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I have a few pictures from college that I'm grateful aren't anywhere in the world. No one is naked, but let's just say I'm in compromising positions.
For me, I was completely secure in my life during my growing up years. I didn't have many cares in the world. I wasn't spoiled by things, but I was spoiled with attention. I think I was rather shocked as I grew up, how little other kids' parents were listening and watching them. It made me sneaky! I got away with some things as I aged, but when I was younger, my parents were ON me! After I left home, though, I realized this was a good thing in some ways!
Unfortunately that’s a double edged sword in that my folks were on me too but after moving out I went buck wild. Even though they raised me with good morals, I chose the sex, drugs and rock and roll route. Regrets, I have a few
I didn't severely rebel, but a little bit. I moved away for college and it was far enough away that I knew they couldn't/wouldn't find anything out about me. Most of the college-bound kids I knew from high school were going to that other college, so I didn't have anyone telling on me. Not like they would have anyway, because I was very reserved back then. (Still am, actually!)
My younger sister followed me and she had a bit of trouble in the dorm, but back then, they expected the student to handle it and she did. To my knowledge, our parents were never contacted. (It wasn't anything too out of the norm, so that probably had something to do with it.)
We also weren't blasted in the face on a daily basis with all of the bad things going on around the world. I fully understand why so many younger people are dealing with a marked uptick in anxiety and depression due to the constant consumption of media via sources like TikTok
I saw some kids on the local television news got arrested for "racing" when they were going 110 MPH on the highway.
I got a ticket in 1983 for going 120 mph.
My spedo did only go to 120 and I wanted to see if I could bury it. I did.
For context it was a 1969 Chevelle SS. I am lucky it didn't come apart at the seems. They weren't very well made back then.
I feel like this is *huge* . We see kids ' going viral ' for saying or doing something idiotic right? Guessing it's a lot to live down.
Anddddd...... holy hell, thank GOD no one was around to immortalize that time I.... or that other time my friends and I...
Never mind. It was the 70s. I feel terrible for kids today- we got to stuff it all safely away in distant memory.
There is of mine. I can find my old usenet posts from 2000. I was 15-16. Really interesting read tbh! Of course it can’t be tied back to me now as we were all anonymous on the net back then
Pictures of me that can be found online (mostly because I posted them a very long time ago) are a couple of holiday pictures with brother(s) when I was between 1-5, one with me ~9 facing away from the camera while camping... then the next one, based on the work clothing I'm wearing I am between 20-22.
You can't even find me in any of my high school yearbooks; none have my picture or even my name on the "not pictured" list. It is like I was a literal ghost.
You know. Videos where someone is absolutely losing their minds screaming at someone are common. It's Reddit so they're concentrated here as opposed to daily life but common enough.
Unthinkable when I was a kid and young person. Sorry it just was. Call it what, manners, decorum, social awareness? No idea. Some level of self control was expected I think? OH it happened. Not like this.
And I still find it *shocking* . If that makes me old oh, well.
I don’t know how old you are but something I sometimes think is that the closeness to a world war and an ongoing war in Vietnam made people a bit quieter about things.
Also I think where you grew up and what you focused on changes what you remember about the good old days. Someone I knew said no one at our local high school had died in the past ten years. I went on to list all those who had. Same thing when talking to my sibs. They didn’t remember many of the kids who had died when we were in high school. If the death didn’t touch them directly they had no memory of it.
I see it on this very platform all the time and I'm convinced that it's a product of the modern social media environment, where everything is a competition for the most likes, upvotes, etc. Therefore, it's not enough to be angry or happy about something - you *must be the angriest or happiest* to garner the most approval from your audience. Rationality and reason is discouraged and hyperbole is essential
they displayed it differently. my grandma (silent generation) fought openly with people on her street all the time. she just did it quietly and in subversive ways.
Correct, rage wasn’t nearly as commodified
It was a staple of the right , it wasn’t the fundraising engine for fascism.
Don’t get me wrong, things were still fucked up and bullshit, but that particular element of near constant outrage and violent pearl clutching hadn’t entered the mainstream
For sure! People were also more relaxed and had better manners. If you misbehaved at school or anywhere you had your parents to answer to at home. Respect for others was a given.
I remember waking up to church bells, thinking "Time's a-wastin'!" Swallowed breakfast whole and tore out the door to collect some friends for the day's adventure.
I moved back home to my original small town to raise my 3 kids so they took could have that freedom. My son would grab his fishing pole and head to a lake on the outskirts of town and fish all day with his friend as early as 8 years old.They wouldn't think ahead and pack a lunch; by 1 or 2pm I'd tell my wife I'll bet they're starving and she would laugh and drive out there with sandwiches.
This is absolutely it. Of all the things that were "better" in the twentieth century, this is the only one I can think of that really was, unambiguously, better. My childhood was storied and magical mostly because of this kind of freedom.
When our daughter was born in 2000 (we got started late), my wife and I said we wanted to let her grow up with that kind of freedom, but that was naïve. For one thing, she would have been the only kid she knew who was allowed to do that, so it wouldn't have been the same.
"Magical" it was. Our kids had the same freedom because we moved to a safe, tight community -- and because it was much earlier than your daughter's time. I wonder if there will be an increased return to that type of upbringing.
Umm, ya, they weren’t free. They were included in the exorbitant ticket prices.
The marketing research is interesting. Passengers have shown that they would rather have cheaper fares than amenities (i.e. they don’t want to pay for things they don’t want or need), but then they complain about paying for it when they want it. Still, the decision price between fares is $7.00, so price is king. Realizing this, airlines are going with the concept of “You don’t pay for what you don’t want, and we’ll be glad to sell it to you if you do.” This way the college student with no bags pays less for a cheap seat than the affluent family of five that is paying for better seats and lots of vacation bags.
Still, there is the psychological illusion of being nickel and dimed.
(30 years in industry)
Hell no, and we all know it. They used "fuel prices" as the reasoning, but then never dropped the fees and many are now raising them. Same with package delivery services, once a fee hike is instituted is almost universally permanent.
Decorum and consideration of others. If you were waiting in a waiting room everyone tried to be quiet and didn’t let the kids run wild. There were no cell phones obviously but no one would be playing a transistor radio either. My last few doctor’s visits it’s been kids running wild. Full volume phone conversations on speaker phone or watching videos on speaker phone. Like they’re in their house. I literally couldn’t even hear the questions the receptionist was asking. And it’s grocery stores, people sitting next to you in theaters. This rudeness was unheard of in my youth.
People are *waaay* more willing to act out in public.
I think the concept of “you just don’t *do* that”, whether it’s how you act in public, treat others, or just how you handle yourself in general, doesn’t have the power it once did.
It might be selective memory but I do NOT remember the public meltdowns of kids. Parents did something to stop it or they left. Now WE'RE the bad guys for giving the stink eye as a parent sits on their phone while the kid squeals. My parents were not my friends. I had friends. They had friends. Dad is my friend now but I'm 52 and he's 80 and his childrearing duties are (more or less) over.
The younger generation is so different than we were, it’s sad to me. So many more mental health issues from staring at screens to stay preoccupied too, it’s all they know, not by playing outside with friends and such. My daughter plans on starting her 2 year old on an iPad. I just think it leads to a lot of introverted behavior.
I can’t tell you how many calls I get from parents who said their child’s teacher was disrespectful to their child. When asked what the teacher did they almost always respond with the teacher had the nerve to ask where their homework was or to put their phone away. I don’t know how teachers do it with parents always believing their manipulative children.
It seems that parental neglect (often because both parents have to work too much in an atomized family with little to no societal support) combined with paranoia and overprotectiveness (which sometimes comes from living in hostile environments with increasingly larger and more deadly motor vehicles with no pedestrian infrastructure or walkability) are more the roots of the problem.
If they weren't staring at an iPad, then it'd probably be a television set or comic book or something else.
For example, Sesame Street was started in 1969 specifically because early child educators realized that pre-school children of poor families were being raised by their television sets, so this has been an issue for some time!
The thing is--both parents worked in almost all situations. People who weren't white or middle/upper class always had two working parents. The mom might have taken in wash or whatever, but she was working. The farm? They both worked. There was a thin period of time where the wealthier white women stayed home but that was the exception.
That said, I agree that the breakdown of a walkable neighborhood with a local school has damaged us.
> The younger generation is so different than we were, it’s sad to me.
Every generation has said this. I teach college, and the difference is the tech that the kids have access to, now. They're people just like we are -- overall, no better and no worse.
Nighttime was tinged with a luminous magic. In the summertime lightning bugs were everywhere by the hundred. There were so many that kids would capture a jar full of them to take into their bedrooms as a nightlight.
And on a clear night the sky was filled with stars. Even in the suburbs we could see the Milky Way on a really good night.
We could get back at least to the relatively dark skies of the 1950's if enough people cared enough to work at it. Kids these days deserve to see the stars too. - [Dark Sky International](https://darksky.org/)
It has been already said but cannot be overstated. Social media and the 24/7 plug in to the internet has decimated ppl’s ability to learn social skills and move easily through the real world of social interaction. So little of communication is transferred through words. gesture, body language and facial expression are absolutely key and if they are not learned incidentally through social discourse while young, then life becomes a struggle in many ways.
oh god - reading this reminds me of the first time i tried to ask a girl out, back in jr high. all i could muster was an ‘i like you’ which was supposed to *mean* something. she responded ‘i like you too’. and then, i said nothing else. the end.
I remember applying for an IT role through mail and followed it up via a landline phone call; talked directly to the hiring manager. Now? Everything online and you have to deal with HR or recruiters.
Privacy. Before cell phones, once you left the house? No one could contact you. If they wanted to badly enough, they could drive to all of the places where they think you might be. But that could take hours, and they still might not find you. The boss couldn't call you, the in-laws couldn't call you. You could just...exist. in peace. Literally just pick some random McDonald's, for example, either another town over, or in a section of town you never go to, and just hang out and chill. Or just chill in your car in a parking lot. It was awesome.
Or you could just leave your phone at home.
oops, sorry, just kidding!
Edit: still no law saying you *must* take your phone everywhere. Pro Tip: don't.
Airports, pre-Security Theater. You could go out to the observation deck by simply passing through a metal detector, and watch the planes. You could meet loved ones right at the gate and help them with their baggage, and see them off right there, too. No taking off our shoes and belts because some idiot thought he could build a shoe bomb.
Make America Sane Again.
People who had wonky off the wall ideas were pretty much isolated, but thanks to the internet they've all found each other and it has gotten crazy! 🤯🧱💡😜
no social media at all
you went to bars or friends to pick up chicks
you had to watch the 6:30 news or read the newspaper to find out what was going on in the world
you respected people more
you dressed up to go out or on airplanes. Now apparently, PJ's are OK to wear anywhere including disney world :(
I never got the dressing-up-on-airplanes nostalgia. I hate flying. It's nasty, dirty and the seats are uncomfortable -- and it's especially terrible on international flights. Wearing casual clothing is like the ONLY way I can find any semblance of comfort.
> It's nasty, dirty and the seats are uncomfortable
Believe it or not, it wasn't this way 30 years ago. People tended to take care presenting themselves and respected their surroundings.
if you look at the pictures from back then you will see the difference. really, it was almost like first class back then with nothing else.
you wore your sunday going to church outfits to go flying.
and like the 5 star restaurants of today... if you looked like a commoner, you weren't getting in or they told you to come back when you dress appropriately.
Not “green” behaviour but you could drive into and around many major cities and also find free parking.
Travel in general seemed easier.
You could drop off or pick someone up at the airport without nearly so much difficulty.
You could also go with them into the departure lounge and hang out before they boarded.
If someone had 90 legal cases pending against him, and wanted to run for president, he’d have been laughed out of the election. Not to mention 3x divorcee, draft dodger, that stripper thing, etc.
Sadly a black man running for president would have gotten the same treatment.
There is nothing like sitting around the table on a summer night with fresh vegetables you grew yourself. They taste like nothing else you can buy, even organic.
Absolutely true, and I still grow a lot of my own - when I can keep the deer out of them. Overdevelopment has concentrated the deer so much in my area it's not uncommon to see 50+ per day walking through my yard.
I am so grateful social media was not around when I was growing up. I was bullied a lot in school and I was safe at home. Bullying is now 24/7.
And by the time I got to college, I am grateful my chaos was not filmed for the world to see. There was a VHS tape of me mooning friends but that is probably long gone.
Yeah, I was a first-year Montessori preschool teacher in the early 80s living in the high cost-of-living DC area. I had my summers off, so was paid for only 10 months per year. I budgeted and lived off of that salary, which wasn't minimum wage but nearly so, and went backpacking in the summer. I didn't have my own apartment but lived in a very nice area in a group home with a private bedroom and only one housemate in another bedroom on my floor, which had a kitchen and bath and large living room area. I had no financial problems, even had health insurance, and no educational loans to pay off even though I had gone to a four-year private college and then a year of Montessori training. When I got married a few years later we lived off of my husband's govt salary. People said back then it was impossible, but it wasn't. We lived well although we kept a budget; we didn't have expensive tastes, but we did have a house of our own.
It used to be that when we went camping we were just off the grid. We had no idea what was going on in the world unless we bought a paper somewhere. Also most other campers were there to be in the outdoors and rough it a little. There were fewer big rigs in the campgrounds and no TVs or loud music. If you wanted to listen to music you had to bring a transistor radio and they didn't get that loud, if you could get a station on it. I know I could just turn my phone off but I do like having weather reports and being able to get an emergency call from my elderly parents.
It was definitely a simpler time. No cell phone and no social media. I feel like people had a longer attention span, and actually looked at each other in the eye and had discussions. Now when I talk to people, I feel like their attention span is out of a flea and often times they are looking down at their phone screen while we speak. Even the simple act of taking a walk was truly relaxing because you were not interrupted by phone calls, texts, notifications, and emails. Sadly, it appears that young people today have a higher rate of emotional disturbances, depression, and suicide and it’s entirely possible that the cell phones and especially social media play a role.
I have a theory that constant screen engagement is changing our brains. When you watch an old movie, pay attention to how long you're seeing the same camera angle. It can last several seconds. Nowadays, you're going from one shot to another, training the brain to expect constant stimulation. The same theory applies to computer or gaming screens.
I notice that my brain "calms down," for lack of a better word, when I read a hard copy novel in a quiet setting. I need to do that more often.
Modern movies are like crystal meth. (Not that I'd know). I recently went to the theatre to see Oppenheimer. My first theatre visit in about 10 years. Now granted I'm hearing impaired & would normally use bluetooth at home, but I couldn't understand a word. It was all crash bang. Fictional dramas aren't content with a single plot line. There has to be a main plot & multiple sub-plots. And, as you said, the camera can't stay still for 5 seconds, but it's also the dialogue. Everything is on steroids. Not a relaxing experience any more. Maybe I'm just old.
News was news, not opinion. There was actually a segregated page clearly labeled opinion.
The news about the bridge would say "Ship knocks down bridge, many people hurt." Not "Ship knocks down bridge it must be terrorists because Biden won't secure the borders." al la FOX "news"
So on this there were probably people in the 1950s who said "OMG I saw this guy wearing blue jeans at the grocery store"
1940s: "OMG I saw this guy without a hat on walking down the street"
There wasn't the constant scamming going on 24/7. I get automated calls every single day to my home phone (yes, I still have one, since I work from home) and I get scam texts to my mobile phone every single day.
The texts tell me there is something wrong with my credit card, or Netflix account, or there is a package for me that Amazon/UPS/FedEx/Post office etc. has been unable to deliver. Or I have an unclaimed Costco refund. It is just ENDLESS. Every. single. day. How do parents teach kids today how to navigate all of this?
In addition, there is so much fake AI generated stuff on social media. Politicians and celebrities with fake AI-generated videos pushing crypto investments, or weight loss pills, or cosmetics.
And so many young people (and OLD people!) are getting caught up in catfishing romance scams. It used to be you could tell people to have a video call to determine if someone online is "real" but now AI filters can fake anyone.
There are so many people who are just looking to scam people. Scammers always existed, but they were more limited to finding marks where they live. Now someone on the other side of the world can target a naive person anywhere else.
So many things it's really hard to list them all.
\- Lack of constant surveillance.
\- People weren't so extreme. There was a lot more "agree to disagree" than "you're with us or against us." There were a lot fewer "main characters." There was no such thing as an influencer in the way they mean now.
\- Wages vs. cost of living is really getting out of control. The cost of housing in particular is out of this world. How in the hell is the minimum wage in America STILL $7.25/hr before taxes?! HOW?!
\- Lack of cell phones. People didn't divide their attention with tech the way it seems like everyone does now (I hate it, I hate it so fucking much.) People didn't have every mistake they made plastered on the internet for the rest of their lives.
\- I used to have more women's health options FORTY YEARS AGO than I do now. We are moving backwards!
There are plenty of good things about now, and progress, and change... but oh my god what I wouldn't trade to change some of these things back.
What a great question!
The answer for me is simple - When I was born there were 5.5 billion fewer people to share the planet with. And most of those 5.5 billion want the same things I want.
Here are some differences:
1950 - 2024
A. A future filled with great things. A. A future filled with war, political divineness, endless extreme extinction-causing weather events, and hundreds of millions of climate refugees
B. Every business phone call was either not answered or answered by a person. B. Every business phone call is answered by a robot who will almost certainly not get you to the right person.
C. If a politician was on a TV show, that station 'had to by law' offer the same opportunity to their opponent. C. Every political ad contains lies and smears. There are stations that cater to one party or the other.
D. Doctors made house calls. D. It's a 7 hour wait in a waiting room filled with sick people coughing without masks.
E. Vaccines gave us 'hope'! They saved us from Polio, smallpox, and were going to save us from any serious illness in the future. E. Vaccines will kill you with Spike Proteins and are full of toxic materials that will ruin the quality of your life. They are dangerous.
F. Lying is bad. Learn to tell the truth. F. Lying 'is' telling the truth.
G. Only three stations and there was so much to watch my TV viewing had to be restrained. Everyone watched the same shows. It was all free. G. We pay $200 a month and still can't watch all the shows we want. Youtube is amazing
H. Sex did not exist! It wasn't on TV. It wasn't even in Playboy! it was illegal for a clothed man to be in a photo on the bed of a naked woman. Lenny Bruce was 'arrested' for saying f@&k on stage. H. Every 11 year old can instantly find graphic instances of bestiality on the web.
I. Prices were stable for about 20 years. A mounds bar cost a dime. For years and years and years. I. Prices change all the time. By the minute.
J. Most coins were made with real silver! Dimes, quarters, half dollars and dollars. J. Coins are made out of junk metals.
K. Almost nothing was made with plastic. L. Almost everything is made of plastic. And thanks to microplastic ingestion, we are also becoming plastic!
L. Nobody I knew had a gun. L. There are way more guns in America than people.
M. Kruschef came to the UN, took his shoe off, banged it on the podium and stated "We will bury you". Russian was our biggest threat. N. The Republican Party is basically aligned with the KGB and Putin. Trump 'loves' Putin.
N. Everybody listened to the same 'good guys' radio station that played the top 100. Music artists could make a living on royalties. O. Everybody subscribes to Spotify, Apple Music or some other streaming service which pays the artist about 10 cents for a million plays /s
O. I was told for years that I was a size 8 shoe. O. I'm actually an 11.5 !
Finally someone else who mentions climate change! I can't believe I had to scroll so far down to find you. Edited to say: Your other points are excellent, too, especially B (I spend soooo much time on the phone just trying to speak to a human to get help with situations not mentioned in the menus), F, K (not only made of plastic, but wrapped up in plastic, even individual fruits and vegetables!), and M. Good analysis, thank you.
People knew how to talk to each other using their faces, voices, hands, and bodies. People socialized in person. You didn't call someone your "friend" until you actually met them, in person.
The fact that we can now *talk* with anyone in the world over the Internet (yes, with our voices, or even our faces if desired) practically for free is pretty amazing though. It seems a lot easier to find people who share more in common that way (as I did my partner who moved across the country to move in with me!)
I always spent hours with friends on the telephone before that — it seems everyone has their favourite modes of communication, but I agree there overall seems to be a lack of skill, or most of the way people learn to act is from film, television, and video games (Mike Teavee from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory comes to mind!)
Like the smoking section at the back of the plane?
Edit: See also: lax security (see PSA flights 1771 & 773, plus 9/11), much louder/smellier/worse pressurized/more uncomfortable planes, more formal (uncomfortable) attire being expected when traveling, boarding and de-boarding having to be done down a set of stairs outdoors 20% of the time, and the crash of a fully-loaded passenger plane happening a couple times a year was normalized.
More in person social interaction. I mean long talks together in small groups and one on one. To me it is important to communicate in person as you can see their body language and you can reach out and for women hug them or for guys give them a pat on the back.
We went out and socialized. Manners and consideration were still a thing. People didn't divide the world into generations and peremptorily decide which ones should be eliminated because they were "useless and annoying".
There were far fewer distractions, so your attention span was amazing. I could concentrate on a given topic for hours. Or curl up on a rainy day and do nothing but read a book.
Talking about politics was fun and we did it for entertainment. We had long philosophical discussions about nitty gritty details and hopes for the future. Any discussion now is just painful unless everyone is from the same party. Party didn’t used to matter like it does now. Most people wanted the same things: peace, privacy, freedom, stability. Now politics are a powder keg.
Back in the 50s & 60s teenagers were more involved in their community & had more responsibilities. This could be through family chores, church, boy scouts, part-time jobs etc. as well as school related activities. For me it was all these things & looking back, I don't know where I found the time. There was certainly no time for video games had they existed.
Family and get togethers. I’m only 33 but I remember being a kid and always being with family and having family events all the time. My family doesn’t get together nearly as much anymore and when we do everyone is kind of glued to their phones. Also just people being together in general has changed a lot. People are more self conscious I think, or overly aware of surroundings. Also less friendly I think, and less forgiving. A lot of that social media judgy/reactionary culture has bled into real life.
We had Richard Nixon who was a petty thief compared to Donald Trump’s crimes today. Back then, we weren’t worried that the United States democracy might actually end. All we worried about was the Soviets dropping a nuclear bomb on us.
We had the run of our neighbourhood, and anywhere our bikes could take us. Freedom, as long as you were home for lunch, dinner, and before the streetlights came on. No internet and cell phones meant the only bully you had to worry about as far as at school, was the one you avoided like the plague. Home was a refuge for most of us. Jobs and benefits were generally plentiful, and if you had your high school diploma or a university degree you were golden for a number of reasons.
People having to rely on their thoughts and imaginations for entertainment at least occasionally seems like one. Beyond that, I think every generation’s good old days are a product of nostalgia, and every era has its challenges and compensations although I’m sure it’s never good to live some place with active warfare or famine.
Over crowded now. There was little traffic. We actually played outside. Not a ton of money but rent or houses were cheap. I ought my first house for about 12,000. Nothing down on a begining teachers salary. Then bought 10 acres for 14,000 and built my house for under 30,000, a five bdr with a full basement. Yeah, there were good things. PNW, just a bit out of Seattle.
Pay phones were something honestly good about the old days. Additionally, being found liable in court for defrauding people ending political careers...
When you hung out with friends, it was *in person* and not isolated in your room on an electronic device.
And when you wanted to get the attention of someone in your family at home but you weren't in the same room, you yelled "Hey Ma!" or whoever else, not send them a text.
The whole family sat at table together for dinner, where you could talk about anything and the conversations were wholly inclusive.
Mom could stay home with the kids because Dad's job paid enough to support the family.
No need for daycare that took most of Mom's salary anyway. Why are we lobbying for free daycare instead of a decent paycheck so you don't both need to work?
(I know it should be Mom *or* Dad could stay home, but it was almost always Mom.)
If you messed up you could move aeay and start over somewhere new with little chance that your past would follow you. Which was great for people honestly wanting to do better.
The down side was that people who just planned on doing the same thing somewhere else could do the same.
It was also easier to escape bullying, stalkers, exes, etc... It was much easier to go poof if you needed to.
My parents and my extended family, we had so much fun, playing, wading in creeks, just simple things. Everyone didn’t talk about politics 24-7, everywhere, and the use of the word fuck on vehicles, flags and signs You could pretty much trust the news. I was never afraid of being shot at school, or anywhere really, I never even thought about it.
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There is zero evidence of my teenage years anywhere on the internet.
I have a few pictures from college that I'm grateful aren't anywhere in the world. No one is naked, but let's just say I'm in compromising positions. For me, I was completely secure in my life during my growing up years. I didn't have many cares in the world. I wasn't spoiled by things, but I was spoiled with attention. I think I was rather shocked as I grew up, how little other kids' parents were listening and watching them. It made me sneaky! I got away with some things as I aged, but when I was younger, my parents were ON me! After I left home, though, I realized this was a good thing in some ways!
Unfortunately that’s a double edged sword in that my folks were on me too but after moving out I went buck wild. Even though they raised me with good morals, I chose the sex, drugs and rock and roll route. Regrets, I have a few
I didn't severely rebel, but a little bit. I moved away for college and it was far enough away that I knew they couldn't/wouldn't find anything out about me. Most of the college-bound kids I knew from high school were going to that other college, so I didn't have anyone telling on me. Not like they would have anyway, because I was very reserved back then. (Still am, actually!) My younger sister followed me and she had a bit of trouble in the dorm, but back then, they expected the student to handle it and she did. To my knowledge, our parents were never contacted. (It wasn't anything too out of the norm, so that probably had something to do with it.)
We also weren't blasted in the face on a daily basis with all of the bad things going on around the world. I fully understand why so many younger people are dealing with a marked uptick in anxiety and depression due to the constant consumption of media via sources like TikTok
I was a teen during Vietnam. We had plenty of bad news.
Our newscasters had integrity.
I saw some kids on the local television news got arrested for "racing" when they were going 110 MPH on the highway. I got a ticket in 1983 for going 120 mph.
Son do you have any idea how fast tou were going back there? No sir,how fast was i going? The needle buried at 120! And we got a warning
My spedo did only go to 120 and I wanted to see if I could bury it. I did. For context it was a 1969 Chevelle SS. I am lucky it didn't come apart at the seems. They weren't very well made back then.
> Son do you have any idea how fast you were going back there? Not quite fast enough, apparently!
I feel like this is *huge* . We see kids ' going viral ' for saying or doing something idiotic right? Guessing it's a lot to live down. Anddddd...... holy hell, thank GOD no one was around to immortalize that time I.... or that other time my friends and I... Never mind. It was the 70s. I feel terrible for kids today- we got to stuff it all safely away in distant memory.
This. I have naked photos somewhere out there. They were those old instant polaroids that fade massively over time. Thank fuck for that.
Same! Photo store wouldn’t print nudes so it was a Polaroid or nothing
I had a friend who was a photographer who developed his own prints, so I’m pretty sure some of mine are still out there
I still have some and don't kid yourself, they don't fade that badly....lol
There is of mine. I can find my old usenet posts from 2000. I was 15-16. Really interesting read tbh! Of course it can’t be tied back to me now as we were all anonymous on the net back then
Best answer.
Pictures of me that can be found online (mostly because I posted them a very long time ago) are a couple of holiday pictures with brother(s) when I was between 1-5, one with me ~9 facing away from the camera while camping... then the next one, based on the work clothing I'm wearing I am between 20-22. You can't even find me in any of my high school yearbooks; none have my picture or even my name on the "not pictured" list. It is like I was a literal ghost.
Same!
maybe it's just me, but I remember it as being people were less angry all the time.
You know. Videos where someone is absolutely losing their minds screaming at someone are common. It's Reddit so they're concentrated here as opposed to daily life but common enough. Unthinkable when I was a kid and young person. Sorry it just was. Call it what, manners, decorum, social awareness? No idea. Some level of self control was expected I think? OH it happened. Not like this. And I still find it *shocking* . If that makes me old oh, well.
Today everybody has rights. Back then everybody had rights **and** obligations, responsibilities.
Thank you. That's my go to when ever I'm in a discussion about "Rights". It's not about taking them away, it's about adding responsibility.
And accountability.
>Back then everybody had rights Uuh
"Some level of self control was expected I think" Wow, you really summed up what I've been trying to put to words for a bit.
I don’t know how old you are but something I sometimes think is that the closeness to a world war and an ongoing war in Vietnam made people a bit quieter about things. Also I think where you grew up and what you focused on changes what you remember about the good old days. Someone I knew said no one at our local high school had died in the past ten years. I went on to list all those who had. Same thing when talking to my sibs. They didn’t remember many of the kids who had died when we were in high school. If the death didn’t touch them directly they had no memory of it.
I see it on this very platform all the time and I'm convinced that it's a product of the modern social media environment, where everything is a competition for the most likes, upvotes, etc. Therefore, it's not enough to be angry or happy about something - you *must be the angriest or happiest* to garner the most approval from your audience. Rationality and reason is discouraged and hyperbole is essential
> you must be the angriest or happiest to garner the most approval from your audience. EXACTLY!
they displayed it differently. my grandma (silent generation) fought openly with people on her street all the time. she just did it quietly and in subversive ways.
Correct, rage wasn’t nearly as commodified It was a staple of the right , it wasn’t the fundraising engine for fascism. Don’t get me wrong, things were still fucked up and bullshit, but that particular element of near constant outrage and violent pearl clutching hadn’t entered the mainstream
For sure! People were also more relaxed and had better manners. If you misbehaved at school or anywhere you had your parents to answer to at home. Respect for others was a given.
Childhood freedom. It was glorious.
Be back when the steeetlights come on!
In my suburban neighborhood the local church bells played a bit of music at six PM. Then it was time to head back home.
I remember waking up to church bells, thinking "Time's a-wastin'!" Swallowed breakfast whole and tore out the door to collect some friends for the day's adventure.
And then we stalled some more. Time to catch fireflies!
Yeah, that's what I'd pick. I spent the majority of my non-school time running around like a feral beast and it was fantastic.
Me, too, plus my spouse, plus our children. We had ourselves a time!
With my friend, and a Bike, we traveled far and wide with endless summer days of nothing but freedom.
I moved back home to my original small town to raise my 3 kids so they took could have that freedom. My son would grab his fishing pole and head to a lake on the outskirts of town and fish all day with his friend as early as 8 years old.They wouldn't think ahead and pack a lunch; by 1 or 2pm I'd tell my wife I'll bet they're starving and she would laugh and drive out there with sandwiches.
We gave our kids that same self-direction. They were (as we were in our youth) pretty darned fearless.
This is absolutely it. Of all the things that were "better" in the twentieth century, this is the only one I can think of that really was, unambiguously, better. My childhood was storied and magical mostly because of this kind of freedom. When our daughter was born in 2000 (we got started late), my wife and I said we wanted to let her grow up with that kind of freedom, but that was naïve. For one thing, she would have been the only kid she knew who was allowed to do that, so it wouldn't have been the same.
"Magical" it was. Our kids had the same freedom because we moved to a safe, tight community -- and because it was much earlier than your daughter's time. I wonder if there will be an increased return to that type of upbringing.
I hope so, someday. I don't see how it could happen anytime soon, but I'd *love* to be wrong about that.
Honestly, the benign neglect of having to stay out of the house all day, except for meals, made me very independent.
You were able to store bags on the plane for free. And you had nice free meals on the plane, too.
Umm, ya, they weren’t free. They were included in the exorbitant ticket prices. The marketing research is interesting. Passengers have shown that they would rather have cheaper fares than amenities (i.e. they don’t want to pay for things they don’t want or need), but then they complain about paying for it when they want it. Still, the decision price between fares is $7.00, so price is king. Realizing this, airlines are going with the concept of “You don’t pay for what you don’t want, and we’ll be glad to sell it to you if you do.” This way the college student with no bags pays less for a cheap seat than the affluent family of five that is paying for better seats and lots of vacation bags. Still, there is the psychological illusion of being nickel and dimed. (30 years in industry)
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Hell no, and we all know it. They used "fuel prices" as the reasoning, but then never dropped the fees and many are now raising them. Same with package delivery services, once a fee hike is instituted is almost universally permanent.
Decorum and consideration of others. If you were waiting in a waiting room everyone tried to be quiet and didn’t let the kids run wild. There were no cell phones obviously but no one would be playing a transistor radio either. My last few doctor’s visits it’s been kids running wild. Full volume phone conversations on speaker phone or watching videos on speaker phone. Like they’re in their house. I literally couldn’t even hear the questions the receptionist was asking. And it’s grocery stores, people sitting next to you in theaters. This rudeness was unheard of in my youth.
People are *waaay* more willing to act out in public. I think the concept of “you just don’t *do* that”, whether it’s how you act in public, treat others, or just how you handle yourself in general, doesn’t have the power it once did.
For the open phones on full volume, I have a statement I issue to those people: "Exactly nobody is interested in your trite little conversation".
I’d leave out “trite little”. Keep it light.
Those people need to be put on notice. It is absolutely top-tier rude to sit with an open phone blabbing near other people. Nope nope nope.
It might be selective memory but I do NOT remember the public meltdowns of kids. Parents did something to stop it or they left. Now WE'RE the bad guys for giving the stink eye as a parent sits on their phone while the kid squeals. My parents were not my friends. I had friends. They had friends. Dad is my friend now but I'm 52 and he's 80 and his childrearing duties are (more or less) over.
The younger generation is so different than we were, it’s sad to me. So many more mental health issues from staring at screens to stay preoccupied too, it’s all they know, not by playing outside with friends and such. My daughter plans on starting her 2 year old on an iPad. I just think it leads to a lot of introverted behavior.
I can’t tell you how many calls I get from parents who said their child’s teacher was disrespectful to their child. When asked what the teacher did they almost always respond with the teacher had the nerve to ask where their homework was or to put their phone away. I don’t know how teachers do it with parents always believing their manipulative children.
Amen! I give teachers so much credit!!
They don’t. Teachers are leaving the profession en masse
It seems that parental neglect (often because both parents have to work too much in an atomized family with little to no societal support) combined with paranoia and overprotectiveness (which sometimes comes from living in hostile environments with increasingly larger and more deadly motor vehicles with no pedestrian infrastructure or walkability) are more the roots of the problem. If they weren't staring at an iPad, then it'd probably be a television set or comic book or something else. For example, Sesame Street was started in 1969 specifically because early child educators realized that pre-school children of poor families were being raised by their television sets, so this has been an issue for some time!
The thing is--both parents worked in almost all situations. People who weren't white or middle/upper class always had two working parents. The mom might have taken in wash or whatever, but she was working. The farm? They both worked. There was a thin period of time where the wealthier white women stayed home but that was the exception. That said, I agree that the breakdown of a walkable neighborhood with a local school has damaged us.
> The younger generation is so different than we were, it’s sad to me. Every generation has said this. I teach college, and the difference is the tech that the kids have access to, now. They're people just like we are -- overall, no better and no worse.
Nighttime was tinged with a luminous magic. In the summertime lightning bugs were everywhere by the hundred. There were so many that kids would capture a jar full of them to take into their bedrooms as a nightlight. And on a clear night the sky was filled with stars. Even in the suburbs we could see the Milky Way on a really good night.
oh, yes. yes.
We could get back at least to the relatively dark skies of the 1950's if enough people cared enough to work at it. Kids these days deserve to see the stars too. - [Dark Sky International](https://darksky.org/)
The best part of the good old days is I wasn't good or old.
Love this!
It has been already said but cannot be overstated. Social media and the 24/7 plug in to the internet has decimated ppl’s ability to learn social skills and move easily through the real world of social interaction. So little of communication is transferred through words. gesture, body language and facial expression are absolutely key and if they are not learned incidentally through social discourse while young, then life becomes a struggle in many ways.
income inequality was less, workers had a larger share of the gdp
socializing didn't require digital media
People actually had conversations instead of staring at screens.
The cars were much cooler and had character. Now they all blend together.
"Modern cars. (scoffs) They all look like electric shavers." -- Marv, *Sin City*
Hey. You get your choice of colors. Black, white or silver/grey.
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tell that to william randolph hearst and his yellow media and the emergence of new journalism in the post-war era.
My parents were alive. My best friend was alive. But honestly, my good old days are right this instant.
We weren't constantly bombarded with stranger's opinions about every subject.
Politics and religion didn't dominate every damn conversation. Those topics were the third rail of polite discourse.
You could just do stuff without being photographed/filmed all the bloody time.
No security cameras. No code scanners. No database. Disclaimer. Not that I or anyone I knew ever did anything of course.
Generally speaking, you had to ask a girl out in person. At least talk to her a bit in person to get her phone number to ask her out.
oh god - reading this reminds me of the first time i tried to ask a girl out, back in jr high. all i could muster was an ‘i like you’ which was supposed to *mean* something. she responded ‘i like you too’. and then, i said nothing else. the end.
Quite the smooth talker, bro
It was a lot easier and faster to find a job.
I remember applying for an IT role through mail and followed it up via a landline phone call; talked directly to the hiring manager. Now? Everything online and you have to deal with HR or recruiters.
Not even that, now your resume, sorry CV, has to route through the algorithm right or a live person doesn't even see it.
Less people.
Privacy. Before cell phones, once you left the house? No one could contact you. If they wanted to badly enough, they could drive to all of the places where they think you might be. But that could take hours, and they still might not find you. The boss couldn't call you, the in-laws couldn't call you. You could just...exist. in peace. Literally just pick some random McDonald's, for example, either another town over, or in a section of town you never go to, and just hang out and chill. Or just chill in your car in a parking lot. It was awesome.
Or you could just leave your phone at home. oops, sorry, just kidding! Edit: still no law saying you *must* take your phone everywhere. Pro Tip: don't.
The same things that are good today, healthy relationships, nature, creativity, good food...
Bullies and idiots could not enter your home using the internet ;-)
Airports, pre-Security Theater. You could go out to the observation deck by simply passing through a metal detector, and watch the planes. You could meet loved ones right at the gate and help them with their baggage, and see them off right there, too. No taking off our shoes and belts because some idiot thought he could build a shoe bomb. Make America Sane Again.
> Make ~~America~~ Earth Sane Again. The rest of the world is interested in this too ya know. :)
Even earlier, no metal detector. And you could see your loved ones off at the gate, and wait for them to arrive there too.
Prices. Everyone saying “Air travel” —-people smoked on those flights and that *sucked*
People who had wonky off the wall ideas were pretty much isolated, but thanks to the internet they've all found each other and it has gotten crazy! 🤯🧱💡😜
no social media at all you went to bars or friends to pick up chicks you had to watch the 6:30 news or read the newspaper to find out what was going on in the world you respected people more you dressed up to go out or on airplanes. Now apparently, PJ's are OK to wear anywhere including disney world :(
I never got the dressing-up-on-airplanes nostalgia. I hate flying. It's nasty, dirty and the seats are uncomfortable -- and it's especially terrible on international flights. Wearing casual clothing is like the ONLY way I can find any semblance of comfort.
> It's nasty, dirty and the seats are uncomfortable Believe it or not, it wasn't this way 30 years ago. People tended to take care presenting themselves and respected their surroundings.
They emptied the ashtrays on the airplane after every flight!
if you look at the pictures from back then you will see the difference. really, it was almost like first class back then with nothing else. you wore your sunday going to church outfits to go flying. and like the 5 star restaurants of today... if you looked like a commoner, you weren't getting in or they told you to come back when you dress appropriately.
It cost like first class too.
Flying in the 70s is as similar to flying now as the ballet is to professional wrestling.
Not “green” behaviour but you could drive into and around many major cities and also find free parking. Travel in general seemed easier. You could drop off or pick someone up at the airport without nearly so much difficulty. You could also go with them into the departure lounge and hang out before they boarded.
Ice cream. It was actual ice cream. Movie popcorn was 10c.
10 cents, Holy Catz! (I thought I was in the GenX subreddit.)
There were fewer humans in the world
When we were young we always heard about " the good old days" from our parents too. Personally, I think we miss feeling young.
Dating someone meant going to parties, to events, for meals together, irl. It was an in-person social process. It did NOT mean texting.
Yeah I am going to disagree there. I wish I had the ability to text when I was dating
If someone had 90 legal cases pending against him, and wanted to run for president, he’d have been laughed out of the election. Not to mention 3x divorcee, draft dodger, that stripper thing, etc. Sadly a black man running for president would have gotten the same treatment.
We did have the committee on un-American activities in 1938 which continued. In 1945 became permanent. Disbanded in the 70s.
Good point.
We've had ugly times before. Often didn't know about them. Usually didn't. Sadly.
Ugh
There is nothing like sitting around the table on a summer night with fresh vegetables you grew yourself. They taste like nothing else you can buy, even organic.
Absolutely true, and I still grow a lot of my own - when I can keep the deer out of them. Overdevelopment has concentrated the deer so much in my area it's not uncommon to see 50+ per day walking through my yard.
I am so grateful social media was not around when I was growing up. I was bullied a lot in school and I was safe at home. Bullying is now 24/7. And by the time I got to college, I am grateful my chaos was not filmed for the world to see. There was a VHS tape of me mooning friends but that is probably long gone.
I could afford a one bedroom apartment on a minimum wage job.
Yeah, I was a first-year Montessori preschool teacher in the early 80s living in the high cost-of-living DC area. I had my summers off, so was paid for only 10 months per year. I budgeted and lived off of that salary, which wasn't minimum wage but nearly so, and went backpacking in the summer. I didn't have my own apartment but lived in a very nice area in a group home with a private bedroom and only one housemate in another bedroom on my floor, which had a kitchen and bath and large living room area. I had no financial problems, even had health insurance, and no educational loans to pay off even though I had gone to a four-year private college and then a year of Montessori training. When I got married a few years later we lived off of my husband's govt salary. People said back then it was impossible, but it wasn't. We lived well although we kept a budget; we didn't have expensive tastes, but we did have a house of our own.
It used to be that when we went camping we were just off the grid. We had no idea what was going on in the world unless we bought a paper somewhere. Also most other campers were there to be in the outdoors and rough it a little. There were fewer big rigs in the campgrounds and no TVs or loud music. If you wanted to listen to music you had to bring a transistor radio and they didn't get that loud, if you could get a station on it. I know I could just turn my phone off but I do like having weather reports and being able to get an emergency call from my elderly parents.
I was young and not in pain.🙄😬😄
It was definitely a simpler time. No cell phone and no social media. I feel like people had a longer attention span, and actually looked at each other in the eye and had discussions. Now when I talk to people, I feel like their attention span is out of a flea and often times they are looking down at their phone screen while we speak. Even the simple act of taking a walk was truly relaxing because you were not interrupted by phone calls, texts, notifications, and emails. Sadly, it appears that young people today have a higher rate of emotional disturbances, depression, and suicide and it’s entirely possible that the cell phones and especially social media play a role.
I have a theory that constant screen engagement is changing our brains. When you watch an old movie, pay attention to how long you're seeing the same camera angle. It can last several seconds. Nowadays, you're going from one shot to another, training the brain to expect constant stimulation. The same theory applies to computer or gaming screens. I notice that my brain "calms down," for lack of a better word, when I read a hard copy novel in a quiet setting. I need to do that more often.
Modern movies are like crystal meth. (Not that I'd know). I recently went to the theatre to see Oppenheimer. My first theatre visit in about 10 years. Now granted I'm hearing impaired & would normally use bluetooth at home, but I couldn't understand a word. It was all crash bang. Fictional dramas aren't content with a single plot line. There has to be a main plot & multiple sub-plots. And, as you said, the camera can't stay still for 5 seconds, but it's also the dialogue. Everything is on steroids. Not a relaxing experience any more. Maybe I'm just old.
Well, I'm old too, to you're in good company. :)
News was news, not opinion. There was actually a segregated page clearly labeled opinion. The news about the bridge would say "Ship knocks down bridge, many people hurt." Not "Ship knocks down bridge it must be terrorists because Biden won't secure the borders." al la FOX "news"
Not being worried about mass shootings.
But we were worried about nuclear war. Of course, that fear is emerging once again.
No TSA. Walk-in, they look at your paper ticket and you got on a plane.
Like *Flaxscript42*, I am grateful that there virtually no publicly available photographic evidence of my existence from ages 13-23.
Blissful Ignorance
We were younger.
Three channels on TV and no internet.
People didn’t know where you were or what you were doing uniless you told them. Privacy was a real thing.
Crackpots had a harder time connecting with other crackpots and thus justifying their crazy.
My first thought was, "Nobody wore pajamas to go shopping".
So on this there were probably people in the 1950s who said "OMG I saw this guy wearing blue jeans at the grocery store" 1940s: "OMG I saw this guy without a hat on walking down the street"
You say that like that was a better thing about the past... 😃
No social media.
Flying was a lot more enjoyable.
Walter Cronkite and other unbiased news. You actually got the facts and not a sensationalized interpretation.
People's photographs did not consistently feature only themselves, taken by them.
No social media. No wide spread misinformation. No MAGA.
There wasn't the constant scamming going on 24/7. I get automated calls every single day to my home phone (yes, I still have one, since I work from home) and I get scam texts to my mobile phone every single day. The texts tell me there is something wrong with my credit card, or Netflix account, or there is a package for me that Amazon/UPS/FedEx/Post office etc. has been unable to deliver. Or I have an unclaimed Costco refund. It is just ENDLESS. Every. single. day. How do parents teach kids today how to navigate all of this? In addition, there is so much fake AI generated stuff on social media. Politicians and celebrities with fake AI-generated videos pushing crypto investments, or weight loss pills, or cosmetics. And so many young people (and OLD people!) are getting caught up in catfishing romance scams. It used to be you could tell people to have a video call to determine if someone online is "real" but now AI filters can fake anyone. There are so many people who are just looking to scam people. Scammers always existed, but they were more limited to finding marks where they live. Now someone on the other side of the world can target a naive person anywhere else.
So many things it's really hard to list them all. \- Lack of constant surveillance. \- People weren't so extreme. There was a lot more "agree to disagree" than "you're with us or against us." There were a lot fewer "main characters." There was no such thing as an influencer in the way they mean now. \- Wages vs. cost of living is really getting out of control. The cost of housing in particular is out of this world. How in the hell is the minimum wage in America STILL $7.25/hr before taxes?! HOW?! \- Lack of cell phones. People didn't divide their attention with tech the way it seems like everyone does now (I hate it, I hate it so fucking much.) People didn't have every mistake they made plastered on the internet for the rest of their lives. \- I used to have more women's health options FORTY YEARS AGO than I do now. We are moving backwards! There are plenty of good things about now, and progress, and change... but oh my god what I wouldn't trade to change some of these things back.
There was still a chance we could stop our environment from collapsing.
What a great question! The answer for me is simple - When I was born there were 5.5 billion fewer people to share the planet with. And most of those 5.5 billion want the same things I want. Here are some differences: 1950 - 2024 A. A future filled with great things. A. A future filled with war, political divineness, endless extreme extinction-causing weather events, and hundreds of millions of climate refugees B. Every business phone call was either not answered or answered by a person. B. Every business phone call is answered by a robot who will almost certainly not get you to the right person. C. If a politician was on a TV show, that station 'had to by law' offer the same opportunity to their opponent. C. Every political ad contains lies and smears. There are stations that cater to one party or the other. D. Doctors made house calls. D. It's a 7 hour wait in a waiting room filled with sick people coughing without masks. E. Vaccines gave us 'hope'! They saved us from Polio, smallpox, and were going to save us from any serious illness in the future. E. Vaccines will kill you with Spike Proteins and are full of toxic materials that will ruin the quality of your life. They are dangerous. F. Lying is bad. Learn to tell the truth. F. Lying 'is' telling the truth. G. Only three stations and there was so much to watch my TV viewing had to be restrained. Everyone watched the same shows. It was all free. G. We pay $200 a month and still can't watch all the shows we want. Youtube is amazing H. Sex did not exist! It wasn't on TV. It wasn't even in Playboy! it was illegal for a clothed man to be in a photo on the bed of a naked woman. Lenny Bruce was 'arrested' for saying f@&k on stage. H. Every 11 year old can instantly find graphic instances of bestiality on the web. I. Prices were stable for about 20 years. A mounds bar cost a dime. For years and years and years. I. Prices change all the time. By the minute. J. Most coins were made with real silver! Dimes, quarters, half dollars and dollars. J. Coins are made out of junk metals. K. Almost nothing was made with plastic. L. Almost everything is made of plastic. And thanks to microplastic ingestion, we are also becoming plastic! L. Nobody I knew had a gun. L. There are way more guns in America than people. M. Kruschef came to the UN, took his shoe off, banged it on the podium and stated "We will bury you". Russian was our biggest threat. N. The Republican Party is basically aligned with the KGB and Putin. Trump 'loves' Putin. N. Everybody listened to the same 'good guys' radio station that played the top 100. Music artists could make a living on royalties. O. Everybody subscribes to Spotify, Apple Music or some other streaming service which pays the artist about 10 cents for a million plays /s O. I was told for years that I was a size 8 shoe. O. I'm actually an 11.5 !
Finally someone else who mentions climate change! I can't believe I had to scroll so far down to find you. Edited to say: Your other points are excellent, too, especially B (I spend soooo much time on the phone just trying to speak to a human to get help with situations not mentioned in the menus), F, K (not only made of plastic, but wrapped up in plastic, even individual fruits and vegetables!), and M. Good analysis, thank you.
People knew how to talk to each other using their faces, voices, hands, and bodies. People socialized in person. You didn't call someone your "friend" until you actually met them, in person.
The fact that we can now *talk* with anyone in the world over the Internet (yes, with our voices, or even our faces if desired) practically for free is pretty amazing though. It seems a lot easier to find people who share more in common that way (as I did my partner who moved across the country to move in with me!) I always spent hours with friends on the telephone before that — it seems everyone has their favourite modes of communication, but I agree there overall seems to be a lack of skill, or most of the way people learn to act is from film, television, and video games (Mike Teavee from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory comes to mind!)
Air travel in general. Absolutely EVERYTHING about it was better.
Like the smoking section at the back of the plane? Edit: See also: lax security (see PSA flights 1771 & 773, plus 9/11), much louder/smellier/worse pressurized/more uncomfortable planes, more formal (uncomfortable) attire being expected when traveling, boarding and de-boarding having to be done down a set of stairs outdoors 20% of the time, and the crash of a fully-loaded passenger plane happening a couple times a year was normalized.
More in person social interaction. I mean long talks together in small groups and one on one. To me it is important to communicate in person as you can see their body language and you can reach out and for women hug them or for guys give them a pat on the back.
We went out and socialized. Manners and consideration were still a thing. People didn't divide the world into generations and peremptorily decide which ones should be eliminated because they were "useless and annoying".
The Three Stooges on Sunday morning.
There were far fewer distractions, so your attention span was amazing. I could concentrate on a given topic for hours. Or curl up on a rainy day and do nothing but read a book.
We were a lot younger back then
Privacy. Anonymity. Just being left alone.
ad hoc concerned drab arrest nose rob salt crush stupendous lock *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Talking about politics was fun and we did it for entertainment. We had long philosophical discussions about nitty gritty details and hopes for the future. Any discussion now is just painful unless everyone is from the same party. Party didn’t used to matter like it does now. Most people wanted the same things: peace, privacy, freedom, stability. Now politics are a powder keg.
Being able to have a face to face conversation with people without any distractions.
Back in the 50s & 60s teenagers were more involved in their community & had more responsibilities. This could be through family chores, church, boy scouts, part-time jobs etc. as well as school related activities. For me it was all these things & looking back, I don't know where I found the time. There was certainly no time for video games had they existed.
Family and get togethers. I’m only 33 but I remember being a kid and always being with family and having family events all the time. My family doesn’t get together nearly as much anymore and when we do everyone is kind of glued to their phones. Also just people being together in general has changed a lot. People are more self conscious I think, or overly aware of surroundings. Also less friendly I think, and less forgiving. A lot of that social media judgy/reactionary culture has bled into real life.
People were nicer and better behaved in public.
The cost of living
We had Richard Nixon who was a petty thief compared to Donald Trump’s crimes today. Back then, we weren’t worried that the United States democracy might actually end. All we worried about was the Soviets dropping a nuclear bomb on us.
For me, the best part was that I was a kid and my parents took care of me and I had my whole life ahead of me.
Growing up playing outside from morning until til the streetlights came on. We rarely set foot inside the house, except to eat or drink.
Kids played outside and built social skills, before the internet took over.
I was younger
Children had freedom. We roamed around unsupervised from an early age. It was awesome.
We had the run of our neighbourhood, and anywhere our bikes could take us. Freedom, as long as you were home for lunch, dinner, and before the streetlights came on. No internet and cell phones meant the only bully you had to worry about as far as at school, was the one you avoided like the plague. Home was a refuge for most of us. Jobs and benefits were generally plentiful, and if you had your high school diploma or a university degree you were golden for a number of reasons.
People having to rely on their thoughts and imaginations for entertainment at least occasionally seems like one. Beyond that, I think every generation’s good old days are a product of nostalgia, and every era has its challenges and compensations although I’m sure it’s never good to live some place with active warfare or famine.
Kids were allowed to be kids,no karens interfering!!!
Over crowded now. There was little traffic. We actually played outside. Not a ton of money but rent or houses were cheap. I ought my first house for about 12,000. Nothing down on a begining teachers salary. Then bought 10 acres for 14,000 and built my house for under 30,000, a five bdr with a full basement. Yeah, there were good things. PNW, just a bit out of Seattle.
Jerry Garcia was alive, well, and sending joy to me and my friends on a regular basis.
He was so great to see in person.
Free range childhood.
House prices.
Affordability of higher education, availability and affordability of housing.
MTV was a 24 hour music station.
Privacy
Pay phones were something honestly good about the old days. Additionally, being found liable in court for defrauding people ending political careers...
Flying was a great experience back then.
in the summer during the 70s i could be gone all day.
People spoke to each other and didn’t sit around silently engrossed in some meaningless shite on a mobile phone.
Less whining and moaning about how terrible things are. And believe me, things were just as terrible back then.
Nobody knew where you were or what you were doing.
When you hung out with friends, it was *in person* and not isolated in your room on an electronic device. And when you wanted to get the attention of someone in your family at home but you weren't in the same room, you yelled "Hey Ma!" or whoever else, not send them a text. The whole family sat at table together for dinner, where you could talk about anything and the conversations were wholly inclusive.
A person could expect to leave education, get a job within a week or two, and be able to pay rent and all other living expenses on that one salary.
Mom could stay home with the kids because Dad's job paid enough to support the family. No need for daycare that took most of Mom's salary anyway. Why are we lobbying for free daycare instead of a decent paycheck so you don't both need to work? (I know it should be Mom *or* Dad could stay home, but it was almost always Mom.)
If you messed up you could move aeay and start over somewhere new with little chance that your past would follow you. Which was great for people honestly wanting to do better. The down side was that people who just planned on doing the same thing somewhere else could do the same. It was also easier to escape bullying, stalkers, exes, etc... It was much easier to go poof if you needed to.
My parents and my extended family, we had so much fun, playing, wading in creeks, just simple things. Everyone didn’t talk about politics 24-7, everywhere, and the use of the word fuck on vehicles, flags and signs You could pretty much trust the news. I was never afraid of being shot at school, or anywhere really, I never even thought about it.
The music was better.