People Share Things They Used To Do – But Can't Anymore

From Redditoru/moinatx:

Call any business or medical office. A human picks up the phone to tell you what you need.

From Redditoru/90Carat:

Walk with people to their airport gate. You see them off or wait at the gate for someone to arrive. I still think those people wait for someone when I land.

From Redditoru/HMouse65:

Leave work and be totally disconnected. No emails or messages to check. No expectation to reply except during business hours for emergencies.

From Redditoru/staryjdido:

I am 63. Until my mid-teens, we left home with nothing. No keys, no smartphone, nothing else. No ID, no wallet, no worries. Nobody knew where we were or what we did. I worry about kids now. That freedom seems gone.

From Redditoru/Rzrbak:

Call the doctor's office. They ask, “What’s going on?” instead of “What insurance do you have?”

From Redditoru/elvenfish:

I grew up in a small Manitoban town, ten minutes from the North Dakota border. My best friend's dad often took his daughters and many friends in his van across the border to watch the demolition derby in a smaller North Dakotan town.

Imagine a van with one man and ten to twelve young girls at the border crossing. The border guard just waves them through with, "Have fun at the derby, Doug!" That never happens now.

But man, it was a blast.

From Redditoru/DebbieAddams:

Ah, the days of being dropped off at the movie theater. You guess when parents should pick you up based on the next showing time.

Also, calling them from a payphone for a ride. Then you had to kick rocks by the curb waiting. There were no phones to use; you had to entertain yourself.

From Redditoru/19snow16:

At age four, I walked three blocks to the store. The cashier pinned a $5 bill to me to read. I got bread, milk, a pack of Du Maurier extra long, a bag of penny candy, and change! This happened around 1976 or 77.

From Redditoru/wiscosherm:

Do really stupid, ridiculous things without worrying someone is recording you on a phone and posting it online.

From Redditoru/Sir_Armadillo:

I wanted to try a hoverboard once. As I went to do it, shop workers who wouldn't acknowledge us suddenly took out their phones to record me.

I thought, no... I am not doing that. That is pretty awful.

Fromu/Eirezona:

The pilot invited me to visit the airliner cockpit in flight. I spent over an hour in a fully booked 747 cockpit, flying internationally. The pilot explained all the systems and backups to me. That scene will not happen again.

From Redditoru/HiRollerette:

My parents took us to Disneyland twice a month; entry was free. No admission cost, just walk in. We sat in the Tiki room free, watching the animatronic birds, and walked Downtown Disney shops. Those were good times!

From Redditoru/Pallas:

In the late 1950s or early 1960s, we owned a rough wooden sled. It held eight to ten kids.

When it snowed, my father took the station wagon out. He tied the sled behind it and dragged it down our Midwestern U.S. neighborhood streets. Kids who saw us ran alongside. We stopped, let them climb on, and gave them a great ride.

Parents never asked or gave permission for this. Nobody treated this event as unusual.

From Redditoru/SuboptimalButHopeful:

I burst from a cab at La Guardia. I ran through the airport. I paused for an X-ray at security. I reached the gate two minutes later. I wrote my own ticket with a small pencil. I caught an hourly shuttle to Boston just before the door closed. I gave the flight attendant my cash, about $35 to $40. ID? What is that?

From Redditoru/retropod:

I sat in front of my radio. I used my cassette recorder and an external microphone. I hoped my favorite song would play. I recorded it so I could play the song anytime.

Froma former Redditor:

My Dad stole the neighbor's station wagon in the 70s. He drove it down the street and wrecked it. He ran, felt guilty, returned, and the cop said, “What the hell, you’re just a kid, go home.” He went home. His parents never learned.

I worked in Juvenile Hall a couple of years ago. I saw kids arrested and sentenced for small offenses. They ruined their lives over shoplifting or tagging. Boomers talk about our generation lacking responsibility because their debts weren't reported everywhere. Cops told them to leave instead of arresting them and making sure future employers knew they got a 5-finger discount at 7/11 when they were sixteen. They charged them as adults.

From Redditoru/MainSteamStopValve:

The principal at my school would paddle kids who misbehaved too much. I went to the principal's office once for talking in class. I worried I would get paddled. Two other kids waited in the room, and it felt like we were waiting for an execution.

One kid there claimed he had been paddled before and it wasn't severe. I did not believe him. How could he have survived? I did not get paddled, but I felt scared afterward. This happened at a public school in the early 80s.