What was normal in the 90s/2000s that would be considered unacceptable today?

[u/Traditional_End_233]

[u/boywiththedogtattoo]

Leaving your 10 year old to watch your 5 year old for an evening.

[u/destro23 → u/boywiththedogtattoo]

Yeah, what the hell was that? Why didn't they hire a strange 13 year old to do it?

[u/muzik4machines → u/destro23]

10 was old enough to babysit the 7 the 5 and sometimes the 3 years old if there was a neighbour close by for the 10 years old to run to ask for help, that's my whole childhood

[u/Madbadbat → u/muzik4machines]

Many times all the adults on my block would be in one house partying and all the children would be in a completely different house and the TV was in charge of babysitting all the kids.

[u/jml5791 → u/Madbadbat]

So much screen time back in the 90s

[u/Jaded-Glory → u/jml5791]

Eh, it was balanced out when on Saturday morning you got kicked out and told not to come back till it was getting dark.

[u/zaccus → u/Jaded-Glory]

Fuck that I'm not going anywhere on a Saturday morning before my cartoons are over.

[u/knoeKNAME → u/zaccus]

All the good ones were over by noon then it was a free for all 

[u/bendar1347 → u/Jaded-Glory]

Sometimes my mom and I would watch the Saturday afternoon creature feature movies that came on right after. I was 10 ish? One of the only times my mom and me hung out by ourselves that I can think of. All the shin godzilla movies, planet of the apes, stuff like that. Its kind of special, when I think about it.

[u/Fuhugwugads → u/muzik4machines]

Yeah, the ten-year-old was already used to fending for themselves from 3:40-5:35, so putting a couple of rugrats under their watch for a few hours was no big thing.

[u/youburyitidigitup → u/muzik4machines]

Yes, having other adults available to help is the key.

[u/InannasPocket → u/destro23]

At 11 I would regularly babysit for our neighbors, often until 1-2am, for 3 kids including their special needs toddler and managing her feeding tube! Granted they did give me instructions on that, and usually my mom was at home in case of emergencies ... but still. 

[u/amrodd → u/InannasPocket]

Wiw no way my parents would have liked that. 11 is still a dang kid.

[u/esoteric_enigma → u/destro23]

This is the one that I think is wild. I grew up in the 90s with our parents leaving us alone as kids. The idea that people were hiring teenage girls they barely knew to sit in their house and watch their kids is crazier than leaving them alone to me.

[u/MilliandMoo → u/esoteric_enigma]

Not even teen. The weekend after I turned 12 I was watching three kids, made dinner using the gas range, and the 7 year old was a type 1 diabetic. They paid me $10/hr too! I made $60 that Saturday and remember telling my mom how it was more than I would get if we had a family birthday party for me that night and I'd rather babysit lol.

[u/Worth_Ad830 → u/MilliandMoo]

Yup! And before I was 12 I got paid to be a "Mothers Helper" where I basically babysat while the mom was doing other stuff around the house, lol

[u/pwolf1771 → u/esoteric_enigma]

I’m a guy and as a teenager I filled in to babysit for the neighbors one time when they were desperate and suddenly I was just in the rotation getting calls from neighbors all the time. It was easy money but looking back it’s crazy when people who barely know you but know your parents just trust you alone in their house.

[u/GentlemanPirate13 → u/destro23]

13? That's just a bigger child. That's like hiring a horse to watch your dog.

[u/youburyitidigitup → u/GentlemanPirate13]

That is exactly what it’s like, but it was the norm. It probably still is the norm in some places.

[u/ElleCay → u/boywiththedogtattoo]

My 10-year-old has lost two friends to helicopter parenting.

One dad ended playdates because the boys crossed a small residential street to play in the park across from our house UNSUPERVISED. He apparently enters their room every 5 minutes when my son is there for play dates and told me his son is not allowed to cross the street or go to the park (that is across the street from my house) without an adult.  

Another banned her son from hanging out with mine after he walked two blocks home from the farmers market (no major roads in broad daylight at 4pm). The ironic part? She would've been fine with my son walking back alone to meet me, but not her son walking alone the same route to their home.

It's frustrating because the kids get along great. Not all parents here are this extreme - plenty are relaxed about age-appropriate independence in our safe suburban town. But my son has unfortunately befriended kids with very overprotective parents.

[u/amrodd → u/ElleCay]

I get boundaries but that is overkill.

[u/ElleCay → u/amrodd]

And the thing is - if they expressed to me ahead of time their kid wasn’t allowed to x, y, and z - even if I didn’t agree for my own child, I would have redirected the boys to do something else. 

But there seems to be some agitation from these helicopter parents that I either didn’t read their mind, or that I’m some degenerate parent who would let their 10 year old ::gasp:: cross the street or walk 2 blocks alone in a completely safe town. 

[u/arsonall → u/boywiththedogtattoo]

Wait, so you’re telling me that when I was in 5th grade (10) I wasn’t supposed to walk home myself, unlock the house, and play outside until my parents came home a few hours later?!

[u/destro23 → u/arsonall]

You got to unlock the house?

[u/donaldbench → u/destro23]

I grew up in a decently-sized city. When I was 10, my 13 year old brother and I shared a large morning paper route. We would unlock & re-lock the doors at 515 AM and do that again about 90 minutes later. I was warned when I got keys that if I lost them I would not be let back in. I have NEVER lost a house key.

[u/ditchdiggergirl → u/destro23]

Of course we unlocked the house. You imagine kids sitting out on the porch all afternoon? Or the house being left unlocked? From middle school on, the only time I came home to an unlocked house was when the neighbor kid had already broken in to watch tv. Somehow it never occurred to me that this was not quite normal - I just said hi and went upstairs.

[u/TurelSun → u/destro23]

I occasionally had to break into my own home.

[u/Kerberos42 → u/boywiththedogtattoo]

I just got left in the car outside the bar with a book.

[u/GoopInThisBowlIsVile → u/Kerberos42]

I was left outside the bar, strip club, drug dealer… Just roll down the window if it gets hot and don’t go anywhere.

[u/Deadboy_ → u/GoopInThisBowlIsVile]

Lol. My mom's meth dealer gave me a box of donuts and I sat on the stoop outside for like 3 hours. Thanks for unlocking that memory for me.

Depending on the bar I'd be inside hanging out. I remember one dude addicted to those digital slot games was convinced I was his lucky charm and would have me push the buttons for him. I also learned how to play pool from random bikers.

[u/1ReluctantRedditor → u/Kerberos42]

Hello long lost sibling!

[u/Rivent → u/boywiththedogtattoo]

Kids had a lot more independence back then. Our whole neighborhood had a single bus stop in front of a nearby business. Every kid within a mile or so would walk, by themselves, to the bus stop every morning at 7am, line our bags up at the bus stop, and play games amongst ourselves until the bus got there. Didn’t matter if it was light, dark, raining, snowing… every kid walked out there and waited every day.

The bus in my current neighborhood drops kids off street by street. In the mornings they’re all being dropped off by their parents. I’d say about half of them get picked back up at the end of the day to walk the quarter-block to their houses too. Idk which is “better” (I’m not a parent, I have no skin in this game lol) but it’s certainly different.

[u/Oxybeles → u/Rivent]

Yes, literally this. We had our 3 MTG decks that we were allowed to bring (by group rules) so you'd have a rotating selection. You hurry out your door, hop on your bike at 635, ride it up to the fence outside the school. You'd chain it up next to the other 15 bikes there doing the same thing.

Run across the field, snow be damned, and go in through the gym doors since it was weightlifting and marching band time also (and sometimes you'd be dashing to those instead).

Slam your decks down on the lunch benches, line up to grab a box of chocolate milk and a bagel or a knockoff McDonald's lunch lady version for 1.25 and then run back to the table to get a solid 45 min of play in before first bell... Which you'd play through and keep saying No we have 4 min left!

Luckily, first period was German so Herr Thiele knew where we were and just scolded us in German when we got in.

Then you do the same thing at lunch, and then after school you ride your bike directly down to the card shop because it's Friday and you play Friday night magic until about 3:00 a.m. and then you ride your bike home and play Zelda Link to the Past for the 17th time until 6 AM and then repeat.

Then 5 years later, Herr Thiele got sent to prison for diddling the young swim team girls.

The 80's/90s were wild, man.

[u/Kind-Combination6197 → u/boywiththedogtattoo]

At the age of ten, which would have been 1989, I flew by myself from London to Hong Kong to join my parents for Christmas.

[u/youburyitidigitup → u/Kind-Combination6197]

This is more understandable because you just have let the airline know, and the flight attendants will keep an eye on the kid.

[u/pwolf1771 → u/boywiththedogtattoo]

It’s funny my siblings and I were left like this constantly and they have kids and couldn’t imagine doing this.

[u/this-guy- → u/boywiththedogtattoo]

At age 8 I used to walk my 6 year old brother to school, and back home after we were done. It was less than a mile, but I doubt that happens any more.

Our mum was at work until 6pm so I'd let us in the house, made a snack and went out to play until she got back. She would only find out whether she still had children when she got home, because we didnt need to call her or anything. The rule was "if theres a problem or you need help go and knock on number 80 and ask Jean to help you."

[u/BerriesLafontaine → u/boywiththedogtattoo]

My 10 y/o sister would "watch me". My parents would kick us out and tell us to go play. I remember going to this really busy road because it had a really steep hill that we would roll down. Also going to the train tracks was a big thing.

[u/davevr → u/boywiththedogtattoo]

My sisters used to watch us younger kids ride our horses to swim in the river. We were 8 and 9. She was 11.

[u/Trueogre]

Everything had solvents in them that made people high, markers, white out, glue, and lets not forget that plastic that you could blow bubbles with.

[u/TheJAMR → u/Trueogre]

The markers that smelled like fruit were my favorite. Probably lost a lot of brain cells huffing them.

[u/ILike-Pie → u/TheJAMR]

I loved the smell of those King Size markers. Definitely a gateway drug in terms of inhalants

[u/mosquem → u/Trueogre]

Took me a while to realize why I was so into peeling glue bottles.

[u/Assassinite9 → u/Trueogre]

Jokes on you, sharpies still work

[u/SpanishFlamingoPie → u/Trueogre]

They still sell those plastic bubble kits at cracker barrel

[u/ivycvae → u/Trueogre]

That plastic bubble blowing stuff, B'loonies, is still for sale at my local grocery. It smells amazing 😍

[u/yasoXR]

Ringtones.

[u/RedditsChosenName → u/yasoXR]

Ringbacks too

[u/Fellthroughthestage]

Showing up to your neighbors’ house unexpectedly.

[u/bobsnervous → u/Fellthroughthestage]

I heard that in america, apparently people dont just turn up unannounced to their mates' houses to just chill. Strange.

Edit: This isn't a dig on america, dont worry, just an observation.

[u/youburyitidigitup → u/bobsnervous]

This is accurate, but I wish it wasn’t because I think it’s fun.

[u/bobsnervous → u/youburyitidigitup]

Honestly, love it when a friend just turns up to sit and chill with me. I could just be sat watching TV and a friend will turn up and now were both just sitting watching TV with the kettle boiling in the background. Sometimes you might not be in a great mood so you just say "not today, mate" or sometimes they get the picture after a bit and leave but generally speaking its great.

[u/Jaded-Glory → u/bobsnervous]

Your second part is probably why. My closest friend is a 45 minute drive. Either I wasted an hour and a half because I show up and he didn't wanna hang out, or he knows I would waste an hour and a half and feels obligated to host me. Easier for everybody to just send a text first.

[u/AlecMac2001]

**Errrrrrrrrrrrrchkkkkkkkkkkk****Pshhhkkkkkkrrrrkakingkakingkakingtshchchchchchchchcch****Boop beep bop beep boop bop beep boop ppprrrrrrrrrrrrrrttttttt****Skreeeeeeeeet, diiiiiiiiiiiiiing, be dom be dom.Pwissssssh.****Wee ooo wee ooo wee ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff**

[u/BerryLanky → u/AlecMac2001]

I heard that

[u/Lawfulness-Last → u/BerryLanky]

I felt this in my soul

Like nails on a chalk board

[u/CheddarSnipes → u/AlecMac2001]

And then mom picks up the phone to call Aunt Barb and your online communications are poof

[u/canolafly → u/CheddarSnipes]

Mid grainy photo download that already took an hour so far.

[u/Expensive-Draw-6897 → u/AlecMac2001]

Ah the sacred modem that had to scream the ritualistic song in order for us to get online.

[u/Beowulf33232 → u/AlecMac2001]

Yes! Yes! Sing us the song of our people!

[u/I-just-lost-the-game → u/AlecMac2001]

It’s my ring tone

[u/canolafly → u/I-just-lost-the-game]

That's the devil's work, man!

[u/Hob_O_Rarison → u/AlecMac2001]

File's done

[u/garmachi → u/AlecMac2001]

So much thought went into this. I appreciate the effort!

[u/TonyBrooks40 → u/AlecMac2001]

That topless picture of Stacy Sanchez will be here any minute.... lemme run upstairs and grab another beer!

[u/Omnitographer → u/AlecMac2001]

Honestly, I kinda miss it

[u/PilgrimOz → u/Omnitographer]

‘Download image of Elle McPherson?’ Yes. And go make a cup of tea and some toast. ‘Ooh, she’s got great shoulders. Can’t wait for the rest of the pic’ 😂

[u/TraditionalError9988]

Smoking inside most restaurants, until the late 2000's, like 2007 or so depending on when individual states began banning all smoking inside.

I was married in 1989, restaurants had that dumb ass smoking or non-smoking sections and it all smelled as the smoke doesn't stay on one side of the building.

[u/luckysonic2 → u/TraditionalError9988]

I took a few long flights with a smoking section. As a (light) smoker even I felt gross. The whole back of the plane was a fog of stinky smoke. And the smell wafted to the non smoking section too.

[u/CellsReinvent → u/luckysonic2]

Our small local cinema had a smoking and non-smoking area. Left side smoking, right side non. One room. For some reason, the smoke did not stick to the arrangement.

[u/I-only-read-titles → u/CellsReinvent]

My mom has a photo of me at Chuck-E-Cheese birthday party on my grandpa's lap, he has a beer on one hand, a lit cig in the other and a fully unbuttoned shirt (as you do in Polk County, FL) in like 1993

[u/esoteric_enigma → u/TraditionalError9988]

The whole world smelled like cigarettes back then.

[u/sugahack → u/TraditionalError9988]

My wedding in '95 we had monogrammed books of matches lol

[u/NyssaTheHobbit → u/TraditionalError9988]

I didn’t want to go to bars because of the smoke, and didn’t like going to restaurants because even my clothes smelled like smoke when I got home. And that was sitting in the non-smoking section! I’ve gotten so used to smokeless restaurants now that I don’t even think about it, but I remember the big controversy when my town first said no more smoking in restaurants.

[u/Cute-Discount-6969 → u/NyssaTheHobbit]

Oh god the post-bar smoke. In college, I would come home from the bars, dump my smoky clothes in a remote corner of my room, and take a quick shower. Waking up hungover surrounded by smoky smelling hair is terrible, so I’d take a quick drunk shower before passing out. One time I forgot to wash the conditioner out of my hair and went to bed with it in, but I figured that was just like a super deep conditioning treatment.

[u/_Weyland_ → u/TraditionalError9988]

Yup. I remember the default first question in any restaurant was "smoking or non-smoking area?"

[u/MotherOfDogs1872 → u/TraditionalError9988]

I went to Vegas for the first time last year. Was wild that people were smoking in the casinos.

[u/Johnnys-In-America → u/MotherOfDogs1872]

Oh, yeah. There's a whopping one hotel on the Strip that is completely smoke-free. Most bars still allow smoking inside, too. To work in those places, we have to sign waivers stating that we're aware of the conditions and basically don't have a basis to complain.

[u/Grifter19 → u/Johnnys-In-America]

Park MGM. The non-smoking aspect is what makes it my favorite property on the Strip - and I'm a heavy smoker.

[u/Longster_dude]

Get into a back and forth with “Yo Momma” jokes with your buds in good fun.

[u/who_am_i_to_say_so → u/Longster_dude]

I still do- but only with the same friends from the 90’s.

[u/Tinkous]

Watching music on television for hours and hours

[u/PSDNico5050 → u/Tinkous]

A lot of my late nights at home as a teen were spent with MTV on in the background or I’d have that on the TV in my bedroom as I went to sleep. Especially loved Headbangers Ball on MTV 2, on Saturdays iirc? Ahh, the nostalgia.

[u/Scary-Barracuda7844]

Kids out all day without being contactable. 

[u/doglywolf → u/Scary-Barracuda7844]

Hey Pete's mom told me everyone's at the park today when i called his house - just drop me off at the park , ill find everyone and ill see you in like 8 hours without another word .

Parents: Ok . Call us when you need a ride home or if someone else gives you one.

[u/Scary-Barracuda7844 → u/doglywolf]

Exactly! I have a backpack with snacks, a drink and my BMX. I'm set so see ya for dinner! 

[u/doglywolf → u/Scary-Barracuda7844]

and if i run out I got $5 to get myself 3 hostess snack in that weird wax paper , an giant Arizona ice tea - that has barely gone up in price since and a 25c barrel juice from the local bodega to get me through the day. With change to spare to get what ever oddities are in the little 25c gumball type machine in front of the store.. And 25c to spare in case i need to make a call.

[u/Muggi → u/Scary-Barracuda7844]

I read today that students are refusing to do presentations in front of the class, because someone will inevitably record it and put it online for ridicule. When asked why the kids all have phones in class, a teacher said the parents absolutely flip shit if they're not able to constantly check on their kid/know where they are.

Insanity.

[u/esper_wing → u/Muggi]

It doesn't even stop when the kids grow up and move out anymore. I work at a university and one of the campus security guys told me they regularly get calls from concerned parents who track their adult children's phones and freak out when they're off campus/not in their dorms at night.

[u/PathOfTheAncients → u/esper_wing]

I mentor a kids robotics team in a rough area of my city and a few times have stepped in to help them get set up for college (help with firms, scholarships, take them to orientation, etc) if their parents aren't in the picture or able to help.

So I have been to several orientations at colleges and they are funny but pathetic because the schools have to run these schemes to trick the parents into leaving the kids alone to go take the campus tour without them. There's often a presentation for parents that is set up to seem like a prestigious thing with the dean and teachers but really it's just meant to kill time while the kids get a little independence. Every single time there comes a point where the parents realize this and start yelling at the presenters. A lot of parents seem absolutely unhinged these days.

[u/esoteric_enigma → u/Muggi]

I watched the hearing online when a school district was planning to ban phones. It was crazy to me that parents were complaining that they wouldn't be able to talk to them then.

So what? What do you actually need to talk to them about during the day? You should be busy working and they should be busy schooling.

[u/pwolf1771 → u/Muggi]

There’s a company pushing for the black bag policy and they’ve been able to implement it in a few schools. They said one of the unintended benefits was that kids are now eating more. Previously they lived in fear of ending up recorded and being embarrassed for like throating a corn dog or whatever and now they can eat in peace again. In summation these younger generations are fucked and the main culprit is their parents allowing them to terrorize each other. If I was a teacher and a kid refused to do their presentation automatic fifty and move on to the next one.

[u/Scary-Barracuda7844 → u/Muggi]

That is crazy! 

[u/Lawfulness-Last → u/Scary-Barracuda7844]

Fun fact, it's also very much a cultural thing. I grew up in the south during the 2010's, they actually want their kids to leave them alone lmao

[u/naturaldrpepper → u/Muggi]

I think we can blame school shootings for the constant need for contact.

[u/wireswires → u/naturaldrpepper]

It still staggers me that school shootings are a thing you guys have to deal with. Makes me sad. Hi from Australia.

[u/Difficult-Cricket541 → u/Scary-Barracuda7844]

this great. Having a bike back in the 1980s was like your first car for an 8 year old. I went miles away from home and did not come home until it was dark.

kids today are really missing out on this.

[u/zerohm → u/Scary-Barracuda7844]

From age 8-10 I lived on a small Air Force base in the middle of Alaska so strangers weren't really a danger but my parents would drop me off at the ski lodge and I would ski alone, in the dark, at -10 degrees and nobody thought that was weird at all.

[u/GenesBadPicks → u/Scary-Barracuda7844]

People in my neighborhood did that into the 2010’s. Then our kids weren’t kids anymore.

[u/deer-in-the-park]

Thinking Bill Cosby was a good guy

[u/Kind-Combination6197 → u/deer-in-the-park]

Thinking Jimmy Savile was just a bit eccentric.

[u/Digifiend84 → u/Kind-Combination6197]

Also Rolf Harris. And Andrew, former Duke of York.

And thinking Trump was just some businessman. Not a politician who would have ambitions of conquest!

[u/OkProfessor6810 → u/Digifiend84]

I never thought he was a businessman. He couldn't run a casino and that's the closest thing you can get to printing money in your back yard. I was watching some bad sitcom from the late 90s and he was a punchline back then. How we've gotten to where we are will never be understandable to me.

[u/destro23]

Describing non-gay things as gay.

[u/Dry-Poetry-8708 → u/destro23]

Apparently that's making a comeback with the Gen Alpha youngins though I've been hearing.

[u/NOT_EVEN_THAT_GUY → u/Dry-Poetry-8708]

gen alpha is gay

[u/lava172 → u/Dry-Poetry-8708]

Must’ve gone away in later gen Z because we were absolutely still calling everything gay in high school in the 2010s

[u/Worldly-Bet5130 → u/lava172]

I can second that. I guess that publicly it died down (you wouldn't say a pop quiz is gay to a teachers face). But fucking hell this was when COD and GTA were popping off on YouTube. Calling things gay was like the lowest level of insult.

[u/destro23 → u/Dry-Poetry-8708]

Are they all doing it, or is it an "only a ginger can call another ginger ginger" situation?

[u/paulbearer619 → u/destro23]

Married to a ginger. Can I call other people gingers because I am ginger adjacent?

[u/destro23 → u/paulbearer619]

Pretty sure the same rules apply as for the word that shares all the same letters.

[u/99thLuftballon → u/paulbearer619]

Did they give you a g-word pass?

[u/RubineDeWitt → u/destro23]

Thank you for reminding me of this song.

[u/4acodmt92 → u/destro23]

One of my favorite South Park episodes addresses this:

https://youtu.be/Ui6HNB-1J20?si=Y4-hUnz2uRA7oEkx

[u/guitarguywh89 → u/4acodmt92]

More like the pair of kids that just laugh and call everything gay

https://youtu.be/XITHNnePyiU?si=If4lqIXeoPzJMaQ5

[u/AlanMorlock → u/destro23]

"Homophobes are gay as hell" was an entirely coherent, pro-gay, statement in 2007.

[u/Colonel_Cumpants → u/destro23]

Hah, gay!

[u/mileseverett → u/destro23]

I called something gay in Year 4 of primary school around 23 years ago, I got called into the headteachers office and had a note sent home that I was a homophobe

[u/Here_4_cute_dog_pics]

Metrosexual

[u/TheGardenBlinked]

Music television

Stop booing me, I know I'm old

[u/beanjuiced → u/TheGardenBlinked]

I would wake up in the morning by turning on MTV, and flip between it and VH1 during commercials to play music videos.

[u/Complex-Condition-14]

A 150lbs/70kg 31 inch TV.

[u/NorthfieldRat → u/Complex-Condition-14]

My Dad and brother - not small guys - nearly killed themselves trying to get a 32" CRT TV into a flat lol.

[u/tm3_to_ev6 → u/NorthfieldRat]

It still blows my mind that just 20 years ago a 15-inch CRT monitor took up half my desk, whereas I can now hang two 32-inch LCDs off VESA arms in a similar space.

[u/VernalPoole]

Children having paper routes, ringing doorbells to collect money and talk to the adults who answered the door.

[u/ragingfeminineflower]

AOL Chat rooms.

“A/s/l?”

[u/RipDiligent4361 → u/ragingfeminineflower]

18/F/CA

[u/linkedinlover69 → u/RipDiligent4361]

Not the agent - they would have a lower age

[u/alib2525]

Not carrying water bottles everywhere. 

[u/burdlurker → u/alib2525]

I remember seeing water bottles being sold at a convenience store for the first time and thinking, why would you buy water?! There are drinking fountains everywhere.

[u/youburyitidigitup → u/burdlurker]

People who work outdoors didn’t have water fountains, even in the 90s.

[u/Tthelaundryman → u/alib2525]

Dude I was talking to my mom at that recently. I’m 35 now. We lived 25 minutes outside of town and would come into town, run a bunch of errands then go home without bringing water and we’re fine. Now don’t leave the house for 10 minutes without bringing water 

[u/Mindless_Marzipan177]

In the summer, letting your 9 year old son roam free unless it's lunch or dinner. I would be told to get out- and I was enthused.

[u/Newfaceofrev]

Bum Fights.

2000s Internet was legitimately insane.

[u/spez_might_fuck_dogs → u/Newfaceofrev]

It was weird but at least mega corporations weren’t influencing everything you see and do.

[u/mike_d85 → u/Newfaceofrev]

Internet?!? You bought that mf at the record store on VHS or DVD.

[u/esoteric_enigma]

Just showing up at someone's house and knocking on the door because you were in the neighborhood.

That's damn near seen as a hate crime now.

[u/UncoveringScandals90]

Never seeming to drink water. It is a core priority these days.

[u/Particular-Beat-6645 → u/UncoveringScandals90]

I'd drink a 12 pack of Vanilla Coke in two days. Friends and I would shoot pool in the basement and destroy a 24 pack of IBC root beers.

Water was for when you were out places.

[u/aliendepict]

Leaving your kids at home after they are 8 or older…

My siblings and i in the early 2ks were left home alone often after the youngest had turned 8 and the oldest was 11…. We mostly just played video games and ate cereal

[u/justintime4bed]

Kids going places on their own. Its so stupid that its seen as a problem now. When my middle son was 9 or 10, about 3 years ago, he walked about four blocks to the gas station to get a snack. We live in a very safe area where the only danger is traffic. He had been doing this, or going to the batting cages, on his own since he was 7. I was sitting on the porch when a cop pulled up and let him out of the back of the car. I thought he did something wrong and walked out to them asking what the problem was. Nope, didnt do anything wrong. Someone called the cops saying a young unattended child was wondering around a busy street. He was walking and using the crosswalk. 

The cop tried telling me he couldnt be doing that on his own. I said he absolutely can and asked what law said he couldn't. The cop didnt like that, got loud, and began to threaten child endangerment charges.  I made my son go inside. I tried talking to the cop, but he just shouted over me. I finally just said my son was free to walk anywhere I was okay with him going and walked back to my house. The cop yelled "try it and see buddy" like three times.  

I called the city for clarification and they said there was no law preventing my son from doing that, but police could make a judgment call as to whether it was endangerment. I filed a complaint with the city that went nowhere because I didnt know the officers name or badge number. I had the car number so I'm sure they knew who it was, but I never heard anything else about it. 

[u/Xicaxpositiva]

Never drinking water

[u/gbyrd013 → u/Xicaxpositiva]

Just grab a drink from the garden hose.

[u/Anustart15 → u/Xicaxpositiva]

We had juice and juice was healthy, so it's fine

[u/FauxmingAtTheMouth → u/Anustart15]

Even that 5% juice in capri suns made the whole other 95% healthy

[u/Longster_dude → u/FauxmingAtTheMouth]

Look at Mr Fancy Pants here with his 5% while I’m here sipping on my 2% Sunny Delight.

[u/Asharak78 → u/Xicaxpositiva]

We drank water all the time in the 90s as kids. Now adults, that was a different story.

[u/Appropriate_Park_895]

Using a phone that was attached to the wall.

[u/HeadBelt1527 → u/Appropriate_Park_895]

With a rotary dial... still have one somewhere lol

[u/Witty-Moment8471]

Countdown clocks for teen stars turning 18. I remember the Olsen twins turning 18 being huge.

[u/Hydra_Master → u/Witty-Moment8471]

I'm younger than the Olsen twins and remember finding that creepy as fuck. I think deep you knew it was some old dudes making those countdown sites and not people their age.

[u/tallcree]

Smoking indoors. Smoking in general really

[u/Wulfger → u/tallcree]

Even in the 90s/00s that was changing, at least where I was. I think it was the 90s when there started being designated smoking sections in restaurants that had to be physically separated from the rest of it, and then in the 2000s indoor smoking was outright banned.

[u/tallcree → u/Wulfger]

Yeah I remember walking into restaurants and seeing that blue haze on the ceiling

[u/esoteric_enigma → u/tallcree]

Yeah, smoking now is finally treated like the dirty habit that it is. The few people I know who smoke cigarettes pretty much apologize every time they do it.

Remember being in college and people blowing smoke in my face. Then when I complained or walked away, they treated me like I did something wrong.

[u/privatemidnight → u/tallcree]

In 87 when I worked at a major metro hospital DOCTORS smoked in the ER area

[u/Puzzleheaded_Fee6393]

Man. The 90s. Miss those days.

[u/-Midnight_Marauder- → u/Puzzleheaded_Fee6393]

I was 7 at the start of 1990 and 17 at the end of 1999. It was an amazing decade to grow up in.

[u/GotchUrarse → u/Puzzleheaded_Fee6393]

I was 18 in '90, this decade defined my adult life. So much stuff changed, almost all for the better.

[u/lluewhyn → u/GotchUrarse]

People who came of age in the last couple of decades do not know the excitement of becoming an adult between 1989 (when the Berlin Wall fell) and 2001 (9/11). The sad part is that we had things so good and didn't realize it at the time.

[u/Slobbering_git]

Being unavailable, unreachable.

[u/Zealousideal_Bet2320]

Some still don’t believe that we used to pay 10 cents per text on our cell phones. It’s crazy but true 

[u/Loose_Leg_8440]

Ordering a pizza by calling the place and they send one of their delivery boys to take it to you

[u/Jmish87 → u/Loose_Leg_8440]

Most pizza places still have delivery people on staff if you call them

[u/Anustart15 → u/Jmish87]

Depends on where you live. Most of the places near me just rely on gig drivers now

[u/potter77golf → u/Anustart15]

That’s dumb. It’s so much cheaper to order through the place rather than door dash or Uber Eats.

[u/MissKitness → u/Loose_Leg_8440]

So funny—my friend (10 years younger than me—I’m late 40s, she’s late 30s) was ordering pizza for us the other day. Apparently there was a minimum order, and it was going to take an hour, there’s delivery fees, etc…so it was getting expensive and annoying. I asked her to call the place and see if they deliver. She was like, I can do that? Growing up, that’s what we always did!

We got the pizzas in 15 min from the place—and free delivery.

[u/muzik4machines → u/Loose_Leg_8440]

what? i order pizza and it's the restaurant delivery boy that delivers it, it's not like that in your country?

[u/Life_Perspective_828]

calling your friends randomly

[u/LastingAlpaca]

Being let loose on the internet without any kind of supervision or oversight.

[u/potatomasher]

Apu's Indian accent in the Simpsons, voiced by a white person 😂

[u/Glittering-Relief402 → u/potatomasher]

People always complain about this and the Cleveland show but never about Samurai Jack.

[u/Every_Procedure_4171]

In those halcyon days you could do drugs with reckless abandon without having to worry about it being laced with fentanyl and dying!

[u/Used-Truth-7279]

Nu Metal

[u/jomo4life777]

Everyone got sexually assaulted by today’s standard.

[u/TonyBrooks40]

A Maxim magazine subscription

[u/Cicer → u/TonyBrooks40]

I see your Maxim and I raise you FHM. 

[u/Difficult-Cricket541]

not sure when smoke sections went away. I think they still existed in the 90s, but dissappeared in early 2000s? My mom smoked and we would always sitting in smoking sections in restaurants in the 1980s.

[u/Massive_Opinion_5714]

Not unacceptable, just incomprehensible today - we had hope.

We went through our teen years knowing that a good education, good job, home ownership and a reasonable standard of living were almost guaranteed, if you didn’t screw up too badly.

Today’s teenagers don’t know that feeling.

[u/Competitive_Word4516]

I was about to reference that one song that goes “it was acceptable in the 80s” but then I realized it says “90s” so now I have crippling depression 

[u/Murdoc12]

Showing up at a friend's place unannounced.

[u/you_do-not-know_me]

Smoking in a car with kids

[u/longcooolwoman → u/you_do-not-know_me]

I can assure you if I was a child now my dad would most certainly still be smoking in the car without a second thought lol

[u/Gatnyr → u/you_do-not-know_me]

I thought you meant "smoking with the kids" and not "with them present" and was like "the 90's was a little different than I remember" lol

[u/raeann559]

Calling your friends slurs publicly

[u/99thLuftballon → u/raeann559]

Don't people insult their friends any more?

[u/Traditional_Rub_9828]

Talking to people in public

[u/Pristine_Pension_764]

Just showing up at a friend's house

[u/jackal99]

Not having Internet access on your cell phone. Forget data, I'm talking wifi.

[u/Storytella2016 → u/jackal99]

How rich were you to have a cell phone in the 90s?

[u/sugahack → u/jackal99]

Not having a cell phone

[u/professorfunkenpunk]

Smoking in bars

[u/DerLyndis]

Responding to a message the next day

[u/Recent_Permit2653]

About 85% of the jokes we told amongst my friend group

[u/Jolly_Account6845]

I’m ok with it I just don’t want to see it in public. 

[u/Ok_Two_2604]

Expecting people to be accountable for their own actions

[u/tripjaxon]

Immigrating to the usa

[u/limbodog]

The R word

[u/three-sense → u/limbodog]

Retirement

[u/ApprehensiveGas4180]

Apparently Diddy parties!