Yahoo Lifestyle 19 Things That Were Totally Normal Even Just 10 Years Ago... But Are Now Basically Exctinct
Recently, u/Successful_Oil_3270 asked the r/AskReddit community, "What has gradually disappeared over the last ten years without people really noticing?"
While you've probably noticed a few of these changes (I pine for the days of 24-hour stores!), I'm willing to bet that many of these happened without you even realizing. Here are some of the best and most shocking responses:
1.Small, independent hardware stores.
"They used to be a small-town staple, especially in the midwest. Almost every one used to be 'The oldest business in town,' having been open since like 1895.
Now, they're all mostly gone and your only alternative is a big-box hardware store or ordering on Amazon. It's incredibly depressing."
2.Mid-career jobs.
“The Great Flattening.”
"Also early-career jobs. Now everyone wants seniors and juniors, but with the pay of an entry-level job."
3.Ownership.
"You pay a subscription. You can't fix what you own because it's proprietary. You can't buy outright. Our ownership of things has become a rental service, where they can break or completely remove what we purchased, without consent, at any time, because it was in the terms of service."
4.Coins on the sidewalk.
"I go on walks often, and I’ve literally not seen a single coin in at least the last two years. But I constantly found dimes on the sidewalk back in 2016…and I explicitly remember this, because I found it weird, since previously it was usually pennies or an occasional nickel.
IME, this is 100% true, and it’s tripping me out."
5.24-hour businesses.
"Covid killed them and it seems a lot of them aren’t coming back."
6.Toys in cereal boxes.
"Same with Cracker Jacks. They used to have actual toys! Now it's a bit of printed paper. If you're lucky it's maybe a sticker.
My grandma had a jar of 'trinkets' — half of which were old Cracker Jack prizes. I loved just sifting through all the cool stuff in there as a kid!"
7.Real customer service reps.
"A real live person answering a business telephone. And if you don't believe me, press five to repeat this message."
"'We are experiencing higher than normal call volumes.'
All day. Every day.
What even is normal? A lie."
8.Custom ringtones.
"Everyone now keeps their phones on silent."
"Yesterday in the doctor's office, someone's phone suddenly started blaring 'HELLO MOTO,' and I thought I had gone back to 2012."
9.Fireflies.
"Pile your leaves up and leave them! Fireflies lay their eggs in leaf litter, and when we bag up leaves and trash them we’re trashing future fireflies. I don’t pick up leaf litter on my property and I have a decent amount of fireflies every summer.
While I’m here, popping in to say everyone should look up plants native to their area and spread those around as much as possible. Your specific area will have a certain biodiversity dedicated to its eco-region and there’s more than likely a nonprofit close to you that will provide information on naturalizing your yard."
10.Reading comprehension and attention spans.
"The ability to read and comprehend something longer than a paragraph."
"ChatGPT, please summarize the above post for me."
11.Answering phone calls.
"I quit answering as my spam calls now average four per hour."
12.DVD sections in stores.
"There are no DVD departments in stores anymore, which feels strange."
"This hurts just as much as no CDs. I still buy physical when I can."
13.Quality, long-lasting clothing and furniture.
"Everything is MDF (medium density fiberboard) and polyester, even at the 'better' stores."
14.Childhood.
"As a parent, I feel like I'm fighting an uphill battle by keeping our kids screen-free. Kids need to be taught how to play and how to interact with other humans; they don’t even go out to play with friends anymore. It’s all online."
—avsa
15.Bugs.
"It honestly freaks me out when I realize I NEVER have to clean bugs off my windshield now. I see some insects on occasion, but I think back to childhood and remember the swarms around streetlights and needing to use bug spray whenever we went hiking. That is just a thing of the past now.
It's the canary in the coal mine."
16.Clowns.
"Oh, here's a good one. Clowns. Quick backstory: I did social work for a bit, and my guy liked clowns a lot. We'd try to find clown-related stuff, and it was impossible.
Clowns in the traditional sense — children's entertainers, not creepy Pennywise/Art ones — have been pretty much completely phased out of American culture. There are no more clown characters in TV shows, advertising, movies, parks, etc. You pretty much won't find clowns entertaining children's parties or charities.
Think about how prevalent they were before like 2010. Ronald McDonald was one of the biggest mascots on the planet; Bozo was still incredibly popular; Lunette had a popular TV show; they were hired to do tricks for birthday parties. The Shriners had clown shows.
After the remake of It and those viral creepy clown sightings, they were completely dropped by the public. The only depiction of clowns in the media now is the 'killer creepy clown' trope.
I think about this sometimes and it legitimately bums me out."
17.Waiting room magazines.
"Reading material in waiting rooms. This leads most people to look at their phone or other device, even if they are trying to reduce screen time. I used to enjoy the variety of magazines in topics I wouldn’t have at home."
18.Online spaces for kids.
"When I was a child, we had several online places MADE for children. Every single children's TV channel had a website with games for kids, and there were several online games geared towards children (like Club Penguin), etc.
Now if you're a 10-year-old, you either rot your brain with YouTube videos or you rot your brain with social media."
19.And finally, color.
"Late to the party but, colour. Literally just colour. There's less of it now."
