what was a massive deal when you were growing up that isn't now?

[learthebear]

or you thought was

Was it this one?

-shudders-

Also did you ever have something in your mind that you were 100% sure happened and it turned out you literally just imagined it? I was totally convinced there was some kind of temporary zoo in our local park and I'd once seen a lion there. I remember this. But it never happened. My brain just created a false memory .

EC/EU learning a language 😪
Acid rain
Aids
New Age Travellers
Raves

The Cold War
AIDS
Channel Tunnel allowing in rabid dogs from France
Miners Strike

White dog poo
Toxoplasmosis from cat poo
Mixed tapes and taping the Top 20 - found one of mine when clearing the loft!
Millenium bug
Paper bus tickets from a clippie - regularly losing mine on the bus trip home
Shops opening on a sunday and Boxing day

Toxic Shock Syndrome.

why did we even know about quicksand? Where were we expecting to encounter it?

MTV

Being pregnant before marriage. According to my Mother it brought shame on the family!!. Wtaf?

Going back about 12 years (before dh and I got married but after 2dc were born) I remember my nan introducing us to a group of her friends that unexpectedly popped in when we visited.

She looked panicked and pointedly introduced us as 'my granddaughter and her husband' before muttering at me to keep my hands in my damn pockets 😂

Vienetta

Making sure you had the right plastic bag for your pe kit, Shelleys shoes, JD Sports etc. Definitely not sainsburys or kwik save my mum put it in!

We didn't have Lidl when I was at school.

It was Jane Norman bags with the string handles for us...

Oh where I was you wanted a Jane Norman bag! Or at very least River Island.
LIDL bags were the epitome of uncool

Probably everything, now, nothing is a big deal. I'll just sort things out as and when they happen.

Nuclear war.

Still a massive threat, but nobody talks about it anymore. As a child I was convinced I would die suddenly and horribly in a nuclear war, and that feeling has never really left me.

Teenage pregnancy.
Girl Power.
Doc Martens.
Grunge.

Having a child before getting married.

Acid rain
ozon layer
radioactivity /Tchernobyl

It's still around! So is Viz (I'm a subscriber to the latter).

Escalators. We were made to watch videos about how they can trap your toes, and make you permanently disabled. I hate getting on them even now.

You can thank NeverEnding Story for that. Poor Artax

I second impulse body spray, o2 in particular.

Making sure all your certificates were in your
National Record of Achievement red fake leather book thing.

Including swimming 5 lengths. Wtf 🤣

Crop circles

They still do. My DD did this at Brownies recently, before they learnt how to light a fire.