15 Life Situations That Used to Be Normal and Now Look Wild
As society changes, so do our norms, habits, and expectations. Some things that were once completely normal now feel surreal when we look back. From the way we communicated to the way we entertained ourselves, here are 15 everyday situations from the past that seem almost unbelievable today.
1. Smoking Indoors (Even in Planes and Restaurants)
What Used to Be Normal: It was once completely acceptable to smoke indoors, even on airplanes and in restaurants. People even smoked in hospitals!
Why It Feels Wild Now: With the health risks of smoking widely known, smoking indoors feels shocking, and most places now strictly enforce no-smoking policies.
2. Waiting for Film to Develop
What Used to Be Normal: Taking photos on film and waiting days or even weeks for them to be developed was part of the photo experience.
Why It Feels Wild Now: Today, we’re used to instant photos and the ability to retake until we get the perfect shot. Waiting days for a single shot would feel unthinkable.
3. Using a Phonebook to Look Up Numbers
What Used to Be Normal: If you needed a phone number, you’d flip through a massive book that listed local businesses and households by name.
Why It Feels Wild Now: With smartphones and search engines, finding a phone number takes seconds, making phonebooks a thing of the distant past.
4. Answering the Phone Without Knowing Who’s Calling
What Used to Be Normal: Phones used to have no caller ID, so every call was a surprise, even if it was a telemarketer or prankster.
Why It Feels Wild Now: Today, caller ID is standard, and we often screen our calls before answering—if we answer at all.
5. Leaving the House Without Any Way to Be Contacted
What Used to Be Normal: Once you left home, there was no way to reach you. People managed their lives without constant connectivity.
Why It Feels Wild Now: With smartphones and constant connection, the idea of being unreachable feels liberating but also strange.
6. Memorizing Phone Numbers
What Used to Be Normal: People used to know the phone numbers of friends, family, and even local businesses by heart.
Why It Feels Wild Now: Smartphones store all our contacts, so most people only remember one or two numbers, if any.
7. Relying on Maps for Directions
What Used to Be Normal: Navigating involved a paper map (or sometimes even pulling over to ask for directions), especially on long road trips.
Why It Feels Wild Now: With GPS and navigation apps, getting lost feels like a thing of the past. Paper maps seem more like a novelty now.
8. Having to Be Home to Watch a TV Show
What Used to Be Normal: If you missed an episode, you’d have to wait for a rerun because there were no DVRs or streaming services.
Why It Feels Wild Now: With streaming, on-demand content, and DVRs, we expect to watch anything, anytime. Scheduled TV feels restrictive.
9. Being Unaware of World Events for Days
What Used to Be Normal: News used to be delivered in daily newspapers or the evening news broadcast, and people didn’t have 24/7 access.
Why It Feels Wild Now: Today, news is instantly accessible on phones and social media, and it’s hard to imagine waiting a day or longer for updates.
10. Dial-Up Internet (and Occupied Phone Lines)
What Used to Be Normal: Connecting to the internet meant tying up the phone line and waiting for that familiar dial-up tone.
Why It Feels Wild Now: High-speed internet is now the standard, and sharing a phone line with the internet seems laughably slow and inconvenient.
11. Carrying Cash for Everything
What Used to Be Normal: People used to carry cash for almost every transaction, including paying bills, and it was normal to visit the bank often.
Why It Feels Wild Now: With credit cards, digital wallets, and online payments, physical cash is becoming rare, especially in some countries.
12. Using Encyclopedias for School Research
What Used to Be Normal: Students once relied on encyclopedias and library books for research projects, often looking up entries in large volumes.
Why It Feels Wild Now: With access to digital information, encyclopedias seem outdated, and Googling anything is our first instinct.
13. Parents Letting Kids Roam Freely
What Used to Be Normal: Kids used to spend hours outdoors, often unsupervised, exploring the neighborhood or hanging out with friends.
Why It Feels Wild Now: Safety concerns and changing parenting norms mean kids are more supervised and less likely to roam freely today.
14. Listening to Entire Albums on CD or Vinyl
What Used to Be Normal: People bought full albums on CDs or vinyl records and often listened to them from start to finish.
Why It Feels Wild Now: With streaming, we often skip tracks or shuffle playlists. Listening to an album straight through feels nostalgic.
15. Having to Go to Physical Stores for Everything
What Used to Be Normal: Shopping meant visiting physical stores for everything, from groceries to gifts, as there was no online shopping.
Why It Feels Wild Now: With e-commerce and delivery apps, we’re used to getting almost anything delivered to our doorstep, making in-person shopping feel like an extra effort.
As time moves on, these once-ordinary situations now seem strange, funny, or inconvenient in hindsight. Reflecting on them reminds us how quickly technology and culture evolve, sometimes making the familiar feel completely foreign.
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