Daily life has changed a lot in my life and I often wonder what things from my daily life today will surprise younger people in the future. So when I came across this Reddit thread of older adults sharing once normal things that now seem kind of bizarre, my interest was piqued. Here’s what people had to say:
1.
“When you answered the phone, you never knew who was calling you.”
2.
“Paper maps. You had to plan your own route to your destination, and road trips seemed more like an adventure back then.”
3.
“Unlimited sexism. I couldn’t even open a bank account when I got married.”
4.
“There were dogs everywhere doing their business. NOBODY picked up dog poop. And there were free-roaming pets, especially dogs, which are very rare today except in rural areas. It was common to have one or two dogs roaming around the neighborhood, and everyone knew them by name.”
5.
“How unsupervised we were as little kids. I remember from the age of 8, I was alone all summer watching my brother while my parents worked; he was 4.”
7.
“Smoking in hospitals and on airplanes.”
8.
“When making phone calls, you had to stay within 6 feet.”
9.
“When you go on a date, always have dimes or quarters with you in case things go wrong.”
10.
“Arrive at the airport shortly before departure, check in your luggage and board the plane with minimal to no hassle.”
11.
“Job openings by gender.”
12.
“Even at the age of 13, the whole neighborhood assumed that I was babysitting. For me, it was normal to spend hours looking after three children under the age of seven. It was normal for all my friends, too.”
13.
“The milkman. Milk, eggs, cheese and other dairy products were delivered to the house weekly. And the milk and orange juice were in reusable glass bottles.”
14.
“Girls weren’t allowed to wear pants in elementary school. Lots of pictures of snow days and we’re wearing knee socks!”
15.
“Elevator staff. You told them which floor you wanted to go to.”
16.
“Photos were expensive, less common, and took a while to even see how they turned out. You took photos, dropped off the film (e.g. at a one-person photo booth/stand in a supermarket parking lot or at a film developing store), and then waited for the film to be developed and printed (about a week). Expediting was an additional cost.”
17.
And finally: “I put my oldest child on the floor of the car. This was before there were car seats. She was a newborn, so it was clean; I couldn’t just put her on the seat because she would have rolled off when we stopped at the lights.”
