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

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

Screenshot of Seth Moulton; Donald Trump
MS Now; Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images

Dem Rep. Offers Brutally Accurate Reason For Why He Can't Understand 'The Mind Of Donald Trump'

Massachusetts Democratic Representative Seth Moulton made a fitting observation about President Donald Trump's mind after Trump gave a 20-minute address to the nation about his war in Iran on Wednesday evening.

Trump claimed “core strategic objectives are nearing completion” in the Iran war and vowed to strike Iran "extremely hard" over the next two to three weeks. He said that he would finish the job "very fast," without setting any timeline for ending the war. He pledged to "bring them [Iranians] back to the Stone Ages, where they belong.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Solicitor General Sparks Alarm After Telling Supreme Court He's 'Not Sure' If Native Americans Are Birthright Citizens

Solicitor General Sparks Alarm After Telling Supreme Court He's 'Not Sure' If Native Americans Are Birthright Citizens

The relationship between Indigenous American nations and the colonizers and later settlers who arrived and established the United States is complicated.

Indigenous peoples were integral parts of the survival and success of early colonizers. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy's Great Law of Peace offered a blueprint for the United States Constitution and the structure of the federal government including the three independent branches offering checks and balances, ideally.

Keep ReadingShow less
Iraqi soccer fans hold a banner at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport as a man in an orange jacket confronts them and tears it down.
@hussein_pepe96/Instagram

Racist Guy Caught On Video Tearing Through Iraqi Soccer Fans' Banner At Dallas Airport: 'Don't Come To America'

With the United States set to host the 2026 World Cup, a video out of Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is drawing attention for a very different reason: showing a man ripping apart an Iraqi soccer fan’s banner and telling them, “Don’t come to America.”

The video, posted on Instagram, shows a group of Iraqi sports fans standing in an airport holding a banner with Arabic and Spanish writing. The fans were there to support Iraq during their World Cup qualifier against Bolivia, which resulted in a 2-1 upset victory earlier that day.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @themouselets' TikTok video
@themouselets/TikTok

TikToker Edits Dad's Disney Vacation Into Horror Movie After It Keeps Getting Interrupted By 'Work Emergency'

Sometimes you can only realize how bad a situation has gotten when you see it in a photo or video.

TikToker @themouselets works in civil engineering and is a part-time Disney content creator, making frequent trips to the park, but it's still a rare occurrence for her to be able to go with her entire family.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @tts_tiktok22's TikTok video
@tts_tiktok22/TikTok

Videos Of Squirrels Trying To 'Vape' Are Going Viral—And We Don't Know Whether To Laugh Or Cry

Some viral videos come along that leave us unsure whether we should laugh or cry. In the case of squirrels trying to vape, crying is unfortunately the more likely outcome.

E-cigarettes have dramatically increased in popularity in recent years and are often even portrayed as a cool accessory on social media. Unfortunately, disposable, one-time-use e-cigarettes have been made affordable and easily accessible, and instead of properly disposing of them, people often leave them on the ground like cigarette butts.

Keep ReadingShow less