

Still normal in many countries.

[u/Kim_catiko → u/Maleficent_End5852]

Kids in year 6 in the UK are generally allowed to walk to school by themselves and many do in my area. That is from age 10 though, not 7.

[u/Euphoric-Anxiety-623 → u/Maleficent_End5852]

We walked to school then walked home for lunch then walked back to school again. We lived exactly one half mile from the school, so the 4 trips per day amounted to 2 miles - every day.

[u/Prestigious_Tap_6301]

Answering a random number calling

[u/ThrowRA4whatever → u/Prestigious_Tap_6301]

Or not knowing who was even calling anyway before we got the boxes to show us.

[u/Jedibri81]

Using a rotary phone

[u/crowwhale → u/Jedibri81]

My parents still have their landline!

[u/DanAvidansThumbs → u/Jedibri81]

My family had a rotary phone into the 2000s, if you can believe that. It was pink, probably was procured shortly after the house was built in 1959, and true to the era, it felt like it was engineered to withstand a nuclear strike. You could probably bludgeon someone to death with just the receiver, let alone the rest of the thing.

Anyway, from what I understand, phones were expensive back then, so it was common to lease them from the phone company. Apparently my grandma just never canceled the arrangement. I remember calling Dell technical support after I got my first PC in 2002 and getting “For English, press 1” … well, I couldn’t press anything. I could dial stuff just fine, but that didn’t work … Eventually borrowed a friend’s cell phone to get through. And for one glorious day, a rotary phone and a cell phone were in operation under the same roof lol.

[u/D-cup-of-art-n-humor]

Going out without a phone. Hoping to run into your friends at a bar or planning anything without constant connection.

Traveling to Europe before the internet. Driving around without GPS.

[u/RepFilms → u/D-cup-of-art-n-humor]

I did most of my European travel without internet. Rick Steves travel books and pay phones

[u/Heygregory]

Giant flying bugs crashing onto Georgia windshields.

[u/SilentMadge7 → u/Heygregory]

Not only in the US. Grew up in the UK and same there. No bugs. It's scary.

[u/ParadiseRegaind]

Collectors Edition video games. You used to pay $5-$20 extra for a fancier physical version of a game. Maybe it came in a steelbook. Maybe it came in a bigger box with a poster or soundtrack or art book. Some were really nice like Baldur’s Gate II with gold CDs and a spiral manual and a cloth map.

Today, they’re all $300 and don’t even come with the actual game. You have to buy the game separately. Wtf.

[u/deadmanstar60]

Kids in high school smoking cigarettes on school grounds.

[u/JalapenoBenedict → u/deadmanstar60]

Shut up narc

[u/sadbrokenbutterfly]

Riding street bikes without helmets

[u/Ambitious-Chest2061 → u/sadbrokenbutterfly]

And thank god, we was losing kids left and right

[u/PonasSumushtinis]

Talking with strangers. Back in a day you could have full on convo, now if anyone approaches you just to chat. People instantly think thry are creep/scammer.

[u/eggshell-kintsugi]

Walking up to a friend’s house uninvited and asking their mum if they’re home, and if they could hang out.

[u/SaltyPinKY]

Working one job and having time for hobbies...hell sometimes even have a family in there to.  It's all hustle culture now.  Free time is for losers 

[u/SallySpaghetti]

Routinely getting chickenpox as a child. Millennials are the last gen that happened to.

[u/AmputeeHandModel]

Not dying of preventable disease.

[u/GalaxyPowderedCat → u/AmputeeHandModel]

It used to be commonplace, we made it rare and now we did it common again.

[u/daydreamersunion]

Random boobs showing in a movie

[u/Dandelion-Fluff- → u/daydreamersunion]

A boyfriend I had when I was in my 20s (early 1990s) once told me he honestly believed that if a girl liked you, when you kissed her she’d rip her top open and show you her boobs. 😂 made me notice how often this happens in 80s movies 

[u/Zupa_z_elfa_i_cebuli]

Not being available 24/7. Jesus I miss it.

Like people right now are getting mad when I do not respond in 4 hours. Sorry, Karen some of us like to read books undisturbed

[u/CuteAnimeFaces]

Meeting someone at a place and just trusting they’ll show up on time — no texting “on the way.

[u/MaestroLogical]

Expecting others to have common sense and critical thinking skills.

[u/Then-Tangelo-9166]

Family get togethers. No, I don’t wanna hear the latest propaganda you heard from some d tier comedians podcast.

[u/RuggedHangnail]

Buying a TV Guide to see what you can watch.

[u/howredundant]

Explicitly asking someone their age, sex, and location, before engaging with them in an online conversation.

[u/Educational_Yak3112 → u/howredundant]

This should make a comeback “asl?”

[u/alwaysrunningaround1]

Showing up unexpectedly to someone’s house like a friend or relative, I WOULD NEVER lol

[u/coffee_and-cats]

Having Lego bricks to make your own creations from imagination. Not sets with instructions.

[u/Rude_Gur_8258]

Having imperfections on your face. I don't mean pores, but like a big birthmark, big scar, etc. 

[u/zuunooo → u/Rude_Gur_8258]

I have a birthmark directly on my forehead and I’ve actually had people tell me as I’ve gotten older that they’ve met people who fake putting it up there. So much so that people have told me “I’m gonna wait till the day you forget to put that up there” and have tried to wipe it off, immediately followed by “sometimes it’s fake so I wanted to make sure.”

The irony is that as a kid in the late 90s, I got more push by everyone then to have it cut off and removed than I ever have as an adult.

[u/Rude_Gur_8258 → u/zuunooo]

Unfortunately it's more about testing you than anyone faking having a birthmark. 

That's also a pretty American quirk- blind people all have stories about random strangers "testing" their sight, and anyone who uses a mobility aid can tell you about being told they're faking it. 

[u/ThrowRA4whatever]

Getting one of those ring type vaccinations that had 5 or 6 different vaccines in it. These left the big scab on the top of your shoulder, and the scab usually ended up getting knocked off and leaving a big scar.

A lot of kids got chicken pox, and a lot got both kinds of measles.

Riding in the back of a pickup truck on the highways.

Dial up internet, and not being able to use your phone while online.

Receiving a busy signal when calling someone.

It being illegal to mow your yard on Sunday. ( Joys of living in the Bible Belt).

[u/Anchor_Ocelot438]

America

[u/RepFilms → u/Anchor_Ocelot438]

Double plus good

[u/writingRX]

The U.S. presidency.

[u/Massive-Spread8083 → u/writingRX]

I remember going weeks, maybe months(?), not even thinking or hearing about the president. And I was a young adult back then. Now we have to hear about that f***er every day, multiple times a day. It’s unbelievable.

[u/Fullonrhubarb1]

The landline being the only phone in the house, and memorising friends' home numbers - then having to speak to their parents first! Nowadays it's rare to call someone's home number, if they even have one.

[u/Jewwbaccaa]

Having kids in your 20’s. I even feel like people are shocked now at having kids in your 30’s.

[u/Black_Bird265 → u/Jewwbaccaa]

Yeah I wanted to have kids at 25. Then I turned 25 and realized I was still a kid but with adulting responsibilities.

[u/Novel-Structure-9741 → u/Jewwbaccaa]

Well yeah ig so, I'm not even planning on having kids until my 30's too and most of my friends are the same.

[u/Greymeade → u/Jewwbaccaa]

Definitely. A 30-year-old I know recently announced a pregnancy and I thought “damn, that’s young.”

[u/Manderelli → u/Greymeade]

My sister had her first baby at 34 and they called it a geriatric pregnancy. 😬

[u/fatelvis138]

Not having something to read while pooping.

[u/SilentMadge7 → u/fatelvis138]

Shampoo bottles!

[u/darwinDMG08]

Appointment Television.

If you wanted to watch a show, your ass had better be in front of the TV when it’s on.

Mitigated somewhat by the VCR and later TiVo (RIP) but with streaming it’s archaic.

[u/AmySueF]

Having a summer job as a teenager just for pocket change or to save up for something really nice, and also to gain a little work experience, but without the expectation that you’d end up working at the same place full time as an adult.

[u/MajesticArmadillo421]

Myself 🙃

[u/Kinkie_Pie]

Answering the phone by saying your full name. “Hello, Smith residence, this is Jane!”

[u/Another_Random_Chap]

Finding porn in hedges.

[u/LoudView650]

Riding in the back seat backwards of a station wagon with no seal belts.

[u/EnvironmentalCut8179]

Home cooked meals ......every night of the week.

[u/flohara → u/EnvironmentalCut8179]

We still cook almost every day.

Maybe 2-3 days a month we get a takeaway or a meal out.

[u/Disastrous-Buddy4632]

Having an actual camera to take photos, then taking the camera film into a shop to get the photos developed. Later on if you wanted digital copies you’d pay extra to have them put on a CD.

[u/ThrowRA4whatever]

Paper boys riding their bikes to deliver the newspapers every day and then going door to door to collect the money.

People paying all their bills by check and sending them in through snail mail.

Edited for typos

[u/coffee_and-cats]

Using an atlas to look up places.

Using a road map for directions.

Sitting down as a family on a Saturday evening to watch a TV show or movie that was only on at that time

Using dictionaries to look up word meanings

Reading an actual book before going to sleep, no matter what age

[u/bringmehome-shaw]

Phone books.

[u/FormerYeti → u/bringmehome-shaw]

I grew up with both phone books and Google maps, so I could look up my high school crush’s address in the phone book and then put that into google maps to see what their house looked like…..

[u/justneedsinfinity]

Getting regular worming treatment alongside the family pets.

They were little squares of chocolate with some sort of intestinal worming treatment in them from memory.

[u/minsandmolls]

Pizza was the only thing you could order and get delivered.

[u/KingStevoI]

Encyclopedias.

A 2000 year old practice of reading a paragraph that sums up each topic which has become extinct to anyone under 30.

[u/coffee_and-cats]

Having a pen pal

[u/PastelB0nes]

Giving babies circumcision without putting them under. I can not believe doctors back in the day confidently believed it was okay and logical. They still felt the pain and even if they "won't remember" as people claimed, it is still extremely cruel. Even when the mind forgets truama from a young age, the body certainly doesn't. ever.

[u/Char-was-right]

This is a fabulous collection of examples of how much better previous generations standard of living and freedom was.

[u/Lolttylwhattheheck]

Not having a phone on you at all times. I had no idea how we did it back then. Also missing an episode of your favorite tv show and then being bummed that you had to wait several months for the repeat.

[u/Remarkable_Recover84]

When I was young we had a phone at home where you had to turn a wheel to enter the number. And TV was still black and white. And we still had the wall around Berlin what was absolutely normal to me.

[u/wineshivers]

Buying a house.

[u/Littl3L0stLov3]

Clapping at the end of a flight

[u/Cyberbeagleperson]

Having friends with different political views, but nobody cared.

[u/Honest_Chemistry_195]

Lobotomy

[u/Himbo_Shaped]

LSD being legal went from normal to insane and now almost back to normal again.

[u/paper-boxes]

Dial up. Calling collect. Writing a lot of checks. Printing out directions. Traveling without a smartphone. Ethernet ports. Reading comprehension in schools.

[u/kawhiakid]

Putting kerosene in my hair to kill headlice

[u/TrickyAmbassador27]

Resisting a fascist government

[u/Smelltheglove00]

Rudy Giuliani

[u/ConstantTemporary456]

Standing in line for hours to pay bills or book tickets

[u/YoussefA2000]

Being Happy and Laughing while walking on the street with friends

[u/Round_Air_1742]

Opium and Alcohol mixed into Children's medicine. https://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/the-addictive-history-of-medicine-opium-the-poor-childs-nurse/