Yahoo Lifestyle "It's Not What It Used To Be": Older Americans Are Recalling The Major Things That Have Changed Over Their Lifetime, And As A Millennial, Life Sounded Much Simpler Back Then
Getting older means things change over time. So when a millennial Reddit user asked the r/AskOldPeople community: "Americans in their 60s - how have you seen things change in day-to-day life? What’s something you miss the most?" so many people shared their thoughts and memories. Here's what they said below.
1."The ease of flying back in the day. Everyone dressed nicely, showed up 15 minutes before a flight, and checked their bags. Seats were comfortable, and you were always given a hot meal. Flight attendants were happy and helpful."
2."When I was a kid, we all went outside to play with the other neighborhood kids. I think children today miss a lot by doing that. We’ve all become too attached to our electronic devices and lost touch with nature. The world feels very artificial now. Food, people, connections… seem to have lost some sense of reality."
3."It was exciting to wait for pictures to be developed and to eagerly await the next episode of a favorite show. Going to the movies was affordable, even for kids. Writing actual letters was a thing. Not being in constant communication with anybody and not being able to be contacted at any time was pure freedom. Going to concerts was cheap and easy, the same for ball games and even the theater. Having to use one’s imagination for entertainment. Going to the library to look up information. All of these things have changed so much."
"My dad was an early adopter of Polaroid cameras. People would gather around and watch the black and white image magically fade appear. Then the applicator with stinky fixative(?). Most of my childhood from age 4-10 is recorded on them. They have held up well."
4."I miss people not expecting to be able to contact me 24 hours a day. Don't get me wrong, I love smartphones and almost everything that comes with them, but damn."
5."I miss phone conversations. Texting has really saved us from purely transactional conversations, but it has also destroyed chit-chat. You used to call your friends and talk for a bit just to see what’s going on. That’s completely gone."
6."I miss driving on a freeway without feeling like I’m in a Mad Max movie."
7."I used to love a good mall with a couple of great anchor stores. I remember my first mall — newly built in 1967 — it was a wonder. The malls of the seventies, eighties, and nineties were great. And then, in the early 2000s, so many anchor stores were closing, and so many malls became sad malls. Now, it's rare to find a great mall."
8."A little thing: as kids, we waited all year for movies that were only shown once a year. A Charlie Brown Christmas and The Wizard of Oz come to mind. It was so special."
9."I miss affordable housing, but I love smartphones and having a shopping emporium in my pocket. The modern world isn't all bad — but I'd definitely give it up for affordable housing."
"I must agree with you on this one. My area of NY/NJ has always been high COL. We had a major housing boom after 911. But in the last few years since COVID, the home prices and rents have skyrocketed. And despite the high costs, anything that becomes available is immediately snapped up. So I’m with you on missing affordable housing."
10."We were headed out of town, and my teen kids were surprised I didn't need navigation (btw I grew up in our city of destination). The topic turned to paper maps for navigation, planning your route before leaving, reading interstate signs, and buying newly updated maps if needed. The kids were in disbelief versus just using your phone and following the directions. LOL."
"There really is a link to this engagement and memory. You had to plan (write out an itinerary, call hotels, make bookings), execute (driving or flying or train/ship), and do all the cleaning up when you returned (photos, pick up the pet, etc). All of this work, plus the 'What did you do on your vacation' essay at school, reinforced things. Today, you can do all this on your phone. Instantly forgettable."
11."Just stopping by a friend's or family member's house WITHOUT notice: 'Hey, I was in the neighborhood, and I had an hour to kill before my doctor appointment, so I just thought I'd pop in and visit. How are you doing, etc, etc?' Now, people get weird about it, and some seem to kinda panic, like 'OMG, what are you doing here...?'"
12."There was a lot more community involvement when my kids were growing up in the '70s. Scouts, youth groups, PTO, Women's clubs, Kiwanis, Lion's Clubs, church. I understand that times have changed, and so have priorities, but I really miss those days."
13."I'll be 65 in a hot minute, and I most miss how things used to just work. Reliably, as advertised. If you rang a company up on the phone, you got through. If you stayed at a hotel with an advertised bar, it was open. Buy a refrigerator or dishwasher; it ran for fifteen years without major complaints. Today, systems and services and even tangible goods, the symphony of small things we once depended on and still need, are unraveling in a hundred ways. Mail a bill at the post office; it disappears forever. Book a flight, it's changed or cancelled without explanation. Call the airline, you're on hold for three hours, then it hangs up on you. Hotels that promise bars and restaurants keep them closed and dark."
"Appliances malfunction at the three- or four-year mark, and everyone just shrugs: Yep, that's how long they last now. The big-ass Mitsubishi tube TV I bought in the '90s ran like a champ until about 2010; the Samsung flatscreen I bought at Costco circa 2016 died in five years. Levi's I bought 10 or 20 years ago were 100% cotton and immortal; the pair I bought in 2024 are thin-milled, fast-wearing, flimsy junk laced with some evil element called Elastane."
My city transit system proudly rolled out a bus-and-train-tracker, but it never works, nor does it display false data about 'ghost buses' that aren't coming. We're forced online to do common tasks, but I get three or four data-breach notices a year now indicating my personal info's been stolen, and the company at fault just shrugs. Yeah, it happens. My medical system has erected a brutal inbound-call-management system that makes leaving a voice message for my doctor impossible. TV and ISP fees keep rising, service gets more and more erratic and untrustworthy, and folks just shrug: Yep, it's not what it used to be. On and on.
Since I was a kid, we've traded predictable, limited-option simplicity for infinite choices coupled with broadly dysfunctional complexity. And like frogs in slowly boiling water, we've been conditioned to believe constant low-volume dysfunction is normal and OK."
If you're an older American, tell us what you have seen change or miss from your day-to-day life in the comments below.
Note: Some of these responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
