Have you ever thought about the things you used to do and use in the past that just don’t cut it now? The people of Reddit have, and their answers may surprise you.
Trends come and go, and the ones that go tend to stay out of the rotation for quite a while. In fact, it’s amazing when you think everything that was socially acceptable a mere five years ago that most people wouldn’t dream of doing now. From technology to beauty trends and more, here are Reddit users’ thoughts on things that just don’t fly in this day and age—some hilarious and some all too real.
From technology to beauty trends and more, here are Reddit users’ thoughts on things that just don’t fly in this day and age—some hilarious and some all too real.
“Not having a smartphone was a lot more accepted 5 years ago than it is now.”—-eDgAR-
Think about it—when was the last time you saw someone using anything other than a smartphone who wasn’t 90 years old?
As heavily as they might restrict their use, some parents even hand them out to their 8-year-old children.
While there’s nothing necessarily wrong with using a phone that’s, well, just a phone, it seems a little strange to most of us because of how often smartphone technology can come to our rescue these days, whether in an emergency or just because of boredom.
“Not caring or even knowing what Donald Trump was up to.”—margaprlibre
No matter what side of the political spectrum you fall on, you have to admit that we all hear way more about Donald Trump’s comings and goings than we’d like to. Prior to his residency in the Oval Office, you might have seen him featured in the news every now and then, and more often when a new season of The Apprentice was about to air.
Now? We’re sure he’s gotten enough media coverage to create a script of every single word he’s said since his presidential campaign began.
“Thinking of memes as something only younger people know about.”—BaconBaron42
There are times when you might still need to explain to someone what a meme is, but they’re pretty much just a basic aspect of the Internet these days. Some people might even know what they are, but just be unaware of the fact that they’re known as memes.
Be aware that showing your parents what memes are might result in them bombarding you with them and sucking the enjoyment out of them, but try not to be too frustrated—they just want in on the fun, too.
“Lance Armstrong’s cycling victories.”—VIPPER_of_VIPP
Oh, Lance Armstrong. Most people are aware of the cycling star’s fall from grace after it was determined that he had used performance-enhancing drugs during his career, an act that stripped him of every win he had all the way back to 1998.
Not only that, but he was also banned from any sanctioned Olympic sport for the rest of his life, essentially ruining his career as any sort of athlete for life. Could he have been the star he was without the doping? Now, we’ll never know.
“Drinking tap water in Flint, Michigan.”—bepsigir
The Flint water crisis truly is no laughing matter, and it’s one that still persists to this day, only seeming to get worse in one way or another. The residents of the town are still without a water supply that’s fully safe.
As of 2017, the city’s water quality was deemed as acceptable once more, but the residents are still advised to use only filtered or bottled water when it comes to anything that they’ll consume. Unfortunately, it’ll take until the year 2020 to replace the lead piping system that had slowly been poisoning the community over time.
“Calling your friends in non-emergencies. We’re a texting people now.”—Hbombthrow
Does anyone else just stare at their phone when it rings, even when it’s someone they know? It can’t be just us. These days, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who truly enjoys talking on the phone over texting, and it’s not hard to see why.
Texting is quick, can be done virtually anywhere, and you can even do it with your voice if you really want to. When the time calls for it, we’ll definitely pick up the phone but, until then, just send a text.
“Naming your kid Isis.”—Islandurp
Yes, Isis is actually a name, although you probably won’t find very many babies who have it these days. However, it’s actually a name that comes from the Egyptian goddess of the same name who rules over magic.
The name has decreased in use for a number of fairly obvious reasons, and those who have it don’t always have the easiest time because of it.
“Talk about 2018 as if it were a distant future.”—saovictor
It was weird enough in 2015 when Back to the Future fans realized that the far-off year in the “future” was actually upon us. How is it that, even now, 2018 seems so distant when it’s really just next year?
Before we know it, 2020 will be here and we don’t even know what to do about that. The same goes for years in the past—does anyone else refer to the ‘90s as being about 10 years ago when that’s almost doubled now?
“Thinking that I might be able to afford to buy a house at some point.”—twoLegsJimmy
Do you think he buys too much avocado toast? After all, it’s said to be one of the main determining factors for when a millennial should be able to afford a home.
All jokes aside, though, buying a house today isn’t as easy as it once was for those who are younger for a lot of reasons.
In certain markets, anyone out there who’s trying to buy knows how competitive it can be, often with multiple buyers making cash offers that are well over asking price. Not only that, but it seems like there are typically fewer homes on the market in general, making the ones that are desirable a hotbed for competition, one that most millennials don’t stand a chance in. It’s not an impossible feat for the young buyer to find a home they’re happy with, but the process is a journey that can come with lots of frustration along the way.
It’s not an impossible feat for the young buyer to find a home they’re happy with, but the process is a journey that can come with lots of frustration along the way.
“Men in sitcoms using the term ’gay’ to describe doing something unmanly, like having to go to a ballet with their wives.”-saint1959j
Along with the inappropriate use of other words that are actually incredibly offensive, we’re more than happy to see a decline in the number of people who use “gay” as a word to describe something they find stupid.
Whether you’ve been guilty of saying either at some point in time, most likely as a teenager who wasn’t really thinking about what you were actually saying, the majority of people realize today just how offensive it is. Still, it can be quite a shock when you do run across the random person who still tends to use these words to describe something negative.
As another Reddit user, Rolloverbeethoven93, shared:
“I was rewatching an episode of Fresh Prince recently. It was the one where they got blamed for car theft and spent the night in jail. Carlton said ‘retarded’ when he was complaining about being there. I swear I had a little mini gasp that they said that on a prime time show but then [I] realized it’s been off the air for 2 decades.”
