“What’s One Thing Normal At Your Time But Is Now Bizarre To Even Think About?” (50 Answers)

This is still common in countries with excellent public transportation, greater public safety, and much less paranoia.

Better be home before dark. No excuses, you couldn't claim you didn't know where the sun was! Backwoods was more of an enforcer for that than Mama's willow switch though. When the panthers started squalling, you picked up the pace a bit! :)

We had a "home for dinner, then you can go back out to play" kind of situation in the summer. We used to play Ghost in the Graveyard and Sardines across the entire NEIGHBORHOOD--like think 10 or 12 yards. It helped that there were about 30 kids all within a 2 year age range where I grew up, so these games were EPIC.

I remember my mother telling us "Go do something outside. And don't come back until supper time!"

One kid loves to post restaurant meals. This is announcing on social media that we are not home.

This is still a very popular thing!!

In 3rd grade (1986) we would record our voices on tapes and send them to our pals. Mine was named Gordon from Pennsy.

I do the same thing but via discord, which I don't have on my phone so I'm excited to check my computer whenever I get home

Philately was one of my hobbies and half of the stamps came from my penfriends. It was fun

When I was young and bought Metal Magazines, there would be a section in the back for pen pals. You would list your name, address, age, bands that you were into and any hobbies. I found one of my best friends that I've known for 30 years, the greatest part was not only we liked the same music, but she only lived 5 miles from me. I was closer to her then my actual sisters, so the 4 people that I still talk to I met in 88, 89, 92, 94. We're spread out in 3 different States, but when my Mom died in 2020, despite the Covid lockdown they still came back to Oklahoma for her funeral. Those 4 were some of Mom's "Surrogate" children and I don't know what I would have done without them there.

Also, going to the gate with your family and having them send you off, or wait at the gate to meet someone.

I used to live near to the local airport when I was a children's Nanny. The twin boys I cared for were obsessed with planes, so at least weekly I would take them to go watch the planes take off and land. There was an outside area to the airport which was also a cafe, so we would go for hot chocolate and cake. Parking was free. We could walk through all areas of the airport (public areas). Even walk up to the steps to the planes. What a glorious time now, looking back. These days, said airport is extortionate on even drop of prices, and the public areas at literally a shop and toilets .. for anywhere else you need tickets, boarding passes, I.D. and the fencing around the airport means you cannot see the planes land or takeoff until they are airborne.

And not having Karen/Chad on flight throwing tantrums.

Still miss this.

I've even flow with the ticket in someone else's name.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHW1ho8L7V8

GaDonch-A-Donch-A-Donch-Screeeee!

12 year old grandson can do a perfect impression!!!!

I still hear it all the time. It's my ringtone.

Ent-hhhhh enthhhhh ent-hhhhhhhhhhhhh budaaaaaaaahhh ent-hhh

I love paper maps, it's true it makes travelling feel like a true adventure.

I remember my mom finding a "shortcut" on the map not realising it took us over the highest mountain in our country and adding about 3hours to our journey

Mountain Rescue in the UK would like you to use paper maps, as they have to rescue you when your mobile can’t get a signal, gets wet, runs out of battery, and you walk down a gully thinking it's a path. OS maps are peerless

Yeah, I remember measuring dots on the map to determine where we'd have to stop for food and gas.

Was a great way to learn about places.

I cringe sometimes watching comedies from the 70s and 80s. Like, what were thinking?

When my wife and I bought our first home in 1968, and since both of our salaries. were being considered for the loan, the bank wanted us to sign an affidavit that promised that my wife wouldn't get pregnant. We laughed, signed, and got the loan. Yeah, let's see that hold up in court. An yes, we're still married.

What country is this? Here in Poland women in my family were independent for at least 5 generations (even a grandmother of my grandmother was able to make her own decisions without husband's permission).

It's not completely gone. When we were first married, my wife, an experienced broker, applied for a job at a local firm. Everything went well, and they offered her the job.....on the condition that I personally come to the office to confirm she had my permission to work outside the home. Needless to say, she took another job!

When I tell people that American women didn't have the legal rights to open a bank account before 1974 a large number of people don't believe it and won't bother to look it up.

And you could call information in another city and get them to tell you the number if you had the name.

As a preteen\teenager my friends and I found many boys phone numbers by calling 411 (information) you just needed to know the last name and town, they'd give you every number listed. This was back around 86-93. Once in 7th grade my bff and I called to find a friend's dad's number with the last name Gay, "hi 411, could I get the number for a Gay in Minneapolis?" ... Silence for seconds, then a huge loud laugh "honey, there's a lot of gays in Mpls, can you narrow it down?"

Phone books were used to find someone's address almost as often as they were to find their phone number.

The "door stop" you mean

There was a simple satisfaction that you had free access to everyone's number in the area. Now in the Pay-to-lookup and privacy of cell phone carriers, looking somone up is a huge process, because they may have a transplanted number from when they lived in Ohio ten years ago, and kept.

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.