121–130 of 495 posts
I grew up in Washington and I remember biting into a red delicious apple was like biting into a water balloon they were so juicy. They were always super crisp and crunchy too, big chunks would break off as you bit them. Now when I get them (I don’t live in WA anymore) they are always mushy and gross. Is this what we are talking about?
>I assumed the police were telling the truth. I gotta laugh at this. Being someone that's from a working town and being from a working class family, cops weren't to be trusted. Cops lied even back then. Life wasn't better back then. The fact he seems to mock gender fluidity and polyamory really shows how much has changed for the better. People who didn't fit in with the gender constructs then were out of luck. Either…
See also "being elite was good" and "I wasn't polyamorous." It's a whole article of "I only knew how to be a vanilla white guy. And that was a good thing!"
The article literally questions that conclusion.
"Were those the good old days? It’s tough to say."
It's as if there were advantages and disadvantages. It's easy to view the past as "good" but the reality, as presented in this article, was really a mixed bag.
A couple of stand-out memories from the olden days (and I don't consider myself particularly old): Getting a call in a restaurant. Only happened to me once but I certainly felt like a VIP. Carrying a tiny map book of London around with me while cycling around. Missing turn after turn until finding there was a canal which basically took me from the center to my uncle's house. Arranging to meet a friend and then being…
I (legally) smoked on a plane!
similarly it was amazing to smoke in bars, but it's great to not have smoke filled bars
Things I enjoy about my life now, after having ditched my smartphone: * Being fully into a stimulating conversation with friends for an hour or more, without constant interruptions for people to check their phones and then change the subject to something irrelevant and mildly infuriating. * Being able to go for random/spontaneous drives with my family in the car and negotiate where we're going next without having to…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I (legally) smoked on a plane!
smoking on a plane sounds like simultaneously the most wonderful and most terrible thing ever similarly it was amazing to smoke in bars, but it's great to not have smoke filled bars
There have to be other daily habits now that going to be seen as disgusting in a few decades too. Maybe things like eating non-cloned meat.
IMO the big thing is not being bored. Someone is late for a meeting? Doesn't matter, you've got HN to read. On the back seat for a long drive? Doesn't matter, you can answer emails. Or play a game. The whole psychologically weird phase of "hmm I'm here and waiting, and all I can do is watch paint dry" seems to have vanished. I'm not sure what people prefer more though. Say you're waiting for a date, do you feel best…
The thing that rings out for me in this essay: "Once plans were made, I showed up without any further contact to check whether we were, in fact, “still on for tonight,”" I miss that. Used to be that if you made plans to meet someone, they would come to that time and place. Amazing! And the difference is not even limited to your friends and dating. Now we can't even count on regularly scheduled activities to happen as…
Even in the 90s you'd be glued to the local weather report on TV and get maybe 30 minutes notice before the bell whether school was off or not. I remember them not even calling sometimes and having to see the anchor announce the closure.
A couple of things not mentioned: * Half of the population watching the same episodes of the same programme simultaneously. If you missed an episode, it was gone forever * Inane arguments in pubs about facts that couldn't be instantly googled.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I remember back when I got my first digital camera, people would routinely ask me "ok but how do you look at the pictures? Do you just print them out?". Looking at them on a screen was almost unfathomable. Nowadays, a physical album seems to have taken the place of your camera in the 90s. Not quite a luxury item, but you'd have to be "into that" to go to the trouble of making a physical album.
The difference is that we spend all of our waking hours in front of screens of differing sizes
My kids have limited screen time, not unlike my parents pushing me outside to play. Until they have mature impulse control and a variety of experience I'll continue to guide them. But without all the judgemental 'lessons' and talking down to that I experienced.