Nostalgia is a funny thing. It can make us think back fondly on things that, at the time you hated. It can make things precious to you when, at the time, you totally took them for granted.
With our current lives being as bonkers as they are in 2020, the question of nostalgia becomes a bit more complicated. One reddit user asked:
In 40 years what will people be nostalgic for?
And we'll be honest, some of this seems like romanticizing inconvenience (looking at you, "flipping channels" response.) but some of this really got us thinking. Will we miss some of the ripple effects of this pandemic? Will there be a time when stars are harder to see? In 40 yrs will Trump be looked back on as a wacky old grandpa?
Here are some of the more popular responses.
YouTube
I think YouTube. Like how us 80/90s babies miss early Nickelodeon and Saturday morning cartoons I think future generations will miss the unlimited content.
- StonerLB
Yeah, I don't dislike the stuff that's on there now [well, other than the obligatory ads], but there was definitely a DIY quality to a lot of the older YouTube videos. Now they all seem like professional productions, which again isn't bad, but it's just different.
I already miss the early days of YouTube where you had friends instead of followers and you rated videos out of 5 stars and you could directly reply to vids with other vids sigh the good ol' days
Oh and the algorithm was actually good! God knows why they messed with that, I used to spend hours on there stuck in a tunnel, now I watch 1 vid and I'm done.
- Artaxxx
Privacy Please
black and white goodbye GIF by FilmStruck
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Privacy
If the governments do it "right", they'll slowly erode people's privacy rights, and few if any will notice or complain.
In fact, it's already working. Congress renewed the Patriot Act last November, and the Senate voted this year to allow the CIA and FBI the ability to view US citizen browser history without a warrant. Do you remember either event being seriously covered in major media outlets, and do you remember any mass public outcry? Me neither.
Many people are repeatedly bringing up private data collection by companies. This is also a serious issue, and it's not mutually exclusive. Both problems need to be fixed.
Gaming Through The Years
"Back in my days we used videogames with controllers!"
I was talking to my sons the other day, they asked me about my first job.
I was telling them how fun it was working at McDonald's in high school and a friend that I made.
"We would finish our shift then go to the mall and play games at the arcade"
At that instant I realized I might as well said "We would get a root beer float at the soda shop then go to the sock hop to meet some girls in our hot rods"
Crazy how fast things change
Stealing A Simple Joy
Poppable bubble wrap.
In case you haven't seen, there is now bubble wrap that will not pop. All the bubbles are connected and have plenty of free space. It's bad.
I hate that bubble wrap that the air just moves to the next bubble when you try to pop it. That stuff should be illegal.
From somebody who likes to pop bubble wrap,
what. In the fcking hell. Did you just say?
If you are taking about what I think you are taking about, it is technically more effective because it is cushioned but doesn't pop. But I found out that you can pop it by bunching up one row of them and squeezing. It honestly just as satisfying if not more, in my opinion, once you learn how to do it. Safer transport and better popping
- AndyWR10
High Quality Guns
High quality nerf blasters
Nerf no longer makes anything worth buying unless you think it looks nice in my opinion. If you are not already, buy all your blasters and darts from Dart Zone!
Kind of related... what happened to good super soakers?
When I was a kid we had super soakers that you pumped up and they stored air pressure in a tank, then you could shoot a consistent water stream.
Now when I see kids play with "super soakers", the guns don't seem to have a pressure tank. The gun fires on every pump. It doesn't store pressure.
What the hell. That's obviously a downgrade.
I think I saw something once that said it was related to a patent dispute or something?
This is so true. They used to be the sh!t, and now they are just ... sh!t. They literally glue their blasters now, and use plastic springs instead of actual springs!
Aww, A Wholesome Answer
We just spent 5 months with family. Having dinners together, watching TV together, playing games, just being a family. Kids are going to grow up remembering the time they had with their parents and siblings. There will be good memories.
Adults forget how resilient kids are. I can guarantee most of the adults complaining about getting "back to normal" would love to go back and have just 1 month with there dad playing catch or watching TV.
- LTJoe86
Predictions
40 years ago was 1980. I was a teenager.
If that question had been asked then, some very similar answers would have been given:
- clean air, clean water, clean earth
- non-radioactive land (between Three Mile Island and the getting hot Cold War, we thought there was a pretty good chance of some kind of nuclear apocalypse)
- various species of animals (neither the California Condor nor the American Buffalo, among others, were looking too good)
- there was some general fear about computers and what they could/would do (see films like 1983's Wargames)
And yet, here we are. A little better in some aspects and a little worse than others. 2020 is quite a downer of a year, but human beings are endlessly optimistic and adaptable.
I predict in 40 years we'll look back on some of our fears today like 80's folks look back on things like Genesis' "Land of Confusion" video - a little nostalgic, a little embarrassed and a little humbled by both how much and how little has changed.
- pcnauta
Adventures On Internet
The Internet.
Hell, I'm nostalgic for it now. Not the final form that the internet has taken over the past decade or so, but those wild west days before youtube, facebook, social media, reddit. Finding weird sites, geocities pages, looking up cheat codes for GTA, hanging out on forums, seeing something go truly grassroots viral and not just because it's trending on instagram or something. Those days when no company knew what the hell the internet was or how to market on it, it was just left to the nerds and the kids who were making up the rules as they went along.
I miss when the internet felt like a little adventure rather than a timesink or utilitarian tool to get the day to day done.
Physical Media
Movie DVDs. With everything going digital, I think production houses will soon stop making DVDs and just start streaming the movies in either their respective streaming platforms or sell them to other platforms like Netflix.
I like physical Movies, CDs, Books, and Video games. I'm 16. Sure digital is more convenient. But some reason i like to HOLD my possessions. Plus being able to save movies/cds to my computer and "lending them" to my pals.
Sea Snacks
Sea Jesus GIF by Nate Makuch
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Seafood. There won't be anything left in 40 years
I get that there will be some sort of sea life clinging on to eat. My point is nobody will be eating halibut and tuna on the regular because we killed 90% of them
- qpv
Factory farming fish's calling, they want you to quit your bs! Jokes aside, we'll always have fish. They're the easiest animal to farm that way, and they're ecological, too. You can even hook them up to hydroponics.
The future is, if not lab grown meat, fish and chips.
Flipping Aimlessly
Flipping through cable aimlessly not really sure what will be on any channel and just going til you hit something decent. The place I'm at now has free cable included and sometimes I'll waste hours just flipping through. It feels just like the early 2000s again and is a crazy throwback feeling to watching TV before everything was on apps and on demand. You kinda forget you used to watch TV by finding the channel, and how you felt like you just found five bucks if you happen to catch a good episode rerun of one of your favorite sitcoms late at night when most of the channels were doing late night infomercials.
Or how if you couldn't find anything good so you'd just sit there and watch an infomercial about bowflexes for half an hour. And watching the news air on TV instead of getting news through YouTube videos or posts on social media. If you wanted to know whether it was gonna rain that weekend you had to wait til the news cycled back to the weatherman every 20 minutes or so.
Having to plan bathroom sprints around commercial breaks so you didn't miss a big play during a big championship game. The experience of watching porn by cinemax late at night when everyone else in the house was asleep. Planning your whole afternoon around getting all your errands done by dinnertime so you could catch Jeopordy or Judge Judy. Watching cooking shows in your underwear and trying to write down a recipe and getting mad because you missed a step and its live so you cant rewind it like you can now with DVR or on demand.
Having A Social Life
Playing physical games with friends.
Going to friends' houses to play basketball/soccer and a few video games, and then have a sleep over.
Socializing to the extend even the youngest here have experienced.
- semeon_
Why wouldn't they do that! Human contact will never go old. We are saying that kids today are always on their phones etc, but we are, too, and kids today are still playing on the streets and with sticks and riding bicycles and everything. We tend to be cynical about "kids today", like every generation.
- [reddit]
At The Mall
Honestly probably malls. I feel like a lot of them are going out of business and getting torn down. Well at least the old mall experience.
I loved going to Hot Topic and Claire's and Spencer's as a kid and going to the food court for an Orange Julius but today if I go to a mall I just see a bunch of overpriced stuff that I don't want to spend money on. It's a lot easier when you're 13 and spending your parents money lol.
You might have something like the World Showcase at Epcot. There could be a era-specific mall-themed recreation, a disco-themed recreation, a blockbuster video...
Stargazing
The night sky.
By that time, Musk, Bezos, and god knows who else, will have hundreds of thousands of satellites in orbit. Our cities will have doubled in size, and urban sprawl will cause further light pollution. Stargazing will be something future generations will only hear stories about...
- iron40
For me, the night sky has always been black with white dots. I was mesmerized by just how many dots there were when i was out on the lake i mentioned with my grandfather, on his boat. It was, what, 40km out, at the end of a bay? Something like that. But it was still just... black with white dots. Yet, i must've spent 20-30 minutes just looking up on that folding chair... i felt like a kid, stargazing again!
I've seen the pictures of how it's meant to look like, they're everywhere, the ones that look like you're just looking out in space, y'know? But I've never seen it in person. I wonder how far away from cities i'd have to go... clearly further out.
Strawberries and Vanilla
Strawberry & cream or vanilla bean Starbucks Frappuccino's. I made soooo many in college for hordes of teens. It will be the pop tarts and eggs waffles of 2010.
- mtbbebe
Simpler
I don't wanna live in the world where someone says "Don't you miss 2020, it was simpler time"
Or the reality in my state, which is people being laid off, going on 5 months now, and not receiving ANY unemployment benefits they are qualified for this whole time, Because Oregon.
Or the essential workers like me, some of whom might have had temporary wage bumps, but in my case, I made the same hourly wage while having my hours cut for about 4 months. Now my hours are closer to normal, but it's because we somehow have a staffing shortage, so I'm doing twice the work, again, for the same wage. And I'm just a bank janitor; I have it real easy compared to most.
I'm just glad I'm not in a customer-facing position, so I don't have to deal with all the ratlickers throwing public tantrums over masks, and I'm not in healthcare, so I don't have to watch a dozen people die every day.
No, I don't think grocery workers and nurses and teachers are going to look back at this time and miss it much.
The Movies
A small local theatre near me just shut down for good, and I can't express how disappointed I'd be if the movie theater industry just never pops back up after this pandemic. Some of my best childhood memories are from the the movie theaters.
The Golden Hour
Privacy and the ability to go somewhere without seeing 75 cameras all the time.
Went to the beach today and no one was in the water except for me and my friend. Everyone else was waiting for "golden hour" in their dry beachwear so they could get good selfies.
An Expensive Hobby
Combustion cars being mainstream. I'm a petrol head who isn't rich, so storing away an assortment of petrol motors isn't viable.
A Vampire's Perspective
The harpsichord ...hell I already am but I'm a vampire so I guess that makes sense... don't know what I do without my spooky Jams playlist.
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For many childhood memories are overrun by living nightmares.
Yes, children are resilient, but that doesn't mean that the things we see as babes don't follow us forever.
The horrors of the world are no stranger to the young.
Redditor -2sweetcaramel- wanted to see who was willing to share about the worst things we've seen as kids, so they asked:
"What’s the creepiest thing you saw as a kid?"
Serious Danger
"Me and my best friend would explore the drainage tunnels under the Vegas area where we grew up. These were miles long and it was always really cool down there so it was a good way to escape the heat of our scorching hot summers. We went into this one that goes under the Fiesta casino and found a camp with a bunch of homeless people."
"Mind you we are like 11 years old lol. And we just kept going like it was nothing. It wasn’t scary then but when I look back at it we could have been in some serious danger. Our parents had no idea we did this or where we were and we had no cellphones. We could have been kidnapped and never have been found."
oofboof2020
Waiting for Food
"I was at a portillos once when I was 12 and I was waiting with my little brother at a booth while my parents got our food. This guy was standing with his tray kind of watching me then after a couple of minutes he started to walk over really fast not breaking eye contact with me."
"He was 2 feet from the table and my dad came out of nowhere and scared the s**t out of him. He looked so surprised and just said he wanted to see if I’d get scared or not. He left his tray full of food near the door and left. My folks reported him but we never went to that location again since we found a better one closer to home."
nowhereboy1964
Captain Hobo to the Rescue
"When I was a pretty young teen, my friends and I were horsing around in San Francisco and started hanging out to smoke with some homeless guys. Another homeless dude came up and began aggressively trying to shake us down for anything (money, smokes, a ride, drugs- all of it) and wouldn’t take no for an answer."
"We got in over our heads and could tell this guy was now riling the other 2 guys up and they were acting like they wanted to jump us. Some grandfather-looking old homeless man appeared out of nowhere and yelled at us to get the f**k out of here- nice kids like us don’t belong down here at this hour!!"
"Captain Hobo saved our lives that night. My parents sincerely thought we were at a mall all day lol."
FartAttack911
Survival
tsunami GIF
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"I was 7 and survived the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. Witnessed the wave rise way above the already massive palm trees (approx. 40ft?) and my family and I watched/heard the wave crash into the ground from a rooftop."
faithfulpoo
These Tsunami stories are just tragic.
On the Sand
Scared The Launch GIF by CTV
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"We were a group of kids who went to swim in a local lake. And there was a dead body on the beach with their hands raised and their legs bent unnaturally that local police just took out of the same lake. I've never put my foot in these waters again."
oyloff
Be Clever
"I was walking to school and I was about 5 or 6 years old and some guy pulled up beside me in his car and asked if I would get in. He also offered me sweets to do so. I said no. The creepy bit was when he calmly said ‘clever boy’ to me, then drove off. I’ve never even told my parents or anyone else about this as it would most likely freak them out."
OstneyPiz
Bad Jokes
"Dad's side of the family pranked me by burying a fake body on our back property and had me dig it up to find valuables. Was only allowed to use a lantern for light. They stuffed old clothes with chicken bones. Sheetrock mud where the head was... Random fake jewelry as the treasures... I was like maybe 10 or 11.. I remember digging up the boot first and started gagging because it became real at that point."
Alegan239
YOU
Who Are You Reaction GIF by MOODMAN
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"Woke up to find my little brother staring at me in the dark, asking, Are you really you?"
PrettyLola2004
Siblings can really be a bunch of creepers.
No one should talk to others in the dark though.
Not all pet owners have the same relationship with their pets.
While anyone who decides to become a pet owner, or pet parent as some say, love their pets equally, some never ever let them leave their side.
Taking their pet with them to work, running errands, even on vacations.
Many pet parents even allow their pets to share their bed with them when going to sleep.
For others though, this is where a line is finally drawn.
Redditor Piggythelavasurfer was curious to hear whether pet owners allowed their pets to share their bed with them, as well as the reasons why they do/don't, leading them to ask:
"Do you let your pet sleep in your bed? Why/why not?"
The Tiny Issue Of Water...
"Absolutely not."
"I have fish."- Senior-Meal3649
Everyone Gets Lonely Eventually...
"I adopted an eleven year old cat the day before Halloween."
"She has mostly lived in my closet since I got her, and she hasn’t been too interested in coming out."
"Last night, she came out of my closet and jumped up on my bed, and crawled under my covers and curled up by my feet to sleep."
"I was so happy!"- YellowBeastJeep
The Comforting Reminder That You're Not Alone...
"I recently lost my Greyhound but I used to let him sleep on my bed with me."
"The company was nice and he was no trouble to have on my bed."- HoodedMenace3
Hungry Cookie GIF by De Graafschap Dierenartsen
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What Do You Mean Allow?
"I have no choice."
"She is a cat, cats do whatever they want."- Small_cat1412
"He lets me sleep in my bed."- Poorly-Drawn-Beagle
Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way
"I carry my old boy upstairs to bed every night."- worst_in_show
Hug GIF by The BarkPost
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Who Needs An Alarm Clock?
"I let my two cats sleep with me."
"They're so full of love and just want cuddles all the time."
"And so do I."
"We've all developed a lil routine."
"Get to bed, oldest sleeps on my feet to keep them warm, youngest lies in my arm while I lie on my side (she the little spoon), then when I snooze my alarm for work in the morning the youngest paws at my face and meeps loudly to wake me up."- GhostofaFlea_
Whose Bed Is It Anyway?
"Yes."
"They're also kind enough to let me squeeze into whatever space they've left for me."
"Although I do get a few dirty looks off them."- Therealkaylor
"I found this tiny kitten screaming her head off under a car."
"Would not come out."
"Got some food and some water in dishes."
"I stood by the tire so she couldn't see my feet."
"She got curious about the food and water and started gobbling it down."
"I thought she would bolt when I squatted down."
"She was too busy eating."
"I grabbed her by the nape of the neck and all four legs went straight out and she tried to scratch me to death."
"I got her in the door and tossed her toward the couch."
"She ricocheted off the couch as if she was a ping pong off a table and I lost sight of her."
"I put out food and water and a sandbox and did not see that kitten for three days."
"On the third day, I came home and she was on my bed pillow."
"I thought she would bolt when I came near, but she didn't."
"I wanted to sleep so I tried to scoot her little butt off my pillow."
"She would not go."
"I put my head down to sleep and that is the way it was from then on."
"She ran the roost."- Logical_Cherry_7588
sleepy kitten GIF
Giphy
Sleeping Is A Prerequisite...
"No, he's a cat and he cannot keep still during the night."
"He walks across the headboard, opens the closet doors, jumps into the windows and rustles the blinds, etc."
"If he would sleep he could stay, but alas, he's a ramblin' man."- Spong_Durnflungle
Saying No Just Isn't An Option...
"'Let'."
"Lol."
"It's a cat's world and I'm happy to be on her good side."- milaren
Felines Only!
"The cat does, the dog doesn't and the horse certainly does not either."- Xcrowzz
Angry Tom And Jerry GIF by Boomerang Official
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Is That My Hair On That Pillow?
"My dog is perfect."
"She comes up, cuddles til we start to fall asleep, then gets down to sleep on her bed so she doesn't get too hot."
"Jumps back up in the early morning for wake up cuddles."
"The hair everywhere is the only downside but she is so cozy, what can you do."- HoodieWinchester
It is easy to understand how some people are able to fall asleep more easily knowing their friend and protector is there, in bed, with them.
Though we can't blame others who don't want to run the risk of being scratched or bitten in the middle of the night either...