Willow Willow Willow

There was a weeping willow growing along a creek. Between the tree a low wall and several large rocks it created a tiny little grotto I would sit there and read or journal or whatever else introverted high school kids do while sitting under a tree. It was my secret special spot.

Then one day I saw some beer cans and cigarette butts behind my favorite rock. Then a few months later it was half a dozen empty cans of whipped cream and some graffiti on the rocks then a while after that needles and a giant turd. It kinda ruined the serenity of the spot.

TheBrontosaurus

Bloggers Ruin It For All Of Us

Used to be a swimming hole by where I grew up, Catskills in NY, pretty much only a local thing only during the summer time. Occasionally you'd get a downstater or someone form CT or NJ. It was rarely busy, and most folks just go there to cool down after work or something. Couple a jumps and then you leave type of thing.

Then it ended up on some blog site as one of the "Top 5 swimming holes in America".

You now need a permit (it's free) from the NYDEC to visit there anytime before 5:00pm. You can't park near by anymore cause it's so packed. Where there was once a pristine trails and nature is now full of trash (legit someone just left a full 30 gallon trashbag on the trail once I saw), there's now a dumpster, that no cares to use, portapotties, and loud music constantly even though you'll get a ticket for playing it.

F**k that blogsite for that, and f**k you if you are a litterer. I can deal with more people than I'd like, but the litter is what really crushed me about my childhood swim spot.

pragmaticlysarcastic

Way To Use Up Our Fun

There was a time where Toy Story characters at Walt Disney World would playfully go limp if you yelled "Andy's coming". However, I can't stress enough that they DO NOT do this anymore. Too many "funny guy" jacka**es demanding it constantly and it really wasn't safe for the character performers.

EggyNoggins

Humans

Our parents had a nice summer cabin on a peaceful mountain lake.

The water was pure and perfect for fishing or swimming. Neighbors were far apart - we rarely heard a sound.

Then, the lake "caught on" and people started buying up every square foot of available property. The pine trees were cut down and big houses with docks dominated the landscape.

Now, there's no quiet. Motorboats roar by at all hours and smell of gas and oil has replaced the fresh scent of pine trees. The fish have died off due to the polluted water.

Back2Bach

Leather And Gangs

In high school I wore a leather jacket - not for style or anything, it was just the jacket that I had, and it happened to be leather. After a few years, biker jackets became a trend, and the school decided to put a ban on them for some bs reason (I think "promoting gang culture" was the excuse they gave). So I had to go and buy another jacket for no real reason, when the one I had been wearing for several years previously was still perfectly fine.

Vio_Amethyst

Looking A Gift Horse In The Mouth

My area used to have probably my favorite Christmas charity of all time. Basically, there were a bunch of donations that would be wrapped up, contents labelled, and sorted by gender and age. We would go in with all the other volunteers, be handed a family with a list of members, each member's name, age, etc, and volunteers would pick out gifts for them, but them in a trash bag, staple the label to the bag, tie it up, etc. It was a beloved charity event, and growing up I had so much fun picking out items for these strangers.

It really brought the community together, made us genuinely feel like we were making a difference in a way throwing money at charities couldn't, and was genuinely fun to do.

Then people started faking being in need to get items, or putting more names on the lists than they actually had in their family. We started running out of donations, and would have to close up early. This also meant many families didn't get anything.

The charity itself eventually got shut down because of all of this.

TheRealPyroGothNerd

Yo That Final Season Tho

A Song of Ice and Fire, the books that became Game of Thrones. I feel like in the absence of that show and its massive fan base (before the end), Martin would have finished the books and I could have totally moved on. Instead the show took off, became the story, and then he let other guys finish it for him. Totally ruined it.

well_uh_yeah

Poor Nature

National Parks (in the US)

Worst thing for some parks was Covid (nothing else to do, everyone flocked to the parks)

Best thing for some parks was Covid (some parks restricted full access to thin out the crowds)

I can only imagine what a zoo Yosemite would be like without Covid restrictions!!

piccolomeat

The Old Air Show

There's an annual air show in the town where I live with all kinds of plane displays. I first started going to see it about 18 years ago. Then it was free to go onto the beach or the promenade and watch the planes. There was a small corporate arena but mostly just relaxed families.

Fast forward to recent years and the air show has a higher profile and bigger attendance. The whole beach and promenade area is fenced off for the air show weekend (which is a public space all of the rest of the year) and you have to pay around £10 per person to get in. You can see some planes even outside that but most of the main displays are hidden by the fence. There are loads of corporate activities as well. I miss the air show like it used to be.

snuffly22

Just Like Amazon...

eBay.

When I first started using it you could find stuff that were insanely good value. Stuff I could buy from eBay, pay post/package and still sell at a profit to the shop I worked in at the time.

Then it got popular because of that amazing value and suddenly it's just another store front and the only things that appear to be great value are those that are actually fraud or similar.

legendary_lost_ninja