These examples about everyday life decades ago are a reminder that “normal” changes a lot faster than people think.

"My husband's aunt insisted that I register for a china set because, supposedly, I would need it as my military husband's career advanced (she was the wife of a Colonel; my husband was an E-3 when we married). I can tell you that in 25 years of military service, I used those plates exactly zero times in relation to entertaining Career-Related guests. I only used the set for holiday entertaining a handful of times.

I carted those boxes through at least 10 changes of address, across four states, and two continents. The best I can say is that I didn't buy a single piece myself. They were all gifted, mostly by my husband's aunt. They are currently boxed up in storage. I would have sold them a decade ago, but my daughter wants them. So, I guess they will sit there until she gets her own place."

"My mom and stepdad married in 1980 and bought formal living room furniture shortly after that. Now, 45 years later, that furniture has moved to three different houses and is still rarely sat on."

"I'm 68, and we had a gas-fired incinerator in the basement, vented through the chimney, that the daily food scraps and papers were burned in. 

Dumped used motor oil and antifreeze down the storm sewers.

"My family never went on vacation, but just about every Sunday after doing chores, we got cleaned up, loaded in the car, and went out for dinner and then a drive wherever my Dad decided to drive to."

"This is what's weird now. If you were supposed to meet someone somewhere and they weren't there yet, you just waited. Like you'd just be chill and wait for them in the waiting room, parking lot, lobby, whatever. And that was so normal you wouldn't even really think about it. You just waited. 

Now we'd text the person, get the 'on my way' text, give the thumbs up, and go back to scrolling."

"Even better: let’s use it as fake snow at Christmas!"

"My coworker just bragged the other day about how his kids don't even own bicycle helmets."

"I got married at 22. People look at me like I have two heads when I say it’s my 20th wedding anniversary this year."

"I remember my uncle taking us for a ride in the back of his brand-new GMC S-15 in the '80s. My grandmother ended up with that truck for many years. All the grandkids (like nine of us) on the road from KY to PA and back in the bed with a topper on (no chance of a seatbelt back there)."

"I did this in the '90s. Tiny little cigarette and snack shop near my house. Didn’t even have a name; we all just called it Tommy’s store. My best friend and I would go there and buy cigarettes and candy. Tommy knew the cigarettes were for our moms and older brothers (we both had adult siblings), so he didn’t care. We’d sit on his porch and eat the candy, then walk home. Somehow, I grew up in the '50s in the '90s."

"Rubbing whisky on their gums to help with teething as well!"

"About 10 years ago, my FIL drove across the country to visit us and some old friends. When he arrived, he immediately asked for a phone book. I told him that we didn't have one, and asked what number he needed. He told me that he needed to look up the numbers of all of the people that he wanted to visit.

He was absolutely dumbfounded that we wouldn't have a physical phone book. I was absolutely dumbfounded that he'd made a 26 hour drive without telling the people that he was planning to visit that he was coming."

"Or 1/4-inch thick maple wood rulers across the knuckles or head if you were at a Catholic school. Administered by a crabby old nun."

"Drive across multiple states with a paper map and NO reservations. Stop at gas stations and ask the clerks for meal and accommodation recommendations."

"My grandma couldn’t figure out why I didn’t just get in the car and drive over to my brother’s house for a visit. I explained many times that it’s not done anymore, but she didn’t get it. She was pretty progressive for 92, but some things are hard to unlearn."

"Unsupervised childhoods. Kids used to be exiled from their houses from sunup to sundown. Teenagers ran around town doing stupid shit, and their parents didn't bother to check in. For better or worse, kids are locked down nowadays. They have almost no independence."

"Neither of my parents were smokers, but if they went out for the night, they'd come home reeking of cigarettes because whatever restaurant or bar they'd go into would be completely filled with cigarette smoke."

"Oh, my God. They would both smoke in the front, and my brother and I would cover our noses by pulling our shirts up. And if you cracked the back window an inch in winter, mum would turn and say, 'Don't be stupid. Close that window, it's freezing.'"

"If you got pulled over for being drunk, the cops would frequently give you a courtesy ride home or keep you in the 'drunk tank,' and let you go when you sobered up enough."

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.