Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Explain Which Things Are Normal Today That Weren't 50 Years Ago

People Explain Which Things Are Normal Today That Weren't 50 Years Ago
person typing on silver MacBook
Photo by Burst on Unsplash
Make us preferred on Google

The world is an ever changing place.

In addition to continuing advancements in technology, human behavior also continues to evolve.

As a result, what might have seemed "normal" 50 years ago might seem far-fetched today, while things which we today consider "normal" might never have even crossed the mind of anyone back then.

Making everything we consider "normal" among the many things in this world that continues to evolve at a rapid pace.

Redditor Primary_Berry_3560 was curious to hear what "normal" everyday things were anything but normal fifty years ago, leading them to ask:

"What is normal now but wasn’t normal 50 years ago (1972)?"


We could just leave whenever we wanted to!

"Knowing where your kids are 100% of the time."- bradland

We're all wired up today!

"No one had a computer in their house in 1972."- tcharp01

Buckle up!

"Car seats for children."

"And most of the time we sat in the back seat with no seat belts available."- Rosemoorstreet

"Wearing seatbelts."

"There were no sensors- seatbelt were just shoved out of the way."

"Carding for cigarettes."

"Machines were everywhere for anyone to use."- factchecker8515

buckle up crash test dummies GIF by ADWEEKGiphy

In the old days, we had one chance!

"Watching an entire TV series at a time that's convenient for you."

"VCR's weren't even a thing 50 years ago, so if your favorite show was on Wednesday at 8PM, you were either at home to watch it or you missed out on it forever."- DeathSpiral321

Music on demand!

"Listening to the song you want to where you want to, rather than whatever is playing wherever you are."- jfincher42

Giphy

Being beholden to a landline!

"I am amazed to think about how disconnected we were."

"I could wake up on a Saturday morning and start calling friends."

"It was possible that not a single one picked up the phone and that was that."

"I would be on my own unless I waited a few hours and tried again."

"Also, in my area, the adults in the house almost always answered the phone so you had to get through them to your friends."

“'Hello, is Johnny home?'”

"'Hi this is his mother, what do you want?'”

“'I was wooooondering if he could come out to play'.”

“'Well he’s doing homework right now but I’ll tell him you called'.”

"As a kid, our times were divided between when we were 100% under adult control, which was when we were physically in their presence, and when we were free which was all other time."- Mrmidhoratio

"Asking 'Where are you?' when someone answers their phone."- brontosproximo

Shocked Phone Call GIFGiphy

No wonder they were all so tan...

"Regularly wearing sunscreen."- dixius99

It's amazing to see how much the world has changed in such a relatively short amount of time.

Leaving us to wonder what things will be "normal" 50 years from now, which today the very thought of would make us burst out laughing.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Donald Trump
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Trump's Midterm Convention Is Getting Epically Roasted After His Dismal Crowd Size Is Revealed

Despite the fact that President Donald Trump was one of several speakers scheduled to speak at the GOP midterm convention, the event has nonetheless attracted attention for the number of empty seats sure to upset a president obsessed with crowd size.

Liz Landers, the White House correspondent with PBS News Hour, shared footage of the event "officially kicking off in Dallas" that clearly shows scores of empty seats.

Keep ReadingShow less
TikTok screenshots
@girlcodelettie/TikTok

Woman Floored After Tinder Date Tells Her She Can Only Have 2nd Date With Him If She Follows His Unhinged Rules

A woman who goes by the name Lettie (@girlcodelettie) on TikTok gave people a glimpse into dating in the age of the "Alpha male" with her now viral video.

Her post, viewed over 177,000 times and garnering over 1,000 comments, shared the rules a man told her she must follow in order to earn a second date with him.

Keep ReadingShow less
Josh Hutcherson (left) and AnnaSophia Robb (right) starred in Bridge to Terabithia.
Leon Bennett/Getty Images for HBO; Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures

Josh Hutcherson Jokingly Apologizes For 'Traumatizing' Entire Generation Of Kids With 'Bridge To Terabithia'

Nineteen years, several Hunger Games and countless therapy sessions later, millennials are apparently still seeking justice for what Bridge to Terabithia did to us.

For anyone fortunate enough to have escaped this childhood trauma, Josh Hutcherson played Jess Aarons in the 2007 fantasy drama alongside AnnaSophia Robb as Leslie Burke. The unlikely best friends create the magical world of Terabithia to escape everyday life.

Keep ReadingShow less
screenshots of Vivek Ramaswamy campaign ad
@vivekgramaswamy/Instagram

Vivek Ramaswamy Dragged After Showing Off His Awkward Baseball Swing In Cringey Batting Cage Campaign Video

Billionaire former Republican presidential and current Ohio GOP gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy's athletic prowess is being derided online after his campaign posted a video of him hitting baseballs in a batting cage on Instagram and TikTok on Tuesday.

The ribbing got so bad that the Ramaswamy campaign pulled the video off Instagram, leaving up only a similar one from June in which he wields a tennis racket. Unfortunately for them, plenty of people had already made and shared copies across social media where the merciless mockery continued.

Keep ReadingShow less
Carly Rae Jepsen (left) revealed her baby boy’s name was inspired by Heated Rivalry (right).
Natasha Moustache/Getty Images; Courtesy of Crave

Carly Rae Jepsen Reveals Her Baby's Name Was Inspired By 'Heated Rivalry'—And Fans Are So Here For It

If the Venn diagram of Carly Rae Jepsen fans and Heated Rivalry fans wasn’t already a circle, this might finally do it.

The "Call Me Maybe" singer just revealed that her first child with husband Cole M.G.N. is a baby boy named Ilya—and yes, that Ilya may have had something to do with it. While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter about her new album, Day and Night, Jepsen opened up about her love for Heated Rivalry before casually dropping the baby-name revelation.

Keep ReadingShow less