Rose Colored View of the Past: Older Americans Share What Millennials Get Wrong About the Good Old Days

Younger generations often view the past through the rose-colored lens of nostalgia for a time long gone. People who lived it see the folly in the romanticized view and share all the things younger folks get wrong about bygone eras. 

Lung Destroying Culture

A man caughs as he walks through a blurred out public area.
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We get that smoking was far more common in the past than it is now, but no one realizes how bad it really was. You couldn’t dine at a restaurant without sitting in a nasty haze, and kids could easily access the products through vending machines scattered around town. 

Accepting That You’ll Never Know

Pretty woman shrugging with her palms face up on a pink background.
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Spoiled by the knowledge available at their fingertips, Millennials will never understand the frustration of wanting to know something but being unable to find the answer. 

Lack of Options

Woman with her hand on her chin with a thinking look on her face.
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Modern culture faces decision fatigue. We have a plethora of choices about everything, from where to eat to what brands to buy. Before the 1980s, people had far fewer choices available. 

Inventing Fun

A little girl makes a mess in a science lab with an experiment gone wrong.
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Kids in the 50s and 60s couldn’t hop online and play games with their friends. Video games didn’t become household staples until the late 80s! Before then, kids had to use their imaginations and invent their own fun. 

Childhood Freedom

Two kids playing in the grass. The sister pushes her disabled brother's wheelchair.
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Today’s parents get arrested for giving their children a modicum of freedom. Millennials were the last generation to roam the streets freely, meet neighborhood kids, walk to parks independently, and learn how to survive out in the neighborhood. 

Conversations

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Millennials don’t realize how social people were before smartphones and the internet. People actually got together and spent evenings engaging with one another. 

Repair Shops

workers fixing a pipe with duct tape.
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Today’s throw-away culture may balk at repairing something rather than replacing it, but that was the norm until the late 20th century. 

Corporal Punishment

Angry child screaming.
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It wasn’t until the last 20 or so years that we realized hitting kids is terrible. In the 80s, parents wouldn’t think twice about publicly smacking their kids if they acted up. Before that, even teachers were allowed to hit kids. 

9/11

View of New York Skyline after 9/11 with two blue lights shining brightly where the twin towers once stood.
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No one born after 1990 truly understands how 9/11 impacted every aspect of society. Once a bastion of freedom and hope, America let fear destroy society’s best aspects. 9/11 was the turning point that led us to where we are today. 

Travel Planning

A man sits alone in an airport terminal burying his head in he lap.
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Today, you can hop on the internet and plan every aspect of your trip. You can purchase airfare, book your hotel room, and even decide where to eat and what sights to see. 

You can hop in your car and navigate anywhere with the click of a button. 

In the past, traveling was a much bigger hassle. People relied on road maps to navigate and needed a travel agent to adventure across continents. 

Your Entire World

Concept art showing globalism and our interconnected world. Half the globe with electric lines connecting cities and countries.
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Before cell phones and the internet, your entire world ended at the edge of your town. If people moved away, you never heard from them again. Now, we can’t imagine a world so small. 

The Coolest Things from the 90s

trendy gen Z teenager on a pink background
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Nineties kids will remember these fun trends from the last great decade. 

The best things about the 1990s.

10 Things Baby Boomers Get Right

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The boomer generation gets blamed for a lot of things, but no one admit’s when they have a point. Here are ten things Baby Boomers are right about!

Millenials on the Rampage – Here’s What’s Next on the Generation’s Chopping Block

Smiling millenial man with red hair and a red beard in what appears to be a classroom blurred out behind him.
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Millenials are renowned for destroying entire industries. Here’s what they’ll kill next if they have their way

Weird Gen Z Trends We Just Don’t Understand

Trendy hipster teenage girl wearing sunglasses in pink light.
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Gen Z is into some weird stuff. Here are some Gen Z trends we hope they outgrow

If America is the Best, Why Can’t We Have Nice Things?

Woman holding an American Flag over her head.
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Everyone claims America is the best country in the world, but other Western nations put us to shame. Here’s the cool perks other countries provide their citizens that we wish we had in the States

Source: Reddit