Things that you can’t quite believe were the norm

[ItsNotAShopItsAStore]

What’s one of those things you think in 10/20/30 years people will go “WTF why was that acceptable?”

For me - the Jeremy Kyle show. I’m so pleased it’s off air - awful poverty porn hosted by a nasty little bully and enabled by god-complex shit stirring producers. Also who wants to watch so much shouting and arguing at 9.25am!

Things people will look back in horror.

13 is the age children can reject parental controls over their Internet use.
13 is also the age children can legally use social media.

Electric cars might be green at the point of use but.... the nuclear power stations required to create the electricity.

Vegan leather aka plastic, shoes, jackets and handbags etc that take forever to break down in landfill.

Polyester clothes and fabrics that are the source of lots of micro plastics that end up in the oceans.

I think in time people will look back in absolute horror at disposable anything, nappies, hankies, party plates, cardboard amazon boxes.

More lighthearted, We laugh at 70s bright orange swirlie curtains and wallpaper, and carpets
People will laugh at 2020s grey monochrome houses

Teacher relationships wirh pupils, was rife in my school. Some of them eventually married. One female teacher, I now know, admitted to her family she fancied her sixth form pupil, since he was 14! (I worked with family member many years later).

In 1998 St.Marys hospital in Paddington had a smoking room attached to the maternity ward. Back in the 60's my friends mum was given an ashtray when in hospital giving birth to her.

50 years on from now and looking back..
sun beds and tanning
holidays in the med in June July and August ( with climate change it will just be far too hot and uncomfortable)
one size fits all medical protocols we will have personalised treatment)
Domestic violence and crimes against women we will look back and think why did we not act sooner?
Stairs. There will be full access everywhere for all
The 5 day 9-5 standard working week. People will want more flexibility and a better work life balance (already happening now) . Commuting. Travel to work will be local.
public transport will be the norm for almost all of us with far less cars on the roads of the future

100% this. People go on about the plucked eyebrows of the early 2000's, but today's 'look' is far worse. I dread to think what people will think of pictures of the youth of today in 30 years time!

I still can't believe that someone, somewhere (presumably with a very healthy bank account) thinks its normal that G4S are even still going.

So many times there is a news story about a cock-up with a security situation or abuse at a secure institution and it will always be them running it.

Some things that seemed normal in the past:

Printing 36 photos in the hope that one or two would be decent. I went on holiday once and had around 8-10 rolls of film developed and there must be no more than 15 photos that made it into an album. We used to joke about "Kodak cows", I've no real idea what we even thought they were, cows that were slaughtered to make the photo paper coating???

Spending whole Saturdays in town with friends, the choice would seem mind-boggling to today's kids: 6 shoe shops (excluding M&S, BHS and the department store because no-one under 40 wanted their shoes from there!); Dorothy Perkins, Etam/Tammy Girl, Top Shop, Chelsea Girl, Miss Selfridge (very edgy back then). Then doing it all again next Saturday.

Looking back things that I can't believe we're the norm, 70s 80s.
For the record I have no idea what the school showers actually looked like. I don't remember anyone ever using them.

Kneeling on the back seat waving at truck drivers behind you.

Latch key kids from about 8 or 9.

Girls with much older boyfriends. I do wonder about them now. And often they were vulnerable girls.

Kids queuing at the teachers desk for dinner tickets - thank goodness for electronic payment methods making that a thing of the past.

I hope people will look back on the widespread use of porn with disbelief. Poor modern housing standards.

I agree with all of that except you don’t need nuclear energy to power EVs. Any energy source will do, including renewables. My in laws power theirs completely off their solar panels.

I had dc by the time I was 33 and they’re in their 20s and mainly live at uni! I think this is pretty normal.

Covid ‘rules’ are already looked back on as ridiculous.

I’m hoping similar things to others:

smart phones for under 13s at least

banning all but necessary cosmetic surgery - it’s out of hand now.

Vaping/smoking

social contagion of trans ideology

UPFs

Getting married at 16

I miss quite a lot of the good stuff listed. The Noodles duvet in the boot on the drive to holiday sounds lovely.

Being groped in nightclubs on a regular basis by strangers touching your bum etc

The one I have talked with younger people they find hard to believe is that pubs were required to shut mid-afternoon, including at weekends.

Exactly. Not “a predator’s dream”, but actually the norm for thousands of years and much better for children’s development and physical and mental health than the housebound, over-scheduled setup we have now for them.

Exactly. Not “a predator’s dream”, but actually the norm for thousands of years and much better for children’s development and physical and mental health than the housebound, over-scheduled setup we have now for them.

Well said - we shouldn't keep our children prisoners

She said sometimes, not always.

The disgusting treatment of animals for human consumption. Battery hens, pigs never seeing the light of day, baby animals being taken from their mothers, chicks being gassed.
All completely unnecessary for selfish humans who don't care about animals...except cats and dogs 🤪

Allowing your children unregulated on devices, letting babies and toddlers stare at screens for hours.

We used to do this too but along the back seats of the old Ford Cortina (dog used to be in the boot and no one wanted to be dribbled on). We always left at midnight and drove to Cornwall getting there for breakfast. I loved waking up in the side of the dual carriageway 😄

I miss that!

100%. We were always in big groups too so had safety in numbers. Young people are isolated in their room talking to God knows who. I imagine children were unfortunately more likely to be targeted by someone they knew than outside playing.

We used to drive all the way to south of France through the night with all the seats down and three kids sleeping in the back

We were forced to in early 80's - there was a tiled wall in the middle of a room with showers on the walls. You had to run round in a line, in a u shape, ensuring the showers hit you. No time to wash. If you forgot your towel, you had to use your PE top.

@Ilovebees

add to that one of our PE teachers 'supervising' the showers was a lesbian.

no issue with her being lesbian (though it was in the 1980's, so still quite 'out there' but what were they thinking allowing her to supervise teen girls in the showers??? It was very uncomfortable.