Back in the 70/80s did you just use to go and randomly visit friends??

[MadeOfAllWork]

Not as a kid knocking for a friend, but as a family.
We would be sat there bored on a Sunday afternoon and dad would say, let’s go and see Steve/ Dave and Alice/Gill and her girls. So off we’d go, no phone call first. And if they weren’t in then it was off to someone else.
Equally often random friends would just turn up.

Was this normal or just my family?

Yes, people would often randomly pop in

Yes, I think it was normal, for family in particular.

Of course. We didn’t have a phone, so the only way to see people was to randomly call unless we’d pre-arranged it last time we saw one another.

We would do this. Just walk round town and knock on the doors of friends. If they were in they would invite us for a cup of tea, is they weren’t we would knock for someone else.

Yes. We would often do this and in the 90s too. I can't imagine doing this now!

Absolutely, it was what people did. No appointment necessary. If you were out or said it wasn't convenient no one minded.

Yes, and we always welcomed friends and family who came unexpectedly. It was never thought rude just a wonderful surprise. Now I have to even ask permission by text before a phone call.

Maybe for neighbours? But anyone further than our street I think we rang and arranged first.

No, everything was always pre arranged.

No, never. My parents' friends were a fair drive away, they'd never have just turned up. Rude, in my book, just rolling up on someone's doorstep.

Yes. We'd go and visit my mum's family regularly. We would also have people just wander in at any time of day, any day of the week. Our house was always a tip and we never tidied round for anyone unless it was Christmas.

I remember my parents had pen friends at the other end of the country and they would annoy each other by just turning up at each other's houses out of the blue and expecting to stay a night or three! This was in the late 90s and early 00s.

Yes, late 90s early 00s we would (pre-children) often just turn up to visit friends, and it was a lovely surprise to hear the doorbell ring. And yes, an amusing number of times we’d find they were out, only to later find out they had been round at ours.

Child of the 90s here and this was very much our norm. Just rocking up to visit whoever my dad fancied seeing that day 🤣

@MadeOfAllWork
Of course , rember the red iconic Telephone ☎️ kiosks with there big yellow book of useful tel numbers directory of local businesses ect.

I’m glad it wasn’t just my family being odd, but far more normal. I wouldn’t dream of doing it now.

In the 90's I remember aunts and uncles just turning up. When I got my own house with my BF in the 00's his parents would often turn up as did his siblings! We did hate it then as sometimes it would be early on a Sunday and we'd still not be dressed, or sometimes on our way out or something, by then I felt it was an invasion of privacy. All of these mentioned lived 30+ minutes away too. Doesn't seem to be done anymore though.

Yes absolutely we did but it would feel so wrong now!

still do

Yes it was very common to just pop in to see people. You had no way to inform them in advance unless it was prearranged or they were one of the elite who had a phone. So you just turned up! And as kids we just knocked on doors until we found someone who was available to play.

Yes, definitely, when I was a child my mother would get a bit bored maybe, and say "Get your coat on, we'll walk over to Violet's/Alice's/our Nellie's.

They were always inordinately pleased to see us, "come in, sit down, I'll put the kettle on" etc.

Nowadays, I believe from what I read here, that some people don't even answer the door. It's quite sad.

No. Always a phone call first or an invitation.

I used to call on friends nearby as a kid "Can Elizabeth come out to play?" but I can't imagine my parents randomly dropping in on people they knew - they arranged it beforehand. Yeah maybe if my mum was out and passing by my aunt's house she might drop in - I suppose - don't remember much of that though.

I was born in the 1960s.

Yes we did!