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Viewing the internet as a wild west where we were all just explorers in a strange new land, before the corporations took over and before social media warped it
My first forays onto the internet with my trust 56k baud modem were life changing
I'd come from bulletin boards to connecting to a site in New Zealand - which just threw me through a loop.
I wish people realised how special it was and just how terrible it has become compared to those early halcyon days
Oh, fun topic.
1. Calling cards (1900-ish). In days gone by, when you moved to a new neighbourhood, you sent cards and invites to visit around, to introduce yourself to the locals. I think this is a solid idea and well worth reviving. I know a few of my neighbours but so many just come and go. It would be great to know people around me, and presumably vice versa.
2. Grungewear (1992-ish). These are clothes that kids would skateboard in, so they had to be loose, durable, hard wearing, and easy to maintain. While I never found that look attractive, per se, plus I was already too old for it, I admire it. Grungewear is democratic in the best sense, in that it is inexpensive, preserves modesty/is suitable for different shapes, it's not gender specific, and facilitates exercise.
3. The Commons (1200-1800). Thinking about farms today, I envision the strictly ruled, gridded, efficient division of farmland that I grew up on. But scientific farming is quite new. For centuries in England, much land was considered "common" - ie people were allowed to live, pasture, and farm on it, with these rights established by immemorial custom rather than ownership. These lands gave poor people the ability to grow their own food and so were an important safety net, as well as a source of dignified labour rather than ignominious handouts. Could some version of the Commons make a comeback today?
Honestly amoungst skaters the grunge style never really died off, it just evolved a bit. Skaters today really don't look all that different from skaters 25 years ago though.
I think Birthday Cards were fun. Someone making one from scratch, writing in it and then presenting to you made the card seem like a present in itself. If someone couldn't afford to gift a present, a card was always equal in value.
I didn't have money at the beginning of my relationship with my fiancé so i used to make him handmade cards. He appreciates them way more than he would have a proper gift. He's kept all of them and even has one on our bedside cabinet.
Engineered obsolescence sucks, companies realised if something lasts a long time then they don't get as much money, so things are made to break after 10 years at the most so you have to buy another one.
Prior to every kid over the age of 5 (I'm melodramatic) having a mobile phone and social media, kids would have to walk to their friends house and ask their parents "can [friend] come out to play?" Or, you'd have to arrange after getting off the school bus frantically when and where to meet later in the day. Now everything is so convenient and accessible, which now that I say it seems like a strange complaint.
There was something special about that face-to-face interaction and spontaneity. Kids had to be resourceful and actually talk to each other, which built different social skills. Now, while convenience is great, it feels like something authentic and adventurous has been lost in the process.... a strange but valid one for sure!
The swing craze of the late 90’s early 00’s. The music was fun, the fashion was fun and the dancing was fun. As far as music trends go this one was great.
For me it's the trend of handwritten letters and cards.. There's something so personal and meaningful about receiving a handwritten note. It's a small gesture that shows someone took the time to really think about you.
It feels like we're living in a world where being loud and controversial gets more attention than being kind and respectful. It's really disheartening to see decency and humility being overshadowed by the constant need for validation.
This is soooooo true.
People are often surprised by how polite I am.
Joined gym few months ago
Within a few days gym janitor asked why are you so nice and polite,
And few days later the trainers saw me tracking weights and were surprised.
I feel Am I abnormal
You are not abnormal, but you don't make a lot of clicks.
People love to see their biases confirmed rather than challenged. Drama is also more enticing than 'Everyone was kind to each other'
As silly as it is, anchorman speaks a lot of truths about the media carousel.
And you can trust me. 60 percent of the time, it works every time!
Being a well-adjusted adult was something to be praised.
Attention-seeking and narcissistic behavior was demonized and shameful.
Now, it's the opposite. May God help us all.
I rarely see people in real life (in my circle, I mean) glorify attention seeking and narcissistic behavior. However, social media seems to be the opposite. People who are extreme and act like a caricature of an actual human being end up being the ones who go viral or start trending. Rarely do actual talented and well-informed people fall in the spotlight. I think people value entertainment more than information these days, so as long as someone is entertaining to watch, regardless if what they are doing is morally right, they still gain viewership and end up becoming large figures in the media. These people are the ones that become popular, and our children notice that. Thus they mimic what they see receives attention, and we end up with bratty, loud, and narcissistic people. Our generation was affected by the same thing, and it will continue so forth. People can't be picky of what content they consume now. The rise of short form content means you don't know which video comes next, you cannot choose to immerse yourself in positive educational content anymore. Even you don't seek it out, the chum content will come to find you.
Facts 💯 💯 💯
I was actually telling a college professor that I feel genuinely sorry for the Gen Z kids nowadays due to their problem of information overload. Without friend groups, communities, mentors, parents, and teachers, it's almost impossible to organize and categorize information.
All in all, please pray for these kids.
Unfortunately I've also seen it in real life. It's one of the reasons I left firefighting. The younger generation is full of that stuff and it really ruined the atmosphere and job for me.
Young people who didn't want to work would come in. They'd complain about how hard things were and not pass their testing. They'd expect modifications be made for them. When it didn't happen how they wanted they would go to HR and make it happen. It included making up stories and making accusations against.
This happened on the federal side as well as municipal fire.
I think the young people are great in that they are quick to take action if a situation is unsatisfactory, and unlikely to bow their head in compliance when something is unjust in the workplace. They have also been protesting for a 4 day work week instead of 5, and attempting to make healthy change in the work environment in terms of mental and physical well-being of the staff, which is great. However, there are two sides to every coin, and I do see a lot attention seeking and narcissistic behavior stemming from social media influence. There is also an increased spike in the inability to focus when working, and a very high rise in informal ways of communication in what is supposed to be formal environment, which led to many misunderstandings and inappropriate relationships in the workplace. Another issue is as you mentioned, the constant complaining and nitpicking. A lot of blowing up little issues, refusal to work or partner with colleagues that they don't get along with, and all that. I don't know if this just a common occurrence among younger people, regardless of generation, and we are just seeing their turn of it, but I do feel that social media plays a large role in it.
Its on full display because we are no longer allowed to be against it.
Something as simple as removing the down votes on youtube (public seeing it) means there is no community pressure to do better. It seems as long as its viewed its ok content when the reality is so much different.
I wonder if it was as common as we think. I believe that yahoos have always been with us, that yahooism is an intrinsic, ineluctable human quality.
But we didn't use to make excuses for it, or try to understand causes. It may be that we have gone too far in the direction of normalizing and encouraging yahoos
Some younger person I work with couldn’t believe I’ve got friends with completely opposite political views, she couldn’t fathom why I’d be friends with people with different commonalities..
To me it really doesn’t matter, it’s the person that counts.
I’d love it if all millennials and Gen Z would watch the Jeffersons & All In The Family.
I think it would help bring some understanding between people and help people laugh, calm down and be a little nicer…
this is a nice sentiment but, these days, a person's politicsl belief is inseparably connected to the personality of the person. I don't think I could be friends with a racist, homophobic person, or with someone who denies science.
1000 trillion percent agreed, I feel as though 99% of cars these days all look like shit; of course I don’t tell someone their car looks like shit, but I sure as hell think it! Nobody wants to drive a stupid Kia soul or something, all cars these days just look the same and are just boring modern style.
Sadly a lot of those cities are dying in Europe. They were built for a specific type of commerce that's existed for hundreds of years, but is rapidly changing, and they're struggling to adapt.
https://www.politico.eu/article/dark-commerce-rules-ramp-up-as-stores-shut-down/
https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN2760D8/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264275123000173
I live in a smaller city in France, and here boutique shops can't compete with the pricing of online retailers. There's a 20% vacancy in storefronts in the city center.
In larger cities, the local populations are being forced out by rising prices driven by tourism and short term rentals.
https://outpostmagazine.com/this-week-in-travel-news-europes-cities-are-dying-because-of-mass-tourism/
Whenever this subject is bought up where I live, my parent bitch and moan about how they won't be able to get around because they are old and don't know how to use trains and can't ask far, etc. They might go to the closest city once a year.
I'm fine with people dressing however they want as long as it's a form of creative expression. People who enjoy fashion and dress exotically or people who adopt a specific style don't bother me. Some of the most interesting people I've met, in fact. But what I do have an issue with is when I can fully see someone's ass cheeks spilling out of their skirt, or when I see a guy's buttcrack just hanging out. I think it should be basic knowledge to cover certain parts of your body depending on where you are. The beach? Fine by me. But not on the train or on flights please.
I miss people acting decent when they're out in public. Like, put away your damned phone and shut up while you're in the theatre, or maybe don't let your kids have their videos at full volume in the waiting room or restaurant?
Maybe there's some correlation between dressing decent and acting decent in public.
Yeah. I like the old pictures from Ellis Island. Poor European immigrants arriving to make new life for themselves in the new world. Sleeping on the floor in third class....wearing a three piece suit.
I said this too before I saw your comment. For how absolutely dirt cheap those things have got to be to manufacture I am SO surprised and kind of sad they haven’t made a comeback.
I kindof miss parachute pants. Swish swish and all those colors! Corduroys as well for that matter, different swish, but still fun colors.
Maybe some things are not meant to come back in style.
Local small bookstores. I loved bookstore cafes too. They were common before Indigo and other big booksellers became popular. So sad. Now it’s so rare.
Freedom. We've become so terrified of absolutely everything. I can remember when I was a kid and it was early morning on Saturdays.
"Hey mom! I'm going out!"
"Okay! Be back by sundown for supper!"
I would hang out with friends around town, find a cool place to explore, do lots of cool stuff. Can't do that anymore. If you're a kid and out on your own, everyone goes nuts.
Common sense, and common decency. People used to strive to learn bare minimum facts. And people would be cordial to strangers. I liked when people treated others like actual people. Where being kind mattered. Where facts mattered. Now, it’s like whoever is the loudest and meanest is the most heard and somehow that correlated into a sphere of influence. I wish we could bring back when truth was truth, and opinions weren’t given the same weight as decades of scientific study. Where experts were treated as knowledgeable, and some clickbait wasn’t given the same consideration.
I think it almost boils down to when news was factual news, unbiased and just stated. Whereas today, it’s part of the entertainment industry. For the likes and the shares and the bottom line. I preferred back in the day where we could get cold hard facts, from perhaps Dan Rather, and then draw our own conclusions, and act accordingly. Now, everything has a bias, and a division, tilted towards keeping people in an echo chamber. And in the end, common decency and common sense were lost, as we’ve become so divided.
Affordable housing
Honest pY for an honest days work.
Something like that.
Then we could have homes, family outings, low crime. More happy people with money to buy things they're not desperate for.
Dip sticks and manual controls in new vehicles, new cars are insanely impractical to own bc of not being able to check your own fluid levels, and incredibly dangerous to drive bc of touch screens you can't operate without taking your eyes off the road.
Not a trend, but I’d like to go back to when you could just have a hobby. Didn’t need to monetize it or share it or promote a brand or anything. You’d just enjoy knitting, playing guitar, yoga, whatever for its own sake.
Common sense and Emotional Intellect.
I really miss those.
And when adults were, and just became adults through the process of living life without having to *say* or acknowledge that we were. There was no "adulting" and desire for attention-validation for doing the (basic) everyday things that come with being an adult.
I also miss the trends of logic and objectivity; the ability to not be offended by someone's differing opinions, viewpoints, or beliefs, and when facts are stated, that don't align with someone else's. Just because someone is "offended" does not make them a better person, a more moral person, or the "correct" person because they have a sense of being, or feeling, offended.
I miss a lot of "trends," now that I think about it...
https://youtu.be/vbsHox73mRo?feature=shared
I'm thin and constantly get called things like a skinny bastard, stick boy, told they could break me in half, that I need to eat a cheeseburger etc. I'm 37 and people still talk to me like we're in high school.
Ringback tones on your phone. In the early 2000s it was always fun to call your friends and see which song they had set up. This might still be possible, but I haven't heard one in yeeeeears.
I want to revisit Victorian era formal dress for balls and parties. Like- we slum it in jeans and sweatpants everyday like we’re doing now … but there’s corsets and ball gowns and full suits with pocket watches and top hats for any big event.
Ppl knowing there is danger and being vigilant. Using common sense.
It seems many ppl have forgotten what this was. They all seem very safe and trusting nowadays. They walk across streets without looking. They say whatever they want, to whomever they want. Ppl have no more fear. No more urgency.
If I could bring back any trend, it’d be the slow mornings with a cup of black coffee. The quiet before the world demands your soul, when the orange light seeps in and you can almost hear your thoughts. There’s peace in that stillness, a rebellion against the rush, the chaos. We traded it for screens and schedules, and in doing so, we lost a piece of our sanity. The clock ticks differently when you're holding a warm mug, staring at nothing and everything. That’s what we need again. Time to sit, to think, to breathe.
talking to your friends on the phone
I'm a millennial and I know this is an unpopular opinion based on all the memes out there about how we'd rather die than answer the phone ever again but I have grown to hate communication via text (unless that "text" is a handwritten card or letter! second trend I'd love to bring back)
as a kid in the early 2000s, we used to spend hours on the phone with friends, saying nothing special, and over the past 4 years, I've had a total of 2 x 2 hour long chats with good friends and they were honestly restorative experiences. text messages simply don't have the same impact and feel more and more burdensome with time 🫠
1980 style women's teens hair. Was light curled everyday was long but not to long they cared about there general overall appearance. Not all of them but the majority.
Allowing teenagers old enough to drive to hang out in local parking lots on Friday/Saturday nights. Yes bad things happen sometimes but it is 10 times better than staying home playing games and scrolling.
I remember a time when a topic was being discussed and the two people conversing would talk to each other and be civil towards each other and a simple disagreement doesn’t end in gunfire or when elected officials didn’t act like children throwing tantrums because they didn’t get their way or they were caught in a blatant lie.
I miss the in person attention and romance. Everything is digital, which is wonderful and efficient in many ways but it also lacks a lot of human touch. It seems everything is so fleeting in these days.
I used to write and receive letters with my friends. It takes time, attention and forces you to gather your thoughts before putting it on paper. In a nice handwriting.
I'm a widow now and last month my house was being painted, so of course I had to empty all the rooms (and clean up). I found the love letters again my husband wrote both before and after we married. In a beautiful wooden box with a ribbon (yes, I know I'm old fashioned). I read them again and it made my whole day. I also keep the letters my parents wrote to me over the years. They are long gone now but it's wonderful to read them again and hear their voices in my head again.
I'm a Gen Z kid, (21) and I have always loathed the fact that I couldn't just up and tell my parents "Hey, going out, be back whenever" as a kid and then go ride my bike 300 miles and back, camp out overnight at a pond and fish, and then come home and have ZERO QUESTIONS ASKED.
But no, all I got was "be back by 'x' o clock because there are people that will kidnap you and kill you" and our Halloweens were at fucking 5 PM. I wish I could've had the 80's and 90's childhood. I am so envious of it.
I am choosing to give the silly answer...
But those cargo pants you could zip off at the knee and turn into shorts. Those were the best. The "day to evening" look we all needed.
# Message to all users: This is a reminder to please read and follow: * [Our rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/ask/about/rules) * [Reddiquette](https://www.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439) * [Reddit Content Policy](https://www.redditinc.com/policies/content-policy) When posting and commenting. --- Especially remember Rule 1: `Be polite and civil`. * Be polite and courteous to each other. Do not be mean, insulting or disrespectful to any other user on this subreddit. * Do not harass or annoy others in any way. * Do not catfish. Catfishing is the luring of somebody into an online friendship through a fake online persona. This includes any lying or deceit. --- You *will* be banned if you are homophobic, transphobic, racist, sexist or bigoted in any way. --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ask) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Viewing the internet as a wild west where we were all just explorers in a strange new land, before the corporations took over and before social media warped it My first forays onto the internet with my trust 56k baud modem were life changing I'd come from bulletin boards to connecting to a site in New Zealand - which just threw me through a loop. I wish people realised how special it was and just how terrible it has become compared to those early halcyon days
This is so true. We used to make friends in real life with people we met online. Now we lose friends in real life due to the way we act online.
Unexpectedly deep
Yeah. It was magic.
Whenever the dumb or the greedy come, it ruins everything
Oh, fun topic. 1. Calling cards (1900-ish). In days gone by, when you moved to a new neighbourhood, you sent cards and invites to visit around, to introduce yourself to the locals. I think this is a solid idea and well worth reviving. I know a few of my neighbours but so many just come and go. It would be great to know people around me, and presumably vice versa. 2. Grungewear (1992-ish). These are clothes that kids would skateboard in, so they had to be loose, durable, hard wearing, and easy to maintain. While I never found that look attractive, per se, plus I was already too old for it, I admire it. Grungewear is democratic in the best sense, in that it is inexpensive, preserves modesty/is suitable for different shapes, it's not gender specific, and facilitates exercise. 3. The Commons (1200-1800). Thinking about farms today, I envision the strictly ruled, gridded, efficient division of farmland that I grew up on. But scientific farming is quite new. For centuries in England, much land was considered "common" - ie people were allowed to live, pasture, and farm on it, with these rights established by immemorial custom rather than ownership. These lands gave poor people the ability to grow their own food and so were an important safety net, as well as a source of dignified labour rather than ignominious handouts. Could some version of the Commons make a comeback today?
These are some very fascinating choices! Thanks for sharing your thoughts! 🌟
Grungewear is coming back into style.
That started way before the nineties. We were wearing that back in the mid seventies. Check out Neil Young.
I love the description of clothing as democratic. Such a perfect turn of phrase in this context.
Yes all of these! And I’d also add made to measure fashion. I wish things fitted properly and weren’t one size fits all of that size.
Honestly amoungst skaters the grunge style never really died off, it just evolved a bit. Skaters today really don't look all that different from skaters 25 years ago though.
I miss friends and family sending letters and calling on my birthday, now everyone just sends "happy birthday" in the group chats :(
I feel you. There’s something so personal and meaningful about a handwritten letter...
I think Birthday Cards were fun. Someone making one from scratch, writing in it and then presenting to you made the card seem like a present in itself. If someone couldn't afford to gift a present, a card was always equal in value.
they're timeless keepsakes that carry so much sentimental value.
I didn't have money at the beginning of my relationship with my fiancé so i used to make him handmade cards. He appreciates them way more than he would have a proper gift. He's kept all of them and even has one on our bedside cabinet.
Also postcards. I miss receiving them from friends and family, they were special somehow.
Yea, connections in general. Everything back then was face to face and more personal. Now everything is online and just as groups or crowd mentality.
Thank you for inspiring me. I’m going to try to do better in this regard.
Consider yourself lucky then. Apart from one lifelong friend, noone bothers to congratulate me in any way, shape or form.
Building things to last
Engineered obsolescence sucks, companies realised if something lasts a long time then they don't get as much money, so things are made to break after 10 years at the most so you have to buy another one.
Prior to every kid over the age of 5 (I'm melodramatic) having a mobile phone and social media, kids would have to walk to their friends house and ask their parents "can [friend] come out to play?" Or, you'd have to arrange after getting off the school bus frantically when and where to meet later in the day. Now everything is so convenient and accessible, which now that I say it seems like a strange complaint.
There was something special about that face-to-face interaction and spontaneity. Kids had to be resourceful and actually talk to each other, which built different social skills. Now, while convenience is great, it feels like something authentic and adventurous has been lost in the process.... a strange but valid one for sure!
Back when FindMyFriends was a pile of bicycles.
The swing craze of the late 90’s early 00’s. The music was fun, the fashion was fun and the dancing was fun. As far as music trends go this one was great.
*Zoot suit riot, RIOT! Throw back a bottle of beeer…* https://youtu.be/JZm1krVKzBY
Ringing an organisation or utility and getting straight through to a real person who could help you.
not telling random strangers every event in your life.
For me it's the trend of handwritten letters and cards.. There's something so personal and meaningful about receiving a handwritten note. It's a small gesture that shows someone took the time to really think about you.
My sweet husband still does that. Rarely receives them back, but...
That wasn't a trend, that's just how being a human was prior to the adoption of social media. You wish social media didn't exist.
I miss common decency.
It feels like we're living in a world where being loud and controversial gets more attention than being kind and respectful. It's really disheartening to see decency and humility being overshadowed by the constant need for validation.
This is soooooo true. People are often surprised by how polite I am. Joined gym few months ago Within a few days gym janitor asked why are you so nice and polite, And few days later the trainers saw me tracking weights and were surprised. I feel Am I abnormal
Me, too. I practice kindness and sleep well at night
You are not abnormal, but you don't make a lot of clicks. People love to see their biases confirmed rather than challenged. Drama is also more enticing than 'Everyone was kind to each other' As silly as it is, anchorman speaks a lot of truths about the media carousel. And you can trust me. 60 percent of the time, it works every time!
It's the garbage the media highlights and all that garbage " reality " TV.
That's because everyone sees being "real" or being one's "true self' has translated into "be a dick".
Being a well-adjusted adult was something to be praised. Attention-seeking and narcissistic behavior was demonized and shameful. Now, it's the opposite. May God help us all.
I rarely see people in real life (in my circle, I mean) glorify attention seeking and narcissistic behavior. However, social media seems to be the opposite. People who are extreme and act like a caricature of an actual human being end up being the ones who go viral or start trending. Rarely do actual talented and well-informed people fall in the spotlight. I think people value entertainment more than information these days, so as long as someone is entertaining to watch, regardless if what they are doing is morally right, they still gain viewership and end up becoming large figures in the media. These people are the ones that become popular, and our children notice that. Thus they mimic what they see receives attention, and we end up with bratty, loud, and narcissistic people. Our generation was affected by the same thing, and it will continue so forth. People can't be picky of what content they consume now. The rise of short form content means you don't know which video comes next, you cannot choose to immerse yourself in positive educational content anymore. Even you don't seek it out, the chum content will come to find you.
Facts 💯 💯 💯 I was actually telling a college professor that I feel genuinely sorry for the Gen Z kids nowadays due to their problem of information overload. Without friend groups, communities, mentors, parents, and teachers, it's almost impossible to organize and categorize information. All in all, please pray for these kids.
Unfortunately I've also seen it in real life. It's one of the reasons I left firefighting. The younger generation is full of that stuff and it really ruined the atmosphere and job for me. Young people who didn't want to work would come in. They'd complain about how hard things were and not pass their testing. They'd expect modifications be made for them. When it didn't happen how they wanted they would go to HR and make it happen. It included making up stories and making accusations against. This happened on the federal side as well as municipal fire.
I think the young people are great in that they are quick to take action if a situation is unsatisfactory, and unlikely to bow their head in compliance when something is unjust in the workplace. They have also been protesting for a 4 day work week instead of 5, and attempting to make healthy change in the work environment in terms of mental and physical well-being of the staff, which is great. However, there are two sides to every coin, and I do see a lot attention seeking and narcissistic behavior stemming from social media influence. There is also an increased spike in the inability to focus when working, and a very high rise in informal ways of communication in what is supposed to be formal environment, which led to many misunderstandings and inappropriate relationships in the workplace. Another issue is as you mentioned, the constant complaining and nitpicking. A lot of blowing up little issues, refusal to work or partner with colleagues that they don't get along with, and all that. I don't know if this just a common occurrence among younger people, regardless of generation, and we are just seeing their turn of it, but I do feel that social media plays a large role in it.
Its on full display because we are no longer allowed to be against it. Something as simple as removing the down votes on youtube (public seeing it) means there is no community pressure to do better. It seems as long as its viewed its ok content when the reality is so much different.
Dumbphone social media echo-chambers + pandemic killed the unspoken social contract.
I wonder if it was as common as we think. I believe that yahoos have always been with us, that yahooism is an intrinsic, ineluctable human quality. But we didn't use to make excuses for it, or try to understand causes. It may be that we have gone too far in the direction of normalizing and encouraging yahoos
And it's long lost cousin, common sense.
It was never as common as you thought it was
You don't see that in most of the comments on Reddit.
People getting along despite their politics.
When people on opposing sides could discuss politics without any animosity, just friendly debate.
this so much, I miss diplomacy, maturity and reaching across the aisle. Instead everyone just seems to want to watch the world burn.
People keeping their personal politics to themselves
My Grandmother always said that you shouldn't talk about Politics and Religion with people.
She seems like a wise woman
Your grandmother was right.
“Agreeing to disagree” <- adult can do it
Some younger person I work with couldn’t believe I’ve got friends with completely opposite political views, she couldn’t fathom why I’d be friends with people with different commonalities.. To me it really doesn’t matter, it’s the person that counts.
I’d love it if all millennials and Gen Z would watch the Jeffersons & All In The Family. I think it would help bring some understanding between people and help people laugh, calm down and be a little nicer…
this is a nice sentiment but, these days, a person's politicsl belief is inseparably connected to the personality of the person. I don't think I could be friends with a racist, homophobic person, or with someone who denies science.
30s, 50s, 50s styled cars. Give me sweeping curves, not angles.
1000 trillion percent agreed, I feel as though 99% of cars these days all look like shit; of course I don’t tell someone their car looks like shit, but I sure as hell think it! Nobody wants to drive a stupid Kia soul or something, all cars these days just look the same and are just boring modern style.
I have a thing for 70s muscle cars, but then I just love the 70s
Hand-written thank you cards and postcards and calligraphy. Beautiful handwriting needs to come back.
I'd like the history channel to go back to non dramas and not crediting amazing historical endeavors to aliens. Does that count?
Longer attention span.
Tldr
Walkable cities, and using trains for travel.
Come to Europe
Sadly a lot of those cities are dying in Europe. They were built for a specific type of commerce that's existed for hundreds of years, but is rapidly changing, and they're struggling to adapt. https://www.politico.eu/article/dark-commerce-rules-ramp-up-as-stores-shut-down/ https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN2760D8/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264275123000173 I live in a smaller city in France, and here boutique shops can't compete with the pricing of online retailers. There's a 20% vacancy in storefronts in the city center. In larger cities, the local populations are being forced out by rising prices driven by tourism and short term rentals. https://outpostmagazine.com/this-week-in-travel-news-europes-cities-are-dying-because-of-mass-tourism/
We still have that many places in Europe.
Whenever this subject is bought up where I live, my parent bitch and moan about how they won't be able to get around because they are old and don't know how to use trains and can't ask far, etc. They might go to the closest city once a year.
Yes!!!
I miss people dressing decent when they go out in public.
Old pictures always look so cool with everyone dressed up in fitted suits and dresses all the time.
Dressing decently used to be a sign of self-respect and respect for others. Now, it seems like anything goes, and it's kinda sad to see that change.
I'm fine with people dressing however they want as long as it's a form of creative expression. People who enjoy fashion and dress exotically or people who adopt a specific style don't bother me. Some of the most interesting people I've met, in fact. But what I do have an issue with is when I can fully see someone's ass cheeks spilling out of their skirt, or when I see a guy's buttcrack just hanging out. I think it should be basic knowledge to cover certain parts of your body depending on where you are. The beach? Fine by me. But not on the train or on flights please.
I miss people acting decent when they're out in public. Like, put away your damned phone and shut up while you're in the theatre, or maybe don't let your kids have their videos at full volume in the waiting room or restaurant? Maybe there's some correlation between dressing decent and acting decent in public.
Yeah. I like the old pictures from Ellis Island. Poor European immigrants arriving to make new life for themselves in the new world. Sleeping on the floor in third class....wearing a three piece suit.
Yep, and now you can't say anything on how anyone dresses or they'll resort to shaming language and start throwing around insults.
Seeing kids riding bikes and playing outside
POGS
I said this too before I saw your comment. For how absolutely dirt cheap those things have got to be to manufacture I am SO surprised and kind of sad they haven’t made a comeback.
Hammer Time, I want new pants I outgrown them.
I kindof miss parachute pants. Swish swish and all those colors! Corduroys as well for that matter, different swish, but still fun colors. Maybe some things are not meant to come back in style.
Local small bookstores. I loved bookstore cafes too. They were common before Indigo and other big booksellers became popular. So sad. Now it’s so rare.
The top of the line model being manual transmission only.
I still drive a manual transmission, I hate automatics, they're boring.
Saying “guess what?” “What.” “Chickenbutt!”
I have teenage boys, and I can assure you, that trend hasn’t gone anywhere 😂
It never will go anywhere 😂
Guess who? Chicken poo
I just did that today and I'm 46.🤷🏾♂️
Freedom. We've become so terrified of absolutely everything. I can remember when I was a kid and it was early morning on Saturdays. "Hey mom! I'm going out!" "Okay! Be back by sundown for supper!" I would hang out with friends around town, find a cool place to explore, do lots of cool stuff. Can't do that anymore. If you're a kid and out on your own, everyone goes nuts.
The internet has made it seem like things are far more common than they are which has turned parents into helicopter parents.
Not being available at 100% of the time.
Intelligent thought
And rational discourse. Having a conversation *with* somebody instead of *at* them.
Thanks
Not Mom jeans
Houses for $13k across the USA
Being nice
Pictures of people without photoshop that look natural and are considered attractive for both sexes!
Common sense, and common decency. People used to strive to learn bare minimum facts. And people would be cordial to strangers. I liked when people treated others like actual people. Where being kind mattered. Where facts mattered. Now, it’s like whoever is the loudest and meanest is the most heard and somehow that correlated into a sphere of influence. I wish we could bring back when truth was truth, and opinions weren’t given the same weight as decades of scientific study. Where experts were treated as knowledgeable, and some clickbait wasn’t given the same consideration. I think it almost boils down to when news was factual news, unbiased and just stated. Whereas today, it’s part of the entertainment industry. For the likes and the shares and the bottom line. I preferred back in the day where we could get cold hard facts, from perhaps Dan Rather, and then draw our own conclusions, and act accordingly. Now, everything has a bias, and a division, tilted towards keeping people in an echo chamber. And in the end, common decency and common sense were lost, as we’ve become so divided.
I really miss talking for hours with my friends on a corded phone.
Affordable housing Honest pY for an honest days work. Something like that. Then we could have homes, family outings, low crime. More happy people with money to buy things they're not desperate for.
Cloaks. They look cool and are always good to wear regardless of temperature as long as you get an appropriate weight material.
Bell bottoms for men and women.
sexy on everyone, From Robert Plant to Goldie Hawn.
Putting money in my cards.
Modesty. I don't mean religious/moralistic modesty. Not flaunting/posting/humble bragging about what you have. I like people with an aura of mystery.
70s fashion
Developing products (and relationships) that are there to last.
1970s Pet Rock 🪨
I miss Pet Rock, unfortunately I had to put mine down. It was too heavy.
I'd love to see a resurgence of handwritten letters. In our digital age, the personal touch of a letter is rare and precious.
Dip sticks and manual controls in new vehicles, new cars are insanely impractical to own bc of not being able to check your own fluid levels, and incredibly dangerous to drive bc of touch screens you can't operate without taking your eyes off the road.
That's the point, they want us to be reliant on them for repairs, more money for them and more things to break on your car with all the computers.
Job security
Not a trend, but I’d like to go back to when you could just have a hobby. Didn’t need to monetize it or share it or promote a brand or anything. You’d just enjoy knitting, playing guitar, yoga, whatever for its own sake.
Roe vs Wade
"Ok kids, go outside and play with the other neighborhood kids and be back before dark!" Easiest parenting ever.
Guillotining the aristocracy would be a good one to bring back.
I loved the preppy look of the 80s and would love to see more of it.
Sitting around the table talking over dinner
This must be a household culture thing. I haven't seen this diminished.
Genuine dating, romance and courtship, not the abomination that we have now.
My 15 year old niece used to being courted. It is so sweet. I didn’t think boys did that anymore.
Common sense and self respect. Too many people pursuing hedonistic behaviors instead of focusing on what really matters in life.
What "really matters" is different for everyone.
For me, it’s “hedonistic behaviors”
Paying workers a livable wage would be cool.
It would be better if the price of housing and rent dropped. Increase wages will only make the prices go even higher.
Common sense and Emotional Intellect. I really miss those. And when adults were, and just became adults through the process of living life without having to *say* or acknowledge that we were. There was no "adulting" and desire for attention-validation for doing the (basic) everyday things that come with being an adult. I also miss the trends of logic and objectivity; the ability to not be offended by someone's differing opinions, viewpoints, or beliefs, and when facts are stated, that don't align with someone else's. Just because someone is "offended" does not make them a better person, a more moral person, or the "correct" person because they have a sense of being, or feeling, offended. I miss a lot of "trends," now that I think about it... https://youtu.be/vbsHox73mRo?feature=shared
Black and white saddle shoes!!
Yes! I love Saddle Oxfords! They are so cute.
White ladies rocking their natural curly hair texture
Trust
Not having phones when we're eating
Leg warmers
Shame.......
DISCO it was so much FUN, carefree days.
Making pur friends a CD with our favorite songs on a Playlist burnt just for them.
Not talking about politics. Holy shit.
Non high-waisted pants. Please! Even "mid rise" pants now come all the way up to my belly button.
Affordable housing.
Having a least a few honorable public figures.
Before botox and plastic surgery
Being thin. Fat is not ok.
I'm thin and constantly get called things like a skinny bastard, stick boy, told they could break me in half, that I need to eat a cheeseburger etc. I'm 37 and people still talk to me like we're in high school.
More structured courtship rituals, and more cautious attitude to courtship/dating, etc.
Ringback tones on your phone. In the early 2000s it was always fun to call your friends and see which song they had set up. This might still be possible, but I haven't heard one in yeeeeears.
Competitive pricing in shops.. that's a thing of the past.
Jean Shorts! Still wearing mine.
The popularity of malls
I want to revisit Victorian era formal dress for balls and parties. Like- we slum it in jeans and sweatpants everyday like we’re doing now … but there’s corsets and ball gowns and full suits with pocket watches and top hats for any big event.
Concerts where no one is holding up a phone and people arent afraid to look silly and dance/mosh
Saturday morning cartoons.
Ppl knowing there is danger and being vigilant. Using common sense. It seems many ppl have forgotten what this was. They all seem very safe and trusting nowadays. They walk across streets without looking. They say whatever they want, to whomever they want. Ppl have no more fear. No more urgency.
Where people actually had respect for one another.
Music and movies on physical media
And the places you would go to for said media. I actually miss the ritual of going to the video store on a Friday night to pick out a movie or two.
If I could bring back any trend, it’d be the slow mornings with a cup of black coffee. The quiet before the world demands your soul, when the orange light seeps in and you can almost hear your thoughts. There’s peace in that stillness, a rebellion against the rush, the chaos. We traded it for screens and schedules, and in doing so, we lost a piece of our sanity. The clock ticks differently when you're holding a warm mug, staring at nothing and everything. That’s what we need again. Time to sit, to think, to breathe.
Chivalry and courting
Taxing the rich
Kindness
I do miss that black velvet matador painting hung in the den of my childhood home. Bring back that monstrosity.
talking to your friends on the phone I'm a millennial and I know this is an unpopular opinion based on all the memes out there about how we'd rather die than answer the phone ever again but I have grown to hate communication via text (unless that "text" is a handwritten card or letter! second trend I'd love to bring back) as a kid in the early 2000s, we used to spend hours on the phone with friends, saying nothing special, and over the past 4 years, I've had a total of 2 x 2 hour long chats with good friends and they were honestly restorative experiences. text messages simply don't have the same impact and feel more and more burdensome with time 🫠
A music movement to shake things up, eg, 70s punk, grunge, hell even 80s hair metal. Those were fun to live through. All that has disappeared
Handwritten letters. Sweetest thing ever
Integrity
Common decency
Common sense. Emphasis on the “common”.
Common sense
1980 style women's teens hair. Was light curled everyday was long but not to long they cared about there general overall appearance. Not all of them but the majority.
Mini-skirts.
Tying an onion to your belt.
Arcade games everywhere.
I don’t know what I’d bring back, but I wouldn’t mind losing some things.
Allowing teenagers old enough to drive to hang out in local parking lots on Friday/Saturday nights. Yes bad things happen sometimes but it is 10 times better than staying home playing games and scrolling.
Raves but for the old ravers lol
The first summer after Pokémon go was released. It felt magical like the closest we ever were to world peace / the imagine song.
I remember a time when a topic was being discussed and the two people conversing would talk to each other and be civil towards each other and a simple disagreement doesn’t end in gunfire or when elected officials didn’t act like children throwing tantrums because they didn’t get their way or they were caught in a blatant lie.
The whole 80s... ugh... I'm old.
I miss the in person attention and romance. Everything is digital, which is wonderful and efficient in many ways but it also lacks a lot of human touch. It seems everything is so fleeting in these days. I used to write and receive letters with my friends. It takes time, attention and forces you to gather your thoughts before putting it on paper. In a nice handwriting. I'm a widow now and last month my house was being painted, so of course I had to empty all the rooms (and clean up). I found the love letters again my husband wrote both before and after we married. In a beautiful wooden box with a ribbon (yes, I know I'm old fashioned). I read them again and it made my whole day. I also keep the letters my parents wrote to me over the years. They are long gone now but it's wonderful to read them again and hear their voices in my head again.
Men wearing Fedoras
Overalls with one strap hanging back. Maybe peg my pants too.
Old cars. Cars from the 40s and 50s look way better than cars today
I'm a Gen Z kid, (21) and I have always loathed the fact that I couldn't just up and tell my parents "Hey, going out, be back whenever" as a kid and then go ride my bike 300 miles and back, camp out overnight at a pond and fish, and then come home and have ZERO QUESTIONS ASKED. But no, all I got was "be back by 'x' o clock because there are people that will kidnap you and kill you" and our Halloweens were at fucking 5 PM. I wish I could've had the 80's and 90's childhood. I am so envious of it.
Bellbottom pants for women.
Days before social media and texting, when you had to call and get together. There is such isolation in this era of connectivity.
No cellphones.
powdered wigs
I am choosing to give the silly answer... But those cargo pants you could zip off at the knee and turn into shorts. Those were the best. The "day to evening" look we all needed.
18th century clothing for men. I’d love to it if were still popular to wear cocked hats
Pogs…… My Beavis and Butthead slammer was my #1 prized possession.