Despite the advancement of technology rendering people left to their own devices–literally–to entertain them, there are some leisurely activities that will never go out of style.
Or so you would think.
Do people still knit to pass the time? Are people actively collecting stamps?
It depends on who's asking.
Curious to hear about hobby trends, Redditor gizehgizeh asked:
"What are once popular hobbies that are slowly dying these days?"
Before we've become conditioned to living on our phones, these activities used to keep people occupied.
Before Texting, There Was This
"Letter writing."
– littlekingMT
Literal And Tangible Joy
"Well the internet killed pen pals for sure. I do remember I had a Japanese girl for a penpal maybe back in 2007 or so. I honestly don't remember how it started, pretty sure some website, but that was a fun experience. But now I can just straight up talk to foreign people real time, lol. But yea getting a physical letter that someone took the time to write and mail still is hard to beat feelings wise."
– skyburnsred
Model Trains
"When I was growing up, every town had a model train store in it. Now I have one in region and everything else has to be bought online."
– Hairy_Effective1172
It Ran Out Of Steam
"My grandpa used to make model trains from scratch with decals and everything, been doing it for probably 30 years. We recently opened a hobby shop with some of his models on display and people are always fascinated by them. There's also a few model train clubs in the area and they've been excited about a shop opening up to get stuff."
– AshesandCinder
Pretty Rocks
"Don’t see anyone playing marbles anymore, I had an awesome collection in school."
– sheeple85
"I had some marbles as a kid in the 90s. My grandma got them for me and I had no idea what I was supposed to do with them. I always imagined them as a thing kids in the 40s played with."
– Ryoukugan
Human Canvases
"Paintball has been dying a slow death since 2006. Sad, really."
– hobo_recycler
How Tuneful
"Organ playing. Such an underrated instrument."
– Daaemong
Before the general population began hating clutter, collecting was once a "thing."
Precious Coins
"Coin collecting... I'm a silver/gold nut and I'm always hunting for precious metal coins. whenever I go into a shop they get all excited because 'no one under 70 collects coins anymore.'"
– ThatFishySmell99
A Good Deed
"I was given a jar of coins when I was about 18 from an old bloke. He couldn't afford to pay my boss for the job (upgrading his TV reception so he had a outlet in the bedroom for his bedridden wife to watch shows) so I went back over the weekend to do it free as I felt guilty my boss wanted to overcharge them took me 3 hours from my day and about $30 worth of cable etc (quoted something like $200) and as I was leaving he gave it to me as a thank you. mostly British coins and I think one is worth like $10 now."
– Haunting-You7898
Post It
"Stamp collecting."
– spooky_scully_mulder
"Collecting in general, really. Of course there are still prominent collectors but it's slipped more into enthusiast and niche territory than being a popular hobby that you might expect anyone to have."
– iuytrefdgh436yujhe2
Novelty Messaging
"At the beginning of the year I got a box of 100 postcards and a book of stamps. Any time anything good happens to my friends I pop a postcard in the mail to let them know I’m happy for them. It’s the best!"
"I know it’s not quite letter writing, but inspired by it!"
– AudreyLocke
What A Gem
"Rockhounding was immensely popular back in the 1950's and 1960's. Personally, I think it's a fascinating and fulfilling hobby, but when I go to a meeting at a rock and gem club, I'm usually the youngest one in the room by several decades."
– filthy_lucre
People once enjoyed making things.
Admiring The View
"Stained glass. I learned how to make it from my old man, and my junior high art class teacher also taught it. Very few artisans are still around."
– brobeanzhitler
Metal Vocation
"Black smithing."
– kenworth117
"I bought a forge to try. It’s insanely hard work, and crazy expensive. I still haven’t finished a piece."
– DSentvalue
Scrapbooking
"Yeah. I'm watching the arts and crafts stores around me completely uninstalling their racks for specialty paper. Now the only thing they have is mega packs of repeating colors/images. To boot all the inclusions like papercraft/die-cut things, washi tape, scissors, stickers, etc have gotten so expensive I would rather go buy $5 bags at value village to get an assortment of things versus buying anything new. I really, really miss yard sales for the same reasons."
– Phantasmai
Perpetually Lost At Sea
"Building miniature models of ships inside bottles."
– dee615
I envy people who have jobs that are basically their hobbies.
Not everyone gets paid doing what they actually enjoy and have a profound level of passion for.
If they do, kudos to them.
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Redditor MightGuy420x wanted to share thoughts about some of the movies that left our brains and souls puzzled, so they asked:
"What movie had you saying 'What the f**k' the most while watching?"
Movies leave me aghast more often than not.
And endings are never easy.
Last Lines
"Swiss Army Man."
JawlessRegent64
"Isn't 'What the f**k?' also the last spoken line in the film?"
frygod
daniel radcliffe GIF by A24Giphy"Yeah lol, literally. It made me laugh so hard because I'd been saying that for the entire two hours I was sitting on my couch watching it. Never saw that coming from Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe is a strange man lol."
JawlessRegent64
A Midnight Opening
"The most audible 'What the f**k?' I have ever heard from an entire movie theater audience was actually from Pixar."
"It was their short film Bao, I think before Incredibles 2. A woman makes a little baby out of dumpling ingredients, there is a cute montage of them together, and then she eats it without warning."
"It was a midnight opening so the audience was all adults, and yeah nobody saw that coming."
AllBadAnswers
Weird but Funny
"Sorry to Bother You."
MCPanda6969
"I saw this in theaters having absolutely no idea where it was heading (like everyone I think). I must’ve walked out to pee at exactly the wrong time, when I came back I had to double-check it was still the right theater."
drownednotgod
"I freaking love this movie and you're exactly right. There was a point I went from like 'This is a weird one, but it's funny' to 'What in the actual f**k is happening?'"
"What's even better is if you go back and watch, they led you right up until that point. They're always hinting at it, but the protagonist makes everything about him and I think that's why it just hits you out of nowhere."
JackJackensworth
Gross
"Splice."
AnotherBadPlayer
"I feel bad for introducing this movie incorrectly to some friends. I really thought it was going to be some kind of science-fiction drama. And then Adrian Brody mated with it."
ddh85
"Well, that's easy the thing he was f**king was a human-animal hybrid that he raised from birth like a daughter and was made from his girlfriend's DNA the hybrid later changes from female to male and attacks the before-mentioned girlfriend which I guess is technically its own mother."
o_MrBombastic_o
30% Out!!
"Mother!"
GreatTragedy
"We had to refund AT LEAST 30% of the admissions for this movie every day when I worked in a theater. People were leaving the cinema pissed off because of this movie."
RepresentativeName18
jennifer lawrence mother movie GIF by mother!GiphyThat movie makes no sense at all.
Someone explain it to me!
No Light
"Human centipede."
Odd_Adhesiveness4804
"When Roger Ebert reviewed this movie, he gave it zero stars, saying such a movie could exist only in a universe with no light in it whatsoever, and hence there could be no stars in his review of it."
PhuckingDuped
Over It Rose GIF by HULUGiphyJan's Story
"Abducted in Plain Sight."
sodangshedonger
"My mom actually went to school with Jan and her mom was friends with my grandma. I’ve tried to get my mom to watch the show but she has refused because 'I have already had more than enough Jan Broberg in my life.'"
"From what my mom said, I’d take everything the family claims happened (especially Jan’s story about what happened while she was kidnapped) with a grain of salt because Jan was apparently super melodramatic even before the abduction."
"That said, I found the show to be less shocking than most people because their naïveté is incredibly unsurprising for a Mormon family in a small town in the 70s."
ToBeReadOutLoud
Unconvential
"The Lobster."
awakami
"Seriously had no idea what I was getting into. A couple and a dude bailed out of the theater when I saw it."
2ndRook
"The Lobster made me realize I had an unconventional taste for films. It’s my favorite film of all time next to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I tried to make my friends watch it, and they all would bail out mid-film."
areyousureyourealive
"This. What utter f**king bats*it crazy horseshit this movie was."
Tackit286
Hey John...
"'Being John Malkovich' is just one weird thing happening after the other, giving you very little time to process it."
LoopyPro
"I got to see an advanced screening of Being John Malkovich. I knew absolutely nothing about it going in. It was the first time I was ever left so completely speechless by a movie in such a good way."
"I was already in love with the movie before the portal was even introduced. It could have just been a really weird series of set pieces revolving around those bizarre characters interacting in that weird half-floor and puppetry recitals and I would have been happy. Then it gets all metaphysical and kooky... And it did it all so perfectly."
lingh0e
Unreal
"Cats. I was just constantly saying 'What the f**k?' under my breath as I watched it in theaters. I honestly don't remember much of it. It was so incoherent in tone and execution, and weird that it just feels like a fever dream in my memory."
daddydonetomuch
Taylor Swift Dancing GIF by Cats MovieGiphySo many movie WTFs for me are about... "How did THIS find funding?!"
Thank God for vodka.
Redditor icyqueen999999 got some helpful hints after asking:
"What is a dead giveaway of a toxic relationship?"
Trust was severely lacking in these relationships.
Proof Of Fidelity
"My 57 year old colleague constantly has to send videos and pics of him working to his wife."
– LB89LB19
Speaking From Experience
"My ex always tried to make me do this. F'king obnoxious. Guess who was eventually found out to never be where he said he was and was sneaking around instead? Lol."
– AlpacaOurBags
Final Analysis
"It's not only that but if you make someone spend all their energy proving that they are faithful, they don't have the mental capacity to even consider their partner might be the unfaithful one."
– sturmeh
Submitting Detailed Records
"I found out the other week that my buddy has to send his girlfriend detailed notes with timestamps of legitimately everything he does while hanging out with the guys..."
"9:14 went down to the kitchen for a glass or water 9:15 stopped to pet the cats before heading upstairs 9:18 made it back upstairs and sat on the right side of the couch."
– rowdy_sprout
Both parties involved have to benefit from a relationship. These examples reflect ones that don't.
Path Of Least Resistance
"One partner always gets their way."
"For me, it was 'easier' to bend over backward than to deal with the whining and complaining if I stood my ground. Easier is in quotes because it was only easier in the short term - long term made life hell."
– The_Griffin_Scimitar
Mental And Physical Toll
"Fine, whatever you want, just like always, whatever you want."
"Whatever I want? It's never whatever I want. When I wanted to see Stomp, and you wanted to see Wicked, what did we see?"
"We saw Wicked."
"When I said that I wanted to have kids, and you said, you wanted me to have a vasectomy, what did I do? And then when you said that you might want to have kids and I wasn't so sure, Who had the vasectomy reversed? And then when you said you defintely didn't want to have kids, who had it reversed back? Snip snap! Snip snap! Snip snap! I did. You have no idea the physical toll, that three vasectomies have on a person. And I bought this condo to fill with children."
– VaiterZen
Failure In The Long Term
"Sadly, in these sorts of relationships, the person who cares the least has the most power. You could bend over backwards trying to please the other person, and it might keep them around in the short term, but it doesn't change the fact they don't really respect you. You know in your gut that if you ever actually stood your ground on any issue instead of giving in to them, things would end there and then."
– Innalibra
It appears the love has vacated the scene a long time ago.
Talking Smack
"If someone is always talking crap about their partner whenever they are not together."
"I've seen this far too many times, it's always ended in total disaster withing a few years at most."
– ricochetpeestream
Endless Complaining
"Ugh, yup. I've listened to so many people complain about their partners and I just wonder: WHY are y'all together!? If I get a chance to talk about my bf, you can bet I'll start dishing out everything I love about him."
– MelanisticCrow
Hostility
"Lack of trust and constant fights."
– Lost-Championship914
"I once read that contempt is the #1 sign of a relationship on its deathbed. When partners don’t respect each other, it sets the stage for every other bad thing."
– PartySquirrel1
Breaking up is hard to do, as the song goes.
But when a relationship has been on the rocks and has turned unbearable to the point of resenting one another, there's no point in staying with the toxic situation.
Acknowledging the red flags and willingly staying in a miserable situation is not healthy.
There is always something, or someone, better out there.
"What is the most successful lie in history?"
They Couldn't Detect It For Years
"Have you ever heard of a radar detector?"
"How about a radar detector detector, which the police use to see if you have a detector?"
"Ever wonder how they work?"
"I mean, a radar detector is a receiver, how could the police possibly know you have one?"
"Until recently, practically every radio used a concept called superheterodyne."
"Basically there’s a tiny radio transmitter in your receiver, that signal is mixed with the one from the antenna and the result is what your receiver tunes to."
"It's one of the most important inventions of the 20th century, and you most likely never heard of it."
"The problem is that sometimes the tiny transmitter is poorly shielded and some of it leaks back out the antenna."
"If you know what that 'intermediate frequency' is you can listen for it."
"The Escort radar detectors, which were super-popular in the 80's, leaked like a sieve.""Presto, radar detector detectors."
"Takeaway: if you know what you're looking for, you can actually detect someone else's radio receiver."
"The setup."
"In 1942 RAF planes began using VHF radar to look for German submarines leaving port in France at night."
"All of a sudden they were getting sunk en mass."
"The Germans were familiar with other British radars working around this frequency and were able to find the new radar's frequency around August."
"They built a receiver, Metox, which was tuned to this frequency."
"When a plane using this radar was anywhere in the area, Metox would play a sound into the radio operator's headphones."
"By October most of the fleet had it and the RAF pilots were returning with stories about how the uboats would always dive as soon as they turned toward them to attack."
"But the RAF had prepared for this moment, they knew it was only a matter of time before the Germans found the frequency."
"Earlier two grad students had come up with a new device called the magnetron that produced very strong radio signals from a device the size of a breadbox."
"And the signal was REALLY short, about 10 cm, whereas their older radars were 150."
"So Metox was completely incapable of 'hearing' it, it was tuned way too far from the frequency of the new signal."
"They rushed the new system into production and the first sets started arriving just in time for the uboat campaign to start up again in spring when the weather got better."
"By March it was clear to the Germans something was up."
"Their boats were getting sunk en mass again, and the ones that escaped attack said there was no warning on their detectors."
"They tried everything to detect the new signal, but they just couldn’t find it."
"This was because they were missing one extremely important bit of electronics, the crystal detector, and simply couldn’t hear the signals no matter how hard they tried."
"And now the lie."
"Knowing something was up, uboats were on high alert all the time."
"One got lucky and shot down its attacker, and captured the crew."
"During interrogation they asked why they could no longer detect the radar."
"The pilot told them they no longer used radar. Instead, he claimed, they had a receiver for Metox and under perfect conditions they could pick it up 90 miles away."
"They only turned on the radar at the last minute for range measurements so they knew when to drop the depth charges."
"By that time the U-boat was too busy exploding to notice."
"The Germans didn’t believe him, but it was technically possible, once can indeed make a receiver to detect your receiver."
"And Metox was known to be 'leaky', as it was deliberately built quick and cheap from a pre-war French radio set."
"So they built their own Metox receiver in the lab, and sure enough, they could detect it."
"So then they put it on a plane and detected one of their boats 60 miles away."
"Utter panic."
"Orders were sent out to all boats: turn off Metox."
"And so not only did the RAF get to keep using their fancy new magnetron radar without the Germans even trying to detect it, but then they turned off their perfectly good Metox detectors and all the RAF planes with the older radar suddenly started working again too!"
"And THAT is the greatest lie ever."
"By the end of June, the uboat fleet was on the bottom of the ocean."
"This was not due entirely to this trick, there were a number of things that all arrived at almost the same time that did it."
"It was the combination of the new radars, huff-duff, larger numbers of frigates dedicated to the taskand the lack of any detectors on the uboats that made even the old radars work again all arrived within two months."
"And that was that."
"The Germans finally figured it out some time around November. November!"
"Apparently the pilot made the whole thing up on his own."
"This little white lie helped open the Atlantic to the convoys of 1943 that led to the end of Italy’s involvement and ultimately dday."- maurymarkowitz
Point Pointing GIF by Sarah & DuckGiphyElizabeth Taylor Had Us All Fooled
"That diamonds are valuable."
"Made one family really really rich though lol."
"Gotta love how many people try to defend their artificially inflated value."
"Just shows how well the lie continues to work lol."- sfPanzer
All Talk, NO Truth
"Frank Abagnale Jr., the inspiration for 'Catch me If You Can', apparently wasn’t as big of a con man that the movie leads you to believe."
'He conned people into thinking he was a bigger con man than he actually was."- rickejohn
Surveillance, Or Just Profiling?
"'We are using mass surveillance to help catch terrorists'."- Salty_Cantaloupe4926
GiphyAll It Takes Is One Click
"'I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the above Terms and Conditions'."- SuvenPan
Maybe Not A Lie, But Pretty Misleading
"Iceland and Greenland."- Technical_Put_9173
...Might Have To Think About This One...
"I before E except after C."
"Unless your foreign neighbor Keith offers you eight counterfeit sleighs from feisty caffeinated weightlifters."
"Weird."- BigJDizzleMaNizzles
Nicksplat Nickelodeon GIF by Hey ArnoldGiphyIt's Easy To Believe Most Rumors...
"In the 90s kids spread the rumor that Marilyn Manson had a rib removed so he could suck his own d*ck."
"We spread this rumor across the entire country without the use of cell phones or the internet."- Solid_Science4514
They Really Weren't The Least Bit Suspicious?
"Trojan horse comes to mind."- riphitter
All ISN'T Fair In Politics...
"That lobbying isn't just bribery with extra steps."- fentown
Corruption Lobbying GIF by Transparency InternationalGiphyThere's No Way Of Knowing
"One that we'll never know was a lie."- Rare_Cause_1735
Oldest One In The Book...
"It's not you, its me"- read110
It's All In The Balance...
"That fat is harmful to your diet."
"That was just false information."
"And by trying to replace fats with sugar, obesity became an epidemic."- Mangobonbon
Some lies are easily spotted from miles away.
Others are so convincing, the world will never know they were duped.