Things that happened 20/30 years ago that wouldn't today

[Putrid46]

As a child I recall aunties, uncles and grandparents smoking around me all the time with no ventilation. I'd stay at my grandparents for the weekend and go home with a cough, it was seen as normal.

Parents driving me to school hungover from the night before possibly still slightly drunk.

As an A level pupil in the early 2000s I recall staying until around 7pm one evening with 2 teachers to finish coursework due in the next day, the teachers practically did it for me and then one of them dropped me off home in her car, nobody batted an eyelid.

We had a French language assistant, who was actually French and she invited us to her home one Sunday to do coursework and eat croissants, again it was all above board, she was a lovely Mrs Doubtfire type lady and it was all fine but looking back, that'd never happen now!

Interested to hear from anyone else

I used to date one of my A level lecturers when I was in college! I sincerely hope that’s not happening now!

A local ice cream van used to park up on the school playground every day for whole lunch hour to sell to the kids .

Agree with you. Also people actually ‘god forbid’ calling each other on home phone and having a proper chat . People were so much more reliable.
Playing out with friends all day and having freedom.

I remember sitting on my uncle's knee in the backseat of the car.

Grandma's car didnt have any seat belts in the back.

Our dog used to travel in the front passenger seat footwell.

Smoking in pubs and restaurants- definitely dont miss that!!

Landlord of the local happily serving me cider underage because my parents would buy it for me if they were there so he'd serve me anyway when they weren't there.

I was born in the early 80's for timing reference.

Exactly this 😊

My dad, the only adult present, taking 12 (!!!) kids in the bench-seated estate car to a beauty spot 30 miles away for a picnic in the woods. Most people on our street worked in the same place, and it was normal to take each other's kids out, have half the street round for tea, etc 😊
(late 60s/early 70s)

My friend’s mum had a big car and would give loads of us a lift home sometimes. Including two sat in the back footwells and at least one in the boot.

We used to get a lift to school off our neighbour a few doors down,

In his big white van with a deckchair bolted down in the back 🤣

Me/ my sisters / the boy whose parents owned the van, used to all fight to sit in the deckchair 😅

The rest of us would be thrown from side to side and used to find it so exciting

Also - open fires, I'm early 30's and our house had a coal fire and a coal celler. I've often wondered if that contributed to the COPD I was diagnosed eith as an adult

Walking to school by ourselves, we used to walk easily 15/20 minutes to school by ourselves

Going to nightclubs age 14/15!

Page 3 from the tabloids on the walls of garages and so on. Pornographic mags on the top shelf of the newsagent for all to see!

Our where 20p i feel like I've been ripped off 🤣🤣 although this was early 2000s so might of been inflation

Treading in dog poo ( still happens but not like it did )

are you joking, it’s worse than ever before because everyone has a dog!!

Making arrangements and sticking to them. Just turning up, not sending endless texts pricking around changing details, wanting menus, or telling your friends you're putting your coat on, or waiting for an uber, or what time the train is due. It was all a lot less faff.

Walking to school in primary. I think I started walking home on my own from top infant (year 2).
Being sent up to the sweet shop to buy my mum’s cigarettes.

My parents putting the seats down in the back of the car so we (me and my siblings) could sleep
on a long journey. Obviously no seatbelts and my dad was probably drinking driving.

going out in the morning to play and only coming back for food. From about 6 or 7 years old (I don’t really remember not being allowed to just go and play outside).

Late 80,s so yes 😂😅

Sorry, this was long before 20/30 years ago.

Oh and the pools man knocking each week

I’ve got a dog and walk two hours a day. I can honestly say I rarely tread in any poo. In the 70s we were forever getting poo on our shoes.

Dogs wee allowed to roam more freely ime ,they took themselves for a walk

Me too. We use to go to a theme park my friends and I and her parents took us.

Sat in the boot of an estate car there and back.

Also remember going in my dad’s VW caper to Dorset and living sliding down and off the seats sideways as we went up hills 😂. This was late 80’s.

Deciding to have a day out and just dropping in to visit somewhere as you pleased, without having to book in advance

Remember so many of these!!
My dad driving us home from GPs on a Saturday night and he must’ve been steamin.

I was more of a Heather Shimmer girl. Also white musk or dewberry spray. Or Anais Anais.

Being able to buy single cigs for 10p. Ice cream van used to let you buy a cig and a strong mint for 12p. I was about 14!!

Parking your car in car parks without downloading 4000 apps.

I remember that too, our dog would
go missing for a few hours and then just stroll back in.

Being sent to buy 1, 2, 3 single ciggies for my parents when they couldn't afford a packet of 10. And at Xmas, if people had gifted my parents gin or cheap 'cooking whisky' (as dad called it), parents would send me up to swap them for something half decent at the offie. I was probably about 10 years old?

And in my teens, all of us piling into a taxi on way home from a nightclub, far more than taxi was licensed to take. They'd be happy with another fiver as a bribe. We also used to hop on the milk train that ran about 3am on way back to London, and give the driver some money so he could slow down at our station, slow enough to hop off.