Common Things That Are No Longer Common

originally posted by: SentientBunnySuit
Indoor smoking. My first corporate job was for a Japanese company in the 90's. We still had a section of the lunch room for smoking. Imagine enjoying your lunch and a smoke but not being outside in the rain.

During the dotcom bubble, a couple of the startups I worked at had free beer in the kitchen. One finally had to implement a rule of no drinking at your desk before 4:00 PM, the IT guy would stop by your desk at 9:30 AM with his breakfast Guenniss.

I go back a little further than that. At my first jobs, you could smoke at your desk, and it was common to have a glass or two of booze in the office before going home.

Evening business meetings, always included booze and smokes in the office.

Smoking in the grocery store.

Getting busted by the cops for having weed in your pocket.

Respect for your fellow man.

originally posted by: NightSkyeB4Dawn

originally posted by: BrokenCircles
a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn

Going out front for the morning paper.

These may not be exactly what you're talking about, but they are things that once were, but are no more.

The times when I would stumble upon a movie and start watching it without having any clue what the title was, or how long it had been on. I liked not knowing whether or not it was nearing the end. Sometimes the end would sneak up on me, and other times I would think that it was nearing it's end, but it was actually only halfway through.

CD stores. Flipping through the CDs and rolling the dice by buying something from a band I'd never heard of before. Since I had paid for it, I would try harder to like it, which sometimes required a bit of effort and repeated listening. I sometimes lost that gamble, but there are also bands that I am still a fan of today, all because of that initial investment.

I also sometimes miss the feeling that came along with finding a new album from a band I was a big fan of, but was unaware that they had just recently released a new album, or sometimes even an old album of theirs that I was completely unaware of.


Not knowing where people are. Such as when you called their home phone and they didn't answer. Where are they? They may be gone for the day or they may have just stepped outside for a minute. Who knows? Nobody knows.

Going back a little further. Singles. They always had some obscure song on the back, that you liked, because you thought you were getting a bonus song for free.

LPs- the long playing albums, always had some not so great songs, but you listened anyway, because you like the band and you paid for it.

I miss record shops.

Going to places where I was known and having the guy behind the counter hand you the headphones and a stack of new 12" s so I could play through them on one of the turntables on the counter to see which ones I wanted.
That or being allowed behind the counter and digging through crates of promos.
I would spend ages going through the racks looking for the elusive "perfect" tune.
I'm still buying vinyl these days but mostly mail order.

Remember when everyone had a Walkman?

Funnily enough, I found one in a second hand shop this morning. Not a proper Sony one. This one is a Groov -E, whatever that is, but it's got an FM/AM radio on it (another old fashioned thing) and it has barely been used, still in the box so for £3 it's now mine.

Couldn't resist.

Dressing up to go shopping or travel. When I was a kid Dad wouldn't wear blue jeans to the city.
Now people just go to Walmart in pajamas 🙄

originally posted by: texas thinker
Dressing up to go shopping or travel. When I was a kid Dad wouldn't wear blue jeans to the city.
Now people just go to Walmart in pajamas 🙄

Anytime you were "going out in public", as they used to call it, you had to dress up.

To fly on a plane, you had to dress up, like you were going to church.

Hats and gloves for women in Church.
Attending Church.

No white shoes after Labor Day.

originally posted by: DontTreadOnMe
Hats and gloves for women in Church.
Attending Church.

No white shoes after Labor Day.

Gloves! I forgot about them too!

A lady always wore gloves when she was dressed up. And you always dressed up for church!

a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn
White dog crap,where has it gone?
Haven't saw any since the 1980's.
I pondered this with friends a few years ago while under the influence of magic mushrooms.

watches,

dialing a phone number to know what time is it.

listening a special radio station that said what time is it.

a reply to: lux666
Omg!! I forgot about calling Time!!!!
What was it..??? 844-6611???


Somebody call it..!🤣

originally posted by: Silcone Synapse
Good manners/respect for elders.

Common sense!

Interacting with other humans in public instead of wall to wall phone zombies everywhere!

Funny comedians.

Scurvy.

Wooden teeth.

No one would swear around women and children.

I haven't polished my shoes in over fifty years, I did however put mink oil and other waterproof stuff on them to make them last longer. I should start doing it to my tennis shoes again so the strings on the leather do not fall apart. Trouble is that after around eight months the insert cushions go flat, and you can get deals on New balance, buy one get the second pair for a dollar, so they are about thirty five dollars fora pair of New balance 14EEEE shoes. The new inserts run over twenty bucks, might as well buy two new pairs and toss them out when they get ratty.

The days when wearing a mask into a Bank resulted in SWAT showing up.

Writing out checks and having to buy stamps to pay the bills.

Rotary Phones and having to memorize Phone numbers.

Using the Oxford Dictionary instead of spellcheck. Using encyclopedia's instead of Google.

No seatbelts in cars, or kiddie carseats

Vehicle highbeam button on the car floor.

a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn

What really pisses me off is that men's socks are now disposable. In the morning I put on new ones, and by the evening there is already a hole in them ((((

a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn

Do they still have paper boys?

I used to have a paper route to make pocket money.
Do people even still buy newspapers?

a reply to: tamusan

Photo albums, cassettes, analog clocks, watching live broadcasts, newspapers, vcr's

Don't make new photo albums but still have much of my life documented from birth to high school and assorted eras after. Some really great photos from the early '70's, all my Mom's friends with beehive haircuts from the '60's, the '60's wallpaper and furniture, priceless.

Still have all my cassettes even though I don't have a player and can't find the two most important, recordings of my band BITD. Not really an analog clock like you are referring to but battery powered clocks on the walls.

Still watch sports mostly live, just a few minutes behind to fast forward through commercials. Still get the newspaper as Mom liked to read it even if she couldn't understand it. Now that she's gone it will also when the subscription runs out as it's too expensive. I dig getting the paper though as it's been a staple of my whole life, it's always there and now it will be gone.

Currently working with my old guitar player to digitize a videotape we made of the band in our warehouse. Both my vcr's were on the fritz but we eventually got his to work, now just have to figure out how to format the disc. I always thought with those dvd/vcr combos you just played it and pushed record and voila! you had a playable disc. Seems not.

I used to deliver pizzas all over town and the only pay phone I know of in all of this city is at the cop shop. Weird place for the last pay phone in town.

a reply to: Timely

It's a job for some people. Driving around in cars delivering the paper. I've seen my delivery guy and he only drops one at my house and none anywhere near me so I wonder how they even make money at it.

I did the paperboy job in high school, worked at the newspaper just after high school and later delivered by car in the late '90's. The paperboy job was gone by the late '90's and probably earlier.

- Music stores where I can listen to the music before I buy it, with headphones.

- Analog film cameras -> instead of taking hundreds of photos you picked the best motives, more aware, because film wasn't endless. At first it seemed like a blessing, but two decades later, after digital cameras are almost extinct too... Now we take tons of pictures and store them away but seldom can take them into our hands. Or USB stick and hard drive crash. Reaching around a photo that can not be copied just like digital, is different than flipping them around on the TV or computer.

- Light bulbs that ran for years and years. Now you need LED light bulbs 5-10€ each when you could have bought a lifetime of light bulbs for that lamp, for the same price, with less environmental impact.

We don't have covered wagons anymore either. Maybe instead of embracing change we should just stay stagnant and let the rest of the world take over.

It's called change. Why are some people so against it? You do know it will happen whether you are on board with it or not.

That's life. Change.

originally posted by: REDMORGAN
I have not been in trouble with the law for over twenty years. One thing I am sure of is that wearing your best shoes and polishing them, for court, with care might get Gods attention and grace.

I still have the pillow case full of Kiwi and brushes that my dad gave me. I love the smell of it.

It's a spiritual thing that will sadly pass.

I fondly remember my Granddad teaching me to shine my shoes with spit and polish. The smell of Kiwi polish is with me now.