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People Divulge Which Things They Wish We Could Bring Back From The Past

People Divulge Which Things They Wish We Could Bring Back From The Past
Senad Palic/Unsplash

Affordable housing. The ozone layer. Tan m&m's.

The past was full of awesomeness that we really should get back to.

It wasn't all sunshine and roses, we know that.

None of us are over here with the whole "I was born in the wrong decade" mentality—but you gotta admit a lower cost of living would be pretty dope.

Also that blue m&m's are inferior.


Reddit user Darko992 asked:

"What should we bring back from the past?"

Here are some things Reddit really wishes we never let go of.

Frock Yeah

"Cloaks."

"They look cool, often one size fits all, easier to take on or off than a jacket, and don’t have a dumb zipper."

- lordcaledonia

"Ya know how in Harry Potter they walk around London in cloaks and sh*t and people don’t even notice? "

"Well I was in the line at TSA and didn’t notice for a full 10 minutes that the lady in front of me was wearing a full-on velvety cloak. Once I did notice, my first thought was 'sh*t that’s a cool cloak.' So now I understand Muggle London"

- hausishome

"When I was stationed in Yongsan, South Korea I was waiting in line at Taco Bell when I see another soldier I kind of know walk up. We were both in civilian clothes - but her version of civvies was an awesome cloak."

"I got to talking with her and asked if she was going to a larp, she said no and said she just felt like rocking a cloak that day. "

"To this day her confidence has inspired me!"

- 360Entertainment

Giphy

Practical Effects

"More real effects instead of CGI in movies. Obviously, CGI has made the impossible possible, but directors like Guillermo Tel Toro prove that there is a lot that can be created believably and beautifully on film."

- -PyramidHead

"Good practical effects will hold up basically forever, too. Look at The Thing; that movie is now forty years old and the effects still look top notch."

- ironwolf56

"Good CGI goes unnoticed. Slightly bad CGI looks f*cking terrible."

- crysco

"It still doesn't age well. The best CGI from the 90s looks decent (IE: Terminator 2) but you still have to be like 'It looks good....for 1991' since it never holds up to age."

- HelmutHoffman

What Wear When?

"Every fashion from every era at the same time. I'd love the mess it would make"

- AldaronWilwarin

"The 1720s. Puffy pants and powdered wigs baby"

- Joke_Mummy

"Well right now 60's-90's is apparently coming back in style, plus Amish attire."

"Source- worked at Nordstroms for a bit this year."

- PrityBird

"If capes were back in style I'd cry from joy."

- CityOfZion

"Definitely already a thing, with people coming in mullets and thrifting"

- GabrielliaPumphrey

AFK

"The expectation of lack of availability."

"The amount of technology we have is truly amazing and I love that I get to experience it. That being said, the idea that I am available 100% of the time from morning to night is easily the biggest source of stress I have in my life."

"I miss the time before smartphones."

- andlecrusher

"I felt the same, that anyone could demand my attention at any time and I would be expected to give it especially with phone calls."

"For the last few years I've had my phone on silent (no vibration). I choose when I look at my phone and respond to texts or call people back. Its freeing."

"Some people get frustrated by that, but that's a them problem."

"Just because they want to talk to me at a particular time does not mean that they can, I have a life too."

- isthisthewifi

Giphy


"Unless it's my girlfriend or my family, I just don't respond to texts or anything after like 5pm."

"Phone call? Go to voice-mail."

"You don't owe anybody your time, regardless of how they may feel about that."

- gamesireallylike

"I agree and I've learned to set boundaries so this is no longer an expectation."

"Work knows my hours and that I am not going to respond outside of those hours."

"The worst offender was my mother, who'd call like 5x in as many minutes at 10pm (I usually go to bed at 9pm, she knows this)."

"I set the boundary and told her that unless its an emergency, please do not call after 7pm (that's family time for us). Texting is ok, but I'll respond at my leisure then."

- cheesemongrel938491

Love Thy Neighbor

"A sense of community"

- Jaxxs90

"It's odd, this one. Because everyone alive would love for it to happen, but nobody wants to make it happen."

"When was the last time you spoke to your neighbours? A while ago I bet."

- fancybigballs

"I read a book about this. It's the idea of social infrastructure- creating spaces that encourage physical, human interaction and a community."

"Cars and suburbs in America have really f*cked this up because they prevent social interaction/sense of community."

"You get up in your suburban home where your nearest neighbor is still fairly distant, get in your car, and drive straight to work. Then you drive back home. Maybe you drive to some large superstores."

"In contrast, imagine more walkable cities like some in Europe or Asia. Neighborhoods where people live in closer proximity, where shops/cafes/libraries/small businesses owned by families are within walking distance, and where walkable paths and parks abound."

"A day might involve a lot more walking, passing by your neighbors on your street, building common interactions with locals, and where communities can hold more community events like farmers markets and stuff. "

"It's better for humans, better for the environment, better in almost every aspect."

"Not to say these things don't exist in America, or only exist in other countries, but most cities are such a far cry from this kind of community."

- ButterfreePimp

Built Tough

"Stuff being made to last a lifetime rather than a few months to a few years."

- Nobody91765

"Yes. A ban on planned obsolescence would be VERY nice."

- UsedLandscape876

"Poorly made throwaway goods have always been a staple of the market."

- ReallySmallWeenus

"It's not planned obsolescence, it's a 'defined service life.' "

"Materials science got to a point where they can cut costs down and deliver absolute minimum quality of material to hit a desired lifespan on a product."

"You can still buy things that last forever, they're just considered luxury product and cost 3-4 times as much."

"Go to the grill section of your local Home Depot and check out a Weber Genesis next to your average Charbroil or NexGrill for a visual example. "

"The Weber will easily last you a decade-plus, probably 20 years if you take care of it. On the other hand, the Charbroil will rust out within 3-5 years."

"Basically, if we want things that last, we either have to accept that everything is going to get at least 30% more expensive, or we just need to go pay for luxury items now."

- duffman13jws

Giphy

Get Ronald On The Phone

"Old design of McDonalds buildings"

- Left-Pop-9420

"Right?! The new design looks like a depressed millennial. I want my free circus again!"

- arlingLee

"Including the ball pits and play places"

- obert-wan-kenobert

"When the new commercials came out that featured the retro lamps I got excited. I thought a franchise wide re-design was on the way. Nope."

- keylabulous

Giphy

Chill

"A relaxed life style and more family gatherings"

- adallal

"I would kill for the first one alone."

"Take me back to a time where like, you would just need to do your job, your part, and maintain your responsibilities and that's it."

- MolhCD

"Yeah. Now, it's more complex than just that."

"I think now we have too many responsibilities and higher expectations that those of the old days. This brings more worries and stress."

- adallal

Fresh

"Expunging juvenile records for stupid and petty crimes."

"I get having to prosecute minors as adults for serious crimes, but for stupid and petty things they don't automatically expunge them anymore like they used to and a juvenile record can haunt them for years."

"As long as the crime was petty and non-violent I want to get back to letting that child have a fresh start once they're an adult."

- llcucf80

"Wow! I didn’t know that changed. I’ll have to look in to that. Kids make stupid decisions and shouldn’t have to carry that burden in to adulthood."

- Equal_Nail925

Giphy

Let's Get Physical

"Physical media. I miss the days of VHS and browsing video stores."

- lunchboxbeard82

"Yes! Physical all the way! I hate it when I hear an album or song and I find out it’s not on CD. I need something to play in the car!"

- Ok-Call-4805

"That's more on the consumer's end. Most digital media is still available in a physical counterpart."

"I'm somewhere in between, I get the appeal of physical media but I don't like having things. I still dislike streaming that turned media into basically a service that most of their users take for granted."

"I tend to buy digital copes of albums and keep listening to them in the same behavior I did when I was a kid and bought a cassette tape and was the only thing I heard for some time."

- flacocaradeperro

"Get that too. For me I miss the ritual of browsing and picking up an album or movie, reading the box, opening the box first time, etc."

- lunchboxbeard82 Giphy

OOH!

I just remembered another thing.

Do you guys remember when Pizza Hut was an awesome sit down experience with a salad bar and everything?

That crust just hit different—especially if you were there to celebrate your grades or reading accomplishments and you got your free little personal pizza.

I'm pretty sure it's all been down hill since pizza hut stopped being awesome.

People Break Down The Missing Person Cases That Just Don't Add Up

Reddit user yourlastnames asked: 'what missing persons case is the most confusing / doesn’t add up?'

Content warning: suicide.

There are truly some strange unsolved cases out there, but there's nothing quite like hearing of a person who has vanished as if out of thin air.

While some of these cases have been explained away or even solved, there are some that remain a mystery that truly does not add up, no matter how the puzzle pieces fall.

Curious about these cases, in particular, Redditor yourlastnames asked:

"What missing persons case is the most confusing [to you] or just doesn't add up?"

The Last Ride of Terrance Williams

"Terrance Williams disappeared in 2004. He's the subject of a fascinating podcast called 'The Last Ride.'"

"The short version is that he was taken into custody in Naples, Florida, after being pulled over in the early hours for traffic violations. He was never seen again."

"The deputy that pulled him over tried to conceal the traffic stop even from his own organization, but staff opening a local business saw the whole thing."

"When the sheriff's department finally looked into it, they discovered the deputy was involved in a similar disappearance of a man named Felipe Santos in 2003. To this day the deputy claims no knowledge of Williams's whereabouts, despite being caught out in a series of lies."

- AlanMercer

Paddy Moriarty and Kellie

"Paddy Moriarty and his dog, Kellie. They went missing in an outback town in Australia with a population of 12 people."

"They were last seen leaving the pub riding his quad bike the one-kilometer distance to his house. He or his dog have never been found and no one has been charged in relation to his disappearance."

- Bigred0762

Susan Powell and Family

"Susan Powell went missing from her home in West Valley, Utah, on December 6, 2009."

"She is presumably dead. Her husband, Josh, was the main suspect and just a real piece of work. No one knows what really happened to her."

"Sadly in 2012, Josh murdered their kids and committed suicide after Susan’s parents gained custody of the kids."

- AlexisVonTrappe

"This case is so frustrating since his brother and father are both dead too. We’ll never know what happened to Susan, but I’m positive she’s in an old mine shaft somewhere. F**k Josh Powell."

- burittosquirrel

​The Last Call from Brandon Swanson

"Brandon Swanson. He drove into a ditch and called his parents for help. They stayed on the phone with him for 47 minutes while they drove around looking for him."

"They heard him say, 'Oh s**t,' and then the phone went silent. They eventually found his car far away from where he said he was but he was never found."

- kittengoesrawr

"Reading this was absolutely chilling. It seems at first glance that it's most likely he drowned, but that really doesn't make sense because the water was only 10 feet deep and they would have found the body."

"He just suddenly said, 'OH S**T!' and the phone went silent, but he did not hang up. The phone call continued with total silence from his end. What the f**k happened to him?"

- angelposts

Babysitter Mar Lou Bostwick

"Mary Lou Bostwick. She disappeared July 18, 1972, from Waverly, New York. She was dropped off by her dad to babysit at a friend's house. This was also her 16th birthday. Her mom stopped by later with a cake and presents."

"The people in the apartment told her that Mary never showed up. However, her bag was in the residence. Nothing else was ever found."

"There was another girl around the same age, Sharon Coston, who was abducted and murdered in a nearby town about a year later. October 1983 in Sayre, Pennsylvania."

"There was a man convicted of that, but he always denied doing anything to Mary. One of the people who testified against him and was given immunity was a suspect in Mary's case. Mary's mom thinks there's a connection, but nothing was ever really found."

"I've sadly never seen anyone cover her disappearance on any of the podcasts or YouTube shows."

- Vamp459

Derek Seehausen of San Diego

​"Derek Seehausen. My friend was dating him at the time of his disappearance, and he was actively planning his future in medicine, and was last seen in San Diego."

"I saw him about two months before he disappeared. Please send any tips."

- Hereforit2022Y

The Beaumont Children

"The Beaumont Children. Three kids go to the beach, are seen with a mystery man, and never make it back home."

"Never found out who the man was or where they went. Their parents just recently died without ever getting any closure."

- snguyenx96

Xavier Dupont de Ligonnes

"Xavier Dupont de Ligonnes. The whole family (parents and four kids) went missing overnight in 2011."

"Employers, schools, and the extended family received weird letters informing of their absence or departure (one of them saying they are going into a witness protection program). Two weeks later they found the corpses of the mother, the kids, and the dog hidden behind the house."

"They investigated and retraced the father’s whereabouts in the south of France. He was last seen leaving a hotel a few days before. The region was thoroughly searched, but he was never to be found."

- z4zazym

Branson Perry of Skidmore

"Branson Perry, aged 20, disappeared from Skidmore, Missouri in April 2001."

"He was working on his house with a friend, went to the shed to grab some power cords, and was never seen again."

- AdamR91

The Incomplete Story of Marshall Iwassa

"Marshall Iwassa. Good guy."

"He came back to his hometown to visit his family and friends, and everything by all accounts was good. He left to take the two-hour drive to where he was living and never made it. Instead, it was recorded he spent the entire night trying to get into his storage unit and then nothing."

"A week or maybe more, his truck was found 12 hours away on a back road in the middle of the woods burnt to a crisp with belongings thrown about everywhere, no sign of Marshal."

"From what I remember, the family was adamant that some of the things inside the truck, burnt or not, were missing, things they knew he had. The truck was even missing parts."

"It's been four years and there's never been answers. It makes me sad and fearful of long travels. From what I know of him, he was a fantastic friend; I hope they get closure one day."

- devbot8

Out Shopping Asha Degree

"Asha Degree."

"She went missing at the age of nine from Shelby, North Carolina, United States. In the early morning hours of February 14, 2000, for reasons unknown, she packed her bookbag, left her family home north of the city, and began walking along nearby North Carolina Highway 18 despite heavy rain and wind."

"Several passing motorists saw her; when one turned around at a point 1.3 miles (2.1 km) from her home and began to approach her, she left the roadside and ran into a wooded area."

"In the morning, her parents discovered her missing from her bedroom. No one has seen her since."

- EstateWeary5789

The Vanishing Marion Barter

"Marion Barter here in Australia."

"She boarded a plane overseas in 1997 and changed her name beforehand (didn't tell family). She apparently came back to Australia for a few days (according to passenger records) and completely disappeared."

"It's an ongoing investigation at the moment, there is a podcast about it called, 'The Lady Vanishes,' featuring her daughter."

"It's so tragically fascinating."

- CuddlySubject

The Grieving Bryce Laspisa

"Bryce Laspisa."

"He was driving to his parents' house (three hours) after an argument with his girlfriend, apparently due to his alcohol and video game addiction and abuse of prescription medication."

"Partway through the drive, he pulled off the highway and just sat there… from 9:00 AM to 3:'00 PM."

"A roadside assistance guy checked on him twice and said he seemed fine and coherent, and Bryce told him he would be carrying on back to his parents shortly."

"Sometime later, his car was found only a few miles away, driven off the embankment, and he was nowhere to be found. They never found him."

- Just_Raisin1124

News Anchor Jodi Huisentruit

"Jodi Huisentruit was a news anchor who disappeared in the early morning in Mason City, Iowa."

"There were signs that she was abducted and the investigation is still ongoing with new leads nearly 30 years later."

- Have_you_eaten_yet

Three-Year-Old William Tyrrell

"William Tyrrell. In 2014, the three-year-old boy went missing from his foster grandmother's yard whilst playing with his sister. His foster mother and foster grandmother were apparently watching them play outside, and the foster mother went inside to make a cup of tea."

"They then noticed they hadn’t seen or heard him in a while and searched the house and yard."

"In 2021, police began searching national parkland near the grandmother's home for human remains. They also revealed that the foster mother and grandmother were persons of interest in his presumed death."

"Earlier today, the foster mother pled not guilty to assaulting another foster child that was in her care (a 10-year-old girl). She has also been charged with intimidating and stalking a minor. Her husband has also been charged with the same crimes, but plead not guilty to all counts. The foster grandmother is now dead."

"Basically, police believe that William died whilst in the care of the foster family, and they disposed of his body to cover it up. Police are recommending that the foster parents be charged with perverting the course of justice and interfering with a corpse."

"His photos went viral at the time of the 'disappearance,' and he went missing whilst in a Spiderman costume, and the photo that was distributed was taken minutes before."

- Red_bug91

These stories are truly haunting, and it's no wonder that Redditors have worried themselves with what might have happened to these missing people.

We can only hope that answers come for at least some of these cases and that their closest loved ones achieve some sense of closure eventually.

If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.

To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/

Senior citizen using a camera
Tiago Muraro/Unsplash

The realization you're getting older can smack you in the face at any given time, and boy-howdy is it fun!

It can be in the morning when you get up out of bed, and your body makes crackling noises, or when you can't seem to keep up at the gym and you cut short your running time on the treadmill.

That's just the physical.

When you suddenly have the epiphany that you're suddenly the oldest one in a group setting, it's humbling.

Curious to hear from strangers online who are no longer the young whipper-snappers they imagined themselves to eternally be, Redditor redmambo_no6 asked:

"Redditors with younger coworkers, what was your 'I’m officially old' moment?"

These moments of realization never get old. But people do.

Senior Kitty

"My childhood cat lived to 21.5 so teaching (freshman biology lab, so students were ~18) became very weird when I realized my cat was older than my students."

– mollusck_magic

Aging In Reverse

"I'm a preschool teacher. It's been a TRIP to watch parents go from Soooo much older than me, to the same age as me, and now they're younger than me!?!?"

– Smart_Alex

The Shook Pediatrician

"My kids pediatrician was also my husband's pediatrician when he was a kid. He was the first kid she had to come back as a parent and she was SHOOK."

– trixtred

Older Together

"See, that's what really kinda drives it home for me."

"I'm not bothered that I'm 48. But that means my school friends are 48, and that's weird for some reason. Like, I went to school with a guy who was wild and crazy. That guy is 48 now, and has a new grandbaby. Somehow, he's old, and I'm just 'getting up there '."

– ThatWeirdTexan

Relics of the past don't just pertain to humans.

Dialing It In

"Had a co-worker ask me, 'Back before cell phones, did you just have to wait around at your house for a call?' Uh, yeah, pretty much."

– Status-Effort-9380

"Reminds me of having to explain the concept of collect calls to my kids. The whole speed speaking where you were for pick up during the recording so your Mama never accepted the collect call."

– DaraScot

Legendary Aircraft

"Various colleagues were debating whether the Concorde had been real. They couldn’t fathom that supersonic civilian aircraft used to exist and now they don’t anymore."

"The Concorde last flew in 2003, when these colleagues were toddlers."

– geckos_are_weirdos

Foreign References

"We were talking about where we were on 9/11, and my coworker went quiet. He wasn’t even born."

"We also had a band that was famous in the 90s stay at the hotel, and he had no idea who they were, meanwhile I was so star struck as they were my entire childhood!"

– Itsagabby

Gravity is not our friend, and not just because of its effect on our faces.

The Day It Went Downhill

"When i fell down the last couple of steps on a stairway. No one pointed and laughed like I expected, instead they helped me up and asked me if I was okay. That’s when I knew."

– day_of_duke

It's About The Recovery

"F'k. That has to be a bummer."

"You fall. You know you're fine. You feel like an idiot. You get ready to wave to the crowd as they laugh and clap. But then... a hand is placed on your arm and you hear 'that was a big fall, are you ok?' You stay in shock for a moment. Of course, you're fine. Everyone is looking at you. They all have concerned faces. Sh*t. Two weeks later, the soreness finally subsides."

– minimalfighting

Ice Slip, You Slip, We All Slip

"This happened to me as well....walking my dog the day after a huge snowstorm. There were some rowdy teenage boys having a snowball fight across the street (schools were closed that day, of course). I slipped on the ice, my feet flew over my head and I landed solidly on my backside. As I struggled to get up I braced myself for the laughter and catcalls, but all I heard was "Are you OK Ma'am??' 'Do you need help??' I was in my early 50s and had never felt 'old' until that moment."

– Ouisch

Conversations with younger coworkers can be fun.

You can quote lines from your favorite TV shows and talk about the latest CD you bought at Target and brag about your new digital camera that takes better pictures than a smartphone.

And then you can watch the blank expressions on your coworkers' faces because they haven't a clue about what you speak.

Yeah. This has never happened to me...

Old.

person getting a tattoo

Collins Lesulie on Unsplash

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But while advancements in tools and inks have opened up endless possibilities for body art, some designs have garnered a bad reputation.

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