Things that worked better in the old days

[blondeseaside]

Just been for a drive thru Mcdonalds. In the good old days, the whole menu would be hanging above the car on a metal sign. What do we have now? One big screen that just shows a couple of menu "highlights", so it only showed one wrap, one burger....so yeah, we get that you do burgers and wraps, but which ones? Where is the full menu? There are 16 burger types at Mcdonalds, but only 1 burger was on the screen. There are 4 wrap types, but only the Tikka one was on the screen (so I ordered that). How on earth are you meant to know what you want to order, if they only show a fraction of the menu? I asked Gemini and she said you're meant to look at the menu on your phone now....but I am driving!

First world problem, but it did my head in!

Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise had local offices where you could go and have a chat or call on the phone, always the same people.

We had one just down the road, and very handy it was. Then the opening hours got cut. Then it got shut because 'people weren't using it enough.' Well guess what, that's what happens if you can only visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Not a thing that worked better, but cars and vehicles used to be beautiful. They're soulless now.

We used to have a Smart TV that was connected to an aerial so we could either stream or watch terrestrial (which was great if the internet was down, which happens with semi regularity). Our toddler smashed that telly, so we got a new one, but this one.. also connects to the aerial, but ... we can't watch terrestrial TV if the internet is down, because it needs the internet to access the menu or some stupid rubbish, even for terrestrial TV!! HOW is that a useful feature??! Last time the internet was down, we had to connect the telly to the internet via our phone's hotspot, just to get the terrestrial channels up (and then the telly comes through the aerial so once you're on, you don't need the internet any more). Such a completely unnecessary faff!!

Creeping into professional services now, i.e. accountants, solicitors, opticians, dentists, etc., where big chains are buying up small independents but instead of changing branding, they're keeping the original names/logos/brands to try to con the clients/customers into thinking they're dealing with private/independent firms.

And vets.

I don't have a pet, but I've heard they are being taken over by chains, and charging more.

I do think that, whilst nobody should be expected to hide their accent, some people have to bear in mind if they've taken a job that requires them to speak with people from all across the country and speak in a 'clear' and well enunciated form of their accent - and avoid any local dialect.

Agree! I had to ask the work AI assistant thingummybot to find where I’d written about something the other day, having hinted different TEAMS channels, emails, etc. Such inefficiency. God forbid though you should utter anything about how easy it used to be you’re labelled past it.

I so very much agree with this. Cars were designed to be classy. And they were.

These days they are heavy boxy and charmless. No style there at all.

Dh rang a uk government agency recently. He thought it was an office in the north of England . I had previously spoken to a nice Scottish man so I thought it was an office in Glasgow . We don't live in the UK.
Eventually he spoke to Adam who sounded familiar. Gave his details...he was familiar because dh was speaking to his nephew!
Recently we had an ongoing broadband issue which was being sorted in north Africa. And my phone direct debit was efficiently handled by a nice lady in India...after the faq ? Bot, operator who was supposed to call back etc. I was trying to give them money. They wanted me to give them money. I will not give them more when my contract ends.

Yes, this!

And the bag thing is heartily exploited by most of them for profit, all the while blaming it on "the government force you to pay for plastic bags now". Firstly, they're only required to charge 10p (in England, at least) - but they charge you up to 60p for them; and secondly, they've also reduced the quality of them so much that they aren't really bags for life anymore, but rather little more than single-use bags in most cases. Yes, they will replace them if you take a ripped one back in, but I bet the vast majority of people just sigh and bin them.

Ironically, the ones at Home Bargains - where they 'only' charge 20p - are amongst the strongest.

Also, whilst we're on plastics, I know I'm not alone in detesting the new tethered caps, supposedly designed to stop people who probably chuck the whole thing in the general waste bin anyway from only recycling the bottle and not the cap.

The most infuriating is with the big 2-litre bottles that you keep and use in the kitchen, where everybody has recycling facilities right at hand. They're annoying for everybody, but a definite sign of discrimination on the part of the government against people with various disabilities, who really struggle with them.

We had the perfect solution before - glass bottles that you return empty and intact to get your deposit back; but somebody decided that they knew 'better' and brought in plastic bottles all-round, and they are now blaming and punishing us for the fact that they clearly didn't know better.

Very much agree about the bottle tops. Dreadful idea. And I also agree not thought through for anyone with dexterity issues at all.
Things were better before they were invented !

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be. An old gag I know, but nowadays whenever someone posts a clip of old TV (even from the 90s) on social media you almost invariably get comments about "when this country was great" or before they (whoever they are) stopped us laughing". There's a certain sourness that wasn't there 15 or 20 years ago.

Quality Street. It is but a mere shadow of its former self.😭

Chocolate used to be nice , but palm oil and changing the recipes has made a lot of it inedible and it melts faster too.
The tubs at Christmas time are a shadow of their former selves a bit like everything else is now.

Soft drinks. Dratted artificial sweetners ruining 95% of them.
Has the nation become healthier from them? Nope.

@BogRollBOGOF totally agree, and I hardly ever drink soft drinks. But on the rare occasion I have a sore throat and really fancy a Ribena, I want a real one without artificial sweeteners.

All drinks taste awful now. Most food tastes bland and horrible. It might be my old taste buds, but it’s strange how many people say the same thing.

@the80sweregreat it's not just you. Most of the food sold by most supermarkets is tasteless. It's either processed rubbish, or "fresh" food which has been imported and kept artificially cold/sprayed with something so it doesn't go off before we buy it.

I remember eating tomatoes as a child and they actually tasted of something. Now they're just watery blandness. Same goes for lots of other veg. I remember the lovely taste of new potatoes - not any more

I never drink soft drinks but I love tomatoes. If you buy them on the vine they are full of flavour and gorgeous.