I never know the age of anything.
It's funny how we look at certain aspects of life and just have a certain sense of nostalgia attached.
Take Adele for instance. It feels like she's been a part of our lives forever.
But she's only 4 albums in.
That's a drop in the musical bucket.
A very magical and musical bucket.
Redditor LunchCautious8781 wanted to talk about some items that seem old but may still be in the beginning stages.
They asked:
"What do most people not realize is newer than they actually think?"
Iphones. 14 generations is not that far on. Let's talk at 50.
+/-
Pregnancy Test Im Pregnant GIF by Shay MitchellGiphy"Home pregnancy tests, in the 1970s. No longer do we have to inject the lady’s urine into frogs, mice, or rabbits to confirm a pregnancy!"
nagisu
Water Only
"The knowledge that it’s bad to drink when pregnant. Only became widely known in the 80s."
youcallthataheadshot
"This one boggles my mind. Alcohol isn't exactly new -- the ancient greeks had wine and mead. The temperance movement was active for a good hundred years before they got the 18th Amendment."
"But nope. While there were certainly some alarms raised throughout history, people were surprised to learn about fetal alcohol syndrome in 1973, and it wasn't confirmed by a second group of researchers until 1979. In the 60's through 80's it was apparently common for doctors to give alcohol intravenously to women to stop premature labor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetal_alcohol_spectrum_disorder#History"
Lord_Nivloc
Family
"The word sibling was coined in 1903."
ClapAlongChorus
"I learned in English class in 1990 that English didn't have a word for sibling. Later, they said there was a word but no one used it in everyday speech. My mind was a little blown the first time I saw someone actually use it online, around 1999."
Emmison
"This is totally false. The word sibling was coined in Old English and used to refer to anyone who was related to you. It fell out of use for a little while, then was brought back in the 1900s to exclusively refer to brothers and sisters. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sibling#Etymology"
Photo Op
"Having to show ID at the US/Canada border. Prior to 9/11 they often wouldn't even ask to see a drivers license."
Seinfelds-van
"Same at the Mexican border, even after 9/11. I can remember going down to Puerto Penasco around 2002 or 2003 and just being waved through on the way home. Didn't even have to roll my window down, much less show an ID."
mynonymouse
Carb History
Bread Oprah GIFGiphy"Ciabatta bread goes all the way back to the early 1980s. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciabatta#Italy"
Hyphum
"Haha I heard of that too, awhile back. I went googling it again and apparently baguettes are from early ~1900s. Crazy, I would've thought they'd be historical."
Kep0a
Oh that is good bread.
For Comfort
"Boxer briefs are fairly new to the scene, becoming popular in the 1990s."
FaberGrad
"I'm happy they did. My favorite underwear."
McFluff_TheCrimeCat
New World
"Tomatoes are actually a new world crop. So when you associate Italy with pasta sauce, you're actually thinking of Italy, post Columbian Exchange (mid 1500s). And actually, tomato sauce wasn't even integrated into Italian cuisine until the late 19th century, so go figure."
lacroixb0i
Back Together
"What hit me the other day: Germany. It was only reunified 30 years ago."
"Same with Italy. Not that it was reunified 30 years ago, but it hasn’t been a country as long as America has."
GREGORIOtheLION
"I was actually just thinking about this last night because Google Rewards gave me a survey asking about my feelings towards Trabant as a brand: https://i.imgur.com/3lUyozZ.jpg I really don't know why it wanted to know my opinion on a brand that went defunct when the Berlin wall fell lol."
FuzzelFox
The Drift
"The theory of plate tectonics. It pretty much makes up the entire backbone of modern geology, yet it wasn't actually accepted until the 1960s. Alfred Wegener proposed his theory of continental drift in 1915 but couldn't explain the mechanism behind it so his theory was dismissed."
mechanism behind it so his theory was dismissed."
"Over the next few decades, the evidence of crustal movement became undeniable and plate tectonics developed as a theory. It's just crazy to me that geologists were pretty much completely clueless until around 60 years ago."
Gneissisnice
Inhabitants...
Read New Zealand GIF by Rugby World CupGiphy"New Zealand! Its indigenous population only arrived there about 800 years ago, despite Australia just across the Tasman having been inhabited for 75,000 plus years."
GrimThursday
History short and long is fascinating.
Growing into middle and old age is a gradual process that occurs over the course of many years. Youth burns bright and fades slowly. Those youngest years depart at a churning pace, relentless and constant.
But our perspective of the transition is not aligned with that gradual piece. Us humans tend to understand things in a much more staccato way. We're prone to epiphanies and sudden realizations.
And few epiphanies feel more significant than the discovery that middle or old age has arrived. Though the evidence often comes along during a day's most mundane moments, the conclusion feels grand. After all, this is mortality we're talking about here.
A recent Reddit thread encouraged folks to recall a time that a minor occurrence tipped them off to the harsh truth: they were getting older.
LollipopDreamscape asked, "What was the moment where you thought, 'I'm getting old?' "
Middle Aged Inception
"I had a dream the other day about being in high school again, then I woke up and realized I was 28. Then it dawned on me that I'm actually 38..." -- dick-nipples
"Same. These last 10 years might as well have been a year." -- PhoneJazz
"I still have recurring college dreams when I'm stressed. I'll be 41 in less than a month." -- Happy_Fun_Balll
"It's like your subconscious is trying to hurt you lol" -- Tutuformypoopoo
"Don't Screw This Up, Kid"
"When I was older than my doctor." -- Panda-Head
"My grandmom described her doctor being lovely young man. My aunt told us he was actually in his mid 60's." -- fantsukissa
"That one hurts. When I moved I had to find a new GP, and I swear she looks like she's a teenager." -- FormalMango
New Priorities
"My wife and I went to a party, we brought guacamole. We left the party and forgot the bowl."
"My wife and I talked the next two days about how we need the bowl back and when we finally coordinated with the other couple and got our bowl back we were extremely happy."
-- 11BINF
Health Takes a Front Seat
"My wife and I had a 20-minute long discussion about fiber. That was it. We were officially old right then." -- kayser3373
"Literally was just talking about fiber not 15 minutes ago." -- siegewolf
"I will talk about fiber to anyone who will listen. Even better if they share my fibrous passion. It's so great for you and I long for the day when it's added to foods like protein is." -- TheOpus
Out of the Loop
"I have no idea what's happening in music right now. And I don't mean that in a lewronggeneration, 'back in my day!' Kind if way."
"I mean that I literally have no idea what is happening. I used to be so plugged in. I knew all the coolest bands and went to all the best shows. I was giving recommendations to people, I was making mix cds, it was my dream job to be a music supervisor for tv."
"Now...I don't know anything any more. I try, but it's overwhelming."
Safety First!
"I was driving and saw a very attractive younger guy running shirtless on the sidewalk. My immediate thought was 'OMG dude! I hope you wore enough sunscreen today!' " -- LadyBatman
"Similar, but I saw a guy in the parking lot of the grocery store and thought DAYUM....he was 55 at least and all grey." -- icamom
"Or when you watch college sports and think to yourself 'he's hot!' And then hope to God he's over 18." -- IHateRicotta
The Brutal Calendar
"When the new person I was training at work told me she was born in 2002." -- FormalMango
" 'Where were you on 9/11?'...'Not born yet.' Fuuuu**..." -- DeathSpiral321
"I was doing urban exploring and bumped into some teens. They asked me when was the first time I visited this location. I answered. It was the year they were born." -- I_love_pillows
PAIN ALWAYS
"When everything started hurting all the time. Get up from sitting down, back pain. getting up in the morning, full body pain. Do any type of exercise, excruciating pain for multiple days."
"Started taking ibuprofen like motha f***in tic tacs"
-- hireds87
Tis the Season for Utility
"One year I didn't get any socks for Christmas and was disappointed" -- Urethra_tormentor
"For me it was when I realized I was more excited about how Christmas was a day to sleep in rather than about getting gifts. Now that I have a (soon to be) 4 year old, I'm going to have to go back to getting up early once she grasps the concept of Christmas Morning." -- Dimonah
When Sleeping Becomes Strenuous
"When I couldn't sleep without hurting something on me. Currently stuck awake because I hurt my shoulder sleeping." -- applejackrr
"Sleep on the floor for a few days" -- xxrambo45xx
"And then, as you're lying awake, you start thinking about how the same injury used to be better the next day, and now it takes three days and some pain killers to start to get back to 'normal.' " -- markscourtney
A Place Where You Belong
"Went back to my university town for a wedding. Group of friends went to the club we all used to go, left in shock 5min later because everyone there looked about 12 years old."
"Ended up going to the 'oldies pub' instead."
-- Taylor_made2
Pop Cultural Differences
"Not one moment. But anytime I hear a song I grew up with played on a oldies or classic station" -- cantfindmykeys
"When you bring up events, actors, music or shows that everyone knows about, and discover that no one knows what you are taking about" -- feral_philosopher
"Or reading about current celebrities and having no clue who any of them are or what they do." -- darkbee83
Not So Fast
"I tried to skip steps on the stairs. Brain was totally unaware legs couldn't do it. Ate sh**." -- wouldja916
"oooofffff" -- Useless_bumbling_oaf
"But did people laugh or help? That is the real sign." -- announcerkitty
Gotta Get That Value
"Reading reviews on Amazon for lightbulbs" -- greenbean1969
"That's pretty bright of you." -- Thinks_Like_A_Man
"Daaaaadddd" -- Phoenie81
Spanning Multiple Eras
"When I saw three rookies start playing in Major League baseball and realized that I saw all their fathers play as well." -- loosethegales
"Same with hockey now. Every time the World Juniors are on or you follow the draft and you remember having their dads on your fantasy team not too long ago." -- LetsTalkDinosaurs
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Growing up, my parents worked two jobs each, so I spent most of my time with my retired grandfather. Let me tell you folks, I never once understood the way he did things. He was like a baffling magical mystery to me. Like, why are we saving all these newspapers and is there a reason we are driving for hours a day going to five different grocery stores looking for the best deals on a can of tomato paste?