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

20y ago = 2006, 30y ago = 1996 ...lots of the examples are from way before then 😆

...I WISH 30y ago was the 80s!

Dewberry is back at Body Shop!

Just want to say thanks for all the contributions to this thread, it's been a really interesting read. I suppose a lot of people were just doing what was considered normal back then, we didn't know any better.

I don't yet have kids of my own so I know I can't fully comment, but it was normal in the 90s to be out playing all day in the streets or park with your mates, maybe back in for your dinner then out again until even 10 or 11pm. I just don't see that happening as much now.

40 years ago was the mid 80s. I was 8 in '85, people were still very much smoking in cinemas and cafés. My mum would take us for lunch in BHS if we were in town and there was a smoking section.

My DF gave up smoking because the anti smoking adverts gave me nightmares, so the public information campaigns were in full swing (and terrifying) in the 80s but there was still plenty of public smoking, including around children.

It's weird looking back. These days it's surprising to see anyone actually smoking rather than vaping. That's a huge change.

Interesting you say about not knowing "better"...it's all about context and nuances. Somethings we do know better about, other things were actually fine at that time. Not being critical, simply objective.

Ooooohhh you’ve taken me right back ….. that was a lovely and brief trip down memory lane…..except I would swap your coffee shimmer lippy nd say mine was twilight teaser 😀 x

Milking grease slathered on our teenage bodies to maximise suntan!!! What do you mean SPF??

👏😂 slathered in Malibu Sun spf 8!

40 years ago.. breast feeding my daughter in McDonald's and a worker coming up to me to ask me to go sit in the toilet to feed her.. because it was disgusting while people were eating. My answer ??? " Do you eat your meals in the toilet? Because my baby isn't going to".. and l carried on feeding her .. next thing the manager ( a male) came and asked me to leave and to go into Boots next door where they have a room for " this kind of thing"..
I still ignored him.. stood my ground .. no customers were even taking notice until l was confronted... .. manager said .. " l will let you off this time... but next time can you bring a bottle of milk ".. honestly how times have changed..

I could get up without every bone cracking.

Seriously though, so many of these things listed were definitely not happening 20-30 years ago. The fact people think they were is making me feel really old!

@lollylo
I started secondary school in ‘86 and the sixth formers were still allowed to smoke in the common room.

My parents were smokers and smoked around us, at the dining table, even in the car without winding the windows down. Even with a very asthmatic child.

I had dd1 in 2001 and had to spell it out that evidence was clear that they shouldn't be smoking around babies. As soon as dd turned 1 they started smoking in the same room as them.

Pulling the choke out on the car in the early cold mornings to get the car going then having to remember to push it back in again.

Getting paid a grant to go to uni and not have to pay fees.

I started teaching in 97. If it was someone's birthday you didn't take in cake, you took in wine. A colleague and I both realised the other was pregnant when we didn't join in having a half of a small glass of wine with lunch.

Nowadays it would be gross misconduct and you'd be up against the disciplinary panel if you drank alcohol at work.

Isn’t it sad that things which are totally innocent would never happen now because of a large handful (in relation) of disgusting arseholes.

I may be wrong but I just remember teaching being different. The 'naughty' kids were told to get out of the class, suspended, expelled or parents brought in for a chat and probably a good telling off when they got back home.

Now it's all the teacher's fault because the lesson wasn't stimulating enough, they 'embarrassed' the pupil by reprimanding them in front of their peers, the seating plan wasn't right, they didn't get to play a game every lesson and had to use an exercise book, shock horror. Parents who believe their child is an angel and can do no wrong, messaging teachers at all hours to have a go, and so on. Despite all this behaviour is supposedly worse than ever in many schools.

100% coursework GCSEs. For English literature, we just had to submit our best 10 essays done as homework (ie not under exam conditions) written during year 10 and 11.

My eldest two are not allowed to leave their school until the end of the day. So I think your kids school is the exception not the norm.

Well it’s interesting what Wikipedia says about it all

A little bit longer than the time period here, but mine relates to Butlins. In the 1970s, Butlins had a service where parents could go out drinking at night (getting quite pissed), and Redcoats would walk round and shine torches into chalets to make sure kids were okay (well not dead at least), That would never happened now (and frankly should not have happened then!).

My mum got really arsey as at Uni we had smoking and non-smoking houses. Ours was non-smoking. When she needed to light up therefore she was asked to go outside. Which she did not like at all!

Smoking in the office , restaurants and pubs
No seatbelts in back seats of car.
Sitting in car on someones lap
Travelling in boot of car
People drinking and driving.
Going out without a mobile phone
Could take a suitcase on a plane and sit together at no extra charge
Wolf whistling/ casual sexism
It was the norm to turn up at the pub to eat without booking , just grabbed a table and sat down
Equally just used to go to the cinema without booking in advance, just a lot more spontaneity
One parent could take more than 2 children to the local pool
We all had our own corded telephones on our desks and everyone went into a workplace.
Shopping was bought in the shops not online
Paying with a cheque and bank guarantee card.
Taking several days for transactions to show on your bank account
Telephone conversations with family and friends rather than texting

I remember that!

The level of smoke in pubs was the worst.