" My 12 - year - old daughter did n’t know what a stamp was . "
Recently, on Reddit, user@u/adityamishrxaasked, “What has gradually disappeared/discontinued in our surroundings over the last 20 years without anyone really noticing it?” The answers were fascinating and, in some cases, quite sad. Here are 15 that stood out:
Responses have been delete for duration and clarity .
1.“Little toys in cereal boxes. :(”
2.“Telephone books: Ironically, I had to go through and make a directory/database for my work of local businesses. It was time-consuming!”
3.“Phone booths: Which I think is unfortunate. My phone has been dead several times while I was out and about… a pay phone would’ve been great since people look at you like you have 10 heads if you ask them to call you a cab.”
4.“Fireflies, at least in the Northeastern US.”
5.“Video rental stores. Twenty years ago, they were all over. Technology has changed, and here we are streaming or downloading on our phones. I have movies on my phone and tablet for when I travel.”
6.“Pantyhose: They had a whole aisle in the grocery store.”
7.“Stamps. I only became aware of it when my 12-year-old daughter didn’t know what a stamp was. For years, when I have sent a package or letter, I have exclusively used an app that gives you a code that you write on the package/letter instead of stamps.”
8.“If you went for a drive over an hour or two, you’d have dead bugs squashed on your front grill and bumper, as well as the windshield.”
9.“Dark skies. Miss seeing the Milky Way (our home galaxy) and all the stars.”
10.“Postcards! Used to buy them as souvenirs of travels and also to mail. Now, they’re rare. Used to be on sale everywhere. Now, they are often expensive (at art museums, for example) unless you can find old ones at thrift shops. Also, blank postcards you could send with messages like ‘Edna and I arrive in Portland at the train station at 10:30 on April 22.'”
11.“London has gone through a process of removing all of its black-painted pedestrian barriers around junctions, and they’re generally allowing people to cross roads anywhere and everywhere. Which is no bad thing, but it’s definitely changed the look of the city when you look at old Street View photos.”
12.“Checks. I write one or two per year. I’ve had this box of checks for a decade, and I probably won’t need any more unless I move.”
13.“Black widows in the southwestern United States. Brown widow population is more prolific and pushing them out of town.”
14.“Red eyes in photographs. Remember how annoying it used to be that you’d get your batch of developed photos back, and the best one always seemed to have at least one person with red eyes?”
15.Finally, “Free and quirky local papers available at coffee bars, pizza places, etc. The personals were always the best. I don’t know if they were real or fake, or if anyone even responded to them, but these were a great source of entertainment.”
