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Those who knew life before the internet and today’s technology lived an entirely different existence. It was so starkly different that many practices during those years may confuse, shock, or even horrify people today.
This was a discussion in a recent Reddit thread. Older folks looked back on a time when it was acceptable to smoke cigarettes on airplanes, walk through airline gates without a ticket, and have a phonebook containing personal information for everyone to see.
Many consider this a “golden era” filled with glorious moments. If you’re one of them, feel free to share your insights in the comment boxes below!
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#1
Free range kids with no tracking. I left home on Saturdays after the last good cartoon, and my family didn't see me again until dinner. I was in the woods fighting imaginary Russians or having bottle rocket wars with kids on the block.
sheburns17 replied:
This! My mom kicked us outside when we got rowdy and told us to come back when she whistled! We knew not to pass the stop sign at one end of the road and the mailbox on the other. We had treehouses made from random s**t we found in the woods and would battle each other. Man, my kids now could never.
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#2
The amount of kids who could fit in the back of a station wagon.
HatFickle4904 replied:
My parents would drive all night from L.A to Sacramento, CA. We'd get in our pajamas, and my Dad would fold down the back seat of the 1984 Chevy station wagon so that we had a giant bed. He played out a huge sleeping bag unzipped, and my two brothers and I would curl up in that and drive all night. It used to feel like we were in a spaceship as the lights from big rigs would fan across that rear windshield. Some of my best memories as a kid.
#3
The average blue collar worker could raise a happy and content family on a single income….can you imagine?
#4
My father left me at home alone for 2 weeks when he went on a trip. I was in high school and got myself up every morning and got to school on time and made my own meals. I think he called one time. This didn’t seem weird or wrong to me at all.
#6
You had to wait for a week to 10 days to see the pictures you took-after you dropped them off to be developed.
#7
Television stations going off the air around midnight along with a patriotic song, followed by a test pattern that remained until morning.
#8
Or high school had a student smoking area. There wasn't an age requirement. Also restaurants did not have no smoking areas.
#9
I was babysitting an infant and a four-year-old when I was 11. These days, a lot of 11-year-olds have sitters or nannies.
#10
That you pulled into a gas station, and a guy in uniform came out, filled your tank, checked the oil, and washed your windshield. And you didn't tip him.
#11
People being completely unreachable, even children, for multiple days. Not in a they aren't answering work emails on purpose, but are posting on Instagram kind of way-- but truly, no one knows where the h**l this person is or how to get in touch with them... oh well, ok. Carry on.
nysflyboy replied:
God, I soooooo miss this. Not just for myself, because it's possible to still drop off the planet for a while, but what I miss is this being NORMAL for all people. Like in the before cell phone, before answering machine days. Call and leave a message with someone who answered. Or not. 'Where is Jake?' 'Oh, he went down South for a few days. Check back next week.'
#12
Rotary Dialing a phone number; the idea of long distance toll charges on phone calls; dialing 0 for an operator (always a lady); 411 for information; white pages yellow pages even blue pages in a phone book sent out yearly by ATT, GTE ….
grejam replied:
Long-distance phone calls were a big thing. Rarely ever done. If you've got a long-distance call, it was something important. Probably bad news about family members.
#13
Walking to airline gates without a ticket or TSA. When I was a kid mom would take me to BWI airport and we would watch the planes from the pier.
ontrack replied:
Also, traveling by yourself at a young age. I flew from DC to south Texas and changed planes in Houston, entirely by myself, at 13. My parents just dropped me off in front of the terminal, and I did the rest. I was not escorted or monitored by any airport personnel.
#16
Stores were closed on Sundays.
KimVG73 replied:
Closed for the holidays, too. Actually, fully closed for Thanksgiving through the week. Christmas is often the whole week. Lots of folks talk about 'great again,' but they gotta shop, shop, shop, or work, work, work through every holiday. And forget federal holidays. Slowing down, being closed, allowing for reset time. This is why people are difficult now. Everyone is exhausted.
#18
Being responsible for your girl scout cookie sales all by yourself, by door to door knocking.
#19
When you sat in the front seat, the only thing that kept you from flying into the dash, was your Mom's arm flying over when she hit the brakes.
#20
Human conversation, playing outside until the streetlights came on, drinking out of the hose.
#22
My mother smoked and drank during 3 pregnancies. Women thought this helped delivery by making the baby smaller. I’m not kidding.
#24
When i was a teenager I used to cycle around, and if i had to telephone someone, i would just knock on some (random) person's door, asking politely if i could make a call. Or even go to the toilet sometimes. Most people would be ok with it.
#25
All adults were allowed to hit kids… parents, teachers, coaches, principal, even friends and or neighbors.
#26
Smoking on airplanes.
emarkd replied:
I used to ride my bike to the corner market and 'buy' my mom cigarettes by the carton. I say 'buy' in quotes because she had a tab there, literally just a list in a little flip notebook by the register. I'd take home her cigarettes as needed, and she'd stop in on the weekends and settle up the tab. I was 9 or 10 when this started.
Smoking was not only everywhere, at least where I lived; nobody cared about age laws and s**t.
#27
Casual violence, sexism, racism, bigotry and bullying at a level that young people today would lose their minds.
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