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21 Weird Things That Were Widely Acceptable 20 Years Ago, As Shared By People Online
Years go by, and things constantly change. Something that was acceptable decades ago is no longer considered normal, which means that the things we are doing now will probably be uncanny to our kids and grandchildren. Who knows what the future will be like – maybe we'll go back to the no technology times, or maybe those flying cars will finally show up and bless our ordinary lives. In this article, we'll be looking at Reddit users who were asked to share their opinions on weird things that were normal and widely acceptable 20 years ago.
The thread received almost 40K upvotes and 17.7K comments, alongside an engaging discussion where people occasionally reminded each other that 20 years ago is 2001 and not somewhere in the '80s.
Let us know in the comment section if there's something on your mind that you would like to add regarding the theme's question. And besides, what things that we're doing nowadays do you think will be viewed as strange by the future folks?
More info: Reddit
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Being at home at your TV at a certain time to catch a show, and expecting everyone to leave you alone so you could watch it with no interruptions.
You could be out with friends and you'd look and say "oh it's 7:30 I got to get home to catch my show!" And nobody looked at you like a strange social outcast.
Leaving your young kids unsupervised most of the time.
I remember at 5 years old sitting in the parking lot of the bowling alley in my dads car for 3 hours while he was inside bowling. Also, most of the time, my parents had zero clue as to where I was. I would leave the house in the morning on my bicycle and be home for dinner. Suited them just fine.
I kinda feel bad for kids nowadays. My sister and I use to go into the woods with our neighborhood friends and just run around and play, ride our bikes around the neighborhood or to the corner store. Our pitbull would accompany us unleashed and everyone would just stop and pet him as they passed by.
Going on road trips without a phone.
Yup, had to use paper maps, too, no GPS....I remember stopping at gas stations so many times to get help with directions. And hoping they weren't sending me on a wild goose chase.
Dial Up internet.
Being able to take a look in the cockpit of a plane.
The stewardesses would activly ask some kids on the flight if they wanted to take a look in the cockpit. I remember when I stepped in the cockpit of a Boeing 747 I decided I wanted to become a pilot someday.
When I was a kid, I used to have a little book that the pilot would sign on each flight and would usually get invited up to the cockpit to get it signed. You could only stand back behind the pilots seats, and not touch anything, but if you were lucky the pilot would show you some of the controls and instruments. Used to love it. Real shame that kids these days will never expeience that.
Paying $1.29, so 9 seconds of a song played when your phone rang.
People would go to carnivals and shove their face in the same water barrel to grab an apple with their mouth. Completely bonkers in 2021.
That every computer on the planet was going to go nuts on New Year’s Day.
My highschool had an area where we were allowed to smoke. A designated smoking area for kids under 18.
You could smoke EVERYWHERE back in the day - malls, planes, hospitals, offices. What was weird then was being told you COULDN'T smoke somewhere.
Not having airport security.
Also : smoking both on the airport and the plane! It was 1997, a flight to Dakar
People riding in cars without seatbelts plus four or five kids seated in the back.
People spending thousands of dollars on Beanie Babies.
those are actually super popular with the little girls nowadays too, all the little sisters of my friends love them lol :D
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That was over 30 years ago. My kids were too young but I remember the women with older girls in my office strategizing about where cabbage patch dolls were in stock. Mine were beanie baby and ninja turtle age. It was hard to find turtle merch around the holidays.
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As a non-American I've googled this before and I still don't understand what the craze was about. What's so special about them?
Nothing really, I heard the story was they were marketed as "collectibles" at the height of when people were realizing that, for instance, first edition comic books were generally poorly preserved and so collectors were paying top dollar. But it didn't turn out as everyone and their mom ended up getting them so it didn't have the scarcity value. For what it's worth I thought they had a nice feel to them, a nice heft you don't get with cotton plushes, but that also kind of limited their size.
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When they were in McDonald's happy meals. Adults having to be limited the number they could buy at one time. Also overhearing a conversation on how to use the nuggets from the Happy meal in a casserole as to not waste the food.
A couple of my coworkers would go to McDonalds every day for a Happy Meal to get those beanie babies!
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You who didn't live through the Cabbage Patch Kids craze know nothing. I gave up and sewed my own.
Remember that couple that got divorced and took turns picking beanie babies? In the courtroom as the judge watched, because they couldn't settle it on their own. They were said to be valued a few thousand dollars all together.
People are still spending insane amounts of money on thing just as stupid this very minute. We always have and always will.
One man i worked with, his wife sold beanie babies, and periodically he'd come to the office taking orders. My daughter was 3 years old, so i figured I'd get one for her. I remember telling him i wanted a cat. He asked what the name of the beanie was. I told him i had no idea, just get a white one. He was so annoyed that i didn't have a name. Lol
I knew a girl who had hundreds of them. She had a load of them nailed to the walls in her bedroom. It's Beanie Boos now and my daughter went crazy collecting them at one point.
I thought that was a little Batman Daschund then, I would've paid for that
I would still do this.... along with shopkins! I still have a few beanie babies and several little shopkins!
UGh, Idk how many are in my house in the basement plus some in containers for holidays!!! As soon as my family renevates the basement there are all going into storage or being donated to little kids with cancer!:D
Boots with the fur.
Shutting down Napster.
Was discussing this with my husband today: trampolines with NO safety net, no buried in a pit so it’s ground level, no spring guards - nothing. Just an incredibly bouncy platform high off the ground that 12 kids between the ages of 1 and 27 would all go on at once.
The neighbor kid and I would jump off his roof onto the trampoline. That's how I lost 3 of my baby teeth.
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Getting the wrong number and then ending up having a delightful conversation with someone, or politely letting them go with a laugh.
Back in the day, they sold sim cards on newspaper stands. No one asked for an ID. You would go to the provider outlet only if you wanted a paid subscription. All went downhill when phone scams sckyrocketed and old people were getting scammed out of their savings. *EDIT* Also cigarettes and alcohol were sold to anyone, at any age. My dad would send me off to buy him cigarettes and beer at the age of 5. I couldn't even count yet. Also no receipts were given after a purchase. Anywhere. You would eat, and a breakdown hand written on a paper tab would be given to you. People would just compare if the prices matched the ones in the menu. Also no one flew. Only businessmen. A regular airplane ticket cost well over your average monthly wage, sometimes two. At least the above was true in the early 90s back in Bulgaria.
My Mom gave us a note to take to to gas station to pick up cigs 🙄
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Having a cell phone you could smash with a brick and it still worked.
Having a designated meeting spot and HAVING to be there on time because if you were too late the other person would just leave.
Remembered another one: there used to be a number you could dial on your (stationary, rotary ) phone, and you could listen to fairy tales. Used to crank up the phone bill a lot for my folks, but I loved listening to Little Red Riding Hood, the 7 little goats etc.
Where can't you wear a scarf to school? That's a staple of winter wear in Canada.
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Thought of another one. In Canada growing up, as example: our house phone numbers were 7 digits on full. Like 519-1382. BUT we only had to dial "9-1382" to connect. 12 digit phone numbers (plus 1 at the front) were only for long distance. Which tbh was anywhere 15 minutes outside our city.
No one is mentioning taking PEANUT BUTTER(and Jam) to school. Or anywhere really. My mom couldn't have been able to pay for both us kids to take meat to school. Oh wait.. I guess many are vegans now lol
Plus, a lot fewer people even choose to take sandwiches (in Australia anyway) for lunch anymore. You see many more taking sushi, salad, soup/other things in thermos, fried rice etc. I think it began with more immigrants who had these things traditionally in their country, plus people wanting to be more healthy, and now more people caught up with the trend.
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Making fun of Asians for wearing masks when they were sick. I had so much to learn.
These are great memories, but go waaay further back than 2001, sorry.
In general almost none of these applied 20 years ago. 20 years ago was post-911. 25 years ago maybe.
Was discussing this with my husband today: trampolines with NO safety net, no buried in a pit so it’s ground level, no spring guards - nothing. Just an incredibly bouncy platform high off the ground that 12 kids between the ages of 1 and 27 would all go on at once.
The neighbor kid and I would jump off his roof onto the trampoline. That's how I lost 3 of my baby teeth.
Load More Replies... Getting the wrong number and then ending up having a delightful conversation with someone, or politely letting them go with a laugh.
Back in the day, they sold sim cards on newspaper stands. No one asked for an ID. You would go to the provider outlet only if you wanted a paid subscription. All went downhill when phone scams sckyrocketed and old people were getting scammed out of their savings. *EDIT* Also cigarettes and alcohol were sold to anyone, at any age. My dad would send me off to buy him cigarettes and beer at the age of 5. I couldn't even count yet. Also no receipts were given after a purchase. Anywhere. You would eat, and a breakdown hand written on a paper tab would be given to you. People would just compare if the prices matched the ones in the menu. Also no one flew. Only businessmen. A regular airplane ticket cost well over your average monthly wage, sometimes two. At least the above was true in the early 90s back in Bulgaria.
My Mom gave us a note to take to to gas station to pick up cigs 🙄
Load More Replies... Having a cell phone you could smash with a brick and it still worked.
Having a designated meeting spot and HAVING to be there on time because if you were too late the other person would just leave.
Remembered another one: there used to be a number you could dial on your (stationary, rotary ) phone, and you could listen to fairy tales. Used to crank up the phone bill a lot for my folks, but I loved listening to Little Red Riding Hood, the 7 little goats etc.
Where can't you wear a scarf to school? That's a staple of winter wear in Canada.
Load More Replies... Thought of another one. In Canada growing up, as example: our house phone numbers were 7 digits on full. Like 519-1382. BUT we only had to dial "9-1382" to connect. 12 digit phone numbers (plus 1 at the front) were only for long distance. Which tbh was anywhere 15 minutes outside our city.
No one is mentioning taking PEANUT BUTTER(and Jam) to school. Or anywhere really. My mom couldn't have been able to pay for both us kids to take meat to school. Oh wait.. I guess many are vegans now lol
Plus, a lot fewer people even choose to take sandwiches (in Australia anyway) for lunch anymore. You see many more taking sushi, salad, soup/other things in thermos, fried rice etc. I think it began with more immigrants who had these things traditionally in their country, plus people wanting to be more healthy, and now more people caught up with the trend.
Load More Replies... Making fun of Asians for wearing masks when they were sick. I had so much to learn.
These are great memories, but go waaay further back than 2001, sorry.
In general almost none of these applied 20 years ago. 20 years ago was post-911. 25 years ago maybe.
