19 "Super Normal" Routines And Experiences From "Way Back Then" That Are Now Obsolete, According To Older Adults

Recently, I asked the older adults of the BuzzFeed Community to share with us the unique but common experiences from "back in the day" that would have younger folks totally fascinated. Here are some of the stories that, depending on your age, will have you feeling ultra nostalgic or completely perplexed:

1."In the early '80s and '90s, there was no GPS and cell phones were only bought and used by the wealthy. So, if you were lost, you'd have to go to the nearest store and use the payphone."

2."I remember when there was a 'smoking section' on the plane! This was in the late '60s and early '70s."

—icyturkey318

3."When I was a kid back in the late '60s and early '70s, my mother used a curling iron that wasn't a plug-in. It was a common way to do hair back then. To heat it, she'd place it on the gas burner on the top of the stove and curl my hair that way. If it was left on too long, you could smell your hair burning. Also, we would roll our hair up in soft curlers or do pin curls with bobby pins and sleep on them all night, which was very uncomfortable."

4."I'm 64 years old. At 10 p.m., a voice would come on the television asking, 'Do you know where your children are?' then go to a bullseye and white noise. There were only four channels to choose from."

—awkwardshark537

5."Hitchhiking was common. I'm 73, and it was especially common to hitchhike to get to the beach."

6."When I was an elementary student in the early '60s, they used to line up your class in the gym and give everyone vaccinations. There were no permission slips needed. We just lined up, and off we went. They did this with the polio vaccine in sugar cubes, too."

—Anonymous

7."The grocery store cashiers didn't have the luxury of bar codes and scanners in the '70s. The price of each item had to be typed into a cash register. It took forever to get through the checkout lane."

8."Back in the '70s, when I went to high school, a PE elective option was gun ownership. You could either bring your own .22 long rifle or use one supplied by the school. There were three weeks of in-class education and three weeks of shooting targets on the far side of the football field. It wasn't uncommon to see senior class students on the bus or walking in the school hallways with a .22 rifle slung over their shoulder."

—cornymule961

9."We'd mix iodine with baby oil and put it all over ourselves when we went to the beach for a better tan."

10."When I first got my period, my mom ran around the house screaming, 'Get the belt, get the belt!' I thought she was going to hit me. My sister, who is eight years older than me, had stick pads at the time. I showed them to my mom, and she said, 'Oh, okay, but do you still need a belt?' My sister had to explain to me what 'the belt' was."

—cutesunflower78

11."I graduated high school in '92; those were the 'good old days.' I used to walk to school every day with a friend, a little over a mile from home, from when we were third graders and beyond. When I was in kindergarten, our parents let us walk to the local grocery store to buy candy; then, we'd hang out in the park afterward until the street lights came on. I used to cook for myself after school when microwaves were a new thing. Every high school student took driver's ed; it was free, and at the end, you'd get your driver's permit. Parents would go on vacation and leave us kids alone in the house. Times were much simpler."

12."I'm an '80s baby. Even when I was in high school, if you ate out somewhere, you'd have to walk THROUGH the smoking section to get to the non-smoking section. It was super common!"

—moultonpatricia

13."When I was a toddler in the early 1960s, I stood on the bench seat next to my mom as she drove around town in our Ford Fairlane. She wanted me to be able to see the sights, and, of course, I was 'perfectly safe' because I had my hand on her shoulder. I don't think those early cars even had seatbelts...if they did, we certainly never used them."

14."Nobody ever got cited for underage drinking in the woods. The cops would confiscate your beer, especially the tap on the keg that was usually somebody's dad's, then send everyone on their way. If you were stumbling drunk, they would take you home, and the cops didn't ruin a kid's record with an underage charge. Also, many kids were hanging out on every corner, in the woods, playgrounds, and shopping centers. It was a different world."

—chillkitten246

15."Cigarettes in vending machines. Our local pizza place had one, and we'd pay 75¢ a pack (yes, it was that cheap). I hid my pack in the zipper pocket on the bottom side of my beanbag chair. I was about 9 or 10 years old. Nobody stopped kids from using the machine."

16."I'm a 50-year-old Gen X'er. I told my daughter that, as a kid, I would go down to the creek with the other neighborhood kids, look at water-damaged Playboys stored under a bush, and throw rocks at each other for fun. She has yet to believe me."

—sterlingthecat

17."When I was a teen in the early '80s, there were no cellphones. If you were really lucky, you'd have your own extension of the landline in your room. I had one, and it allowed me to stay past curfew. Whenever I was out, I would call our home phone, then when my dad answered, I'd say, 'I got it, Dad!' He'd assume I was home, on my bedroom extension, and tell me it was too late for phone calls and to go to bed. So, there were some advantages to old-school tech!"

18."Even in the late '80s, teachers and principals would paddle students, even without parental permission. I remember standing up to my principal once and demanding he call my mother before paddling me. She came to the school and took me home."

—matchwolf

19.Lastly: "I remember in the '80s, real silverware was used for flight meals. Also, pilots welcomed kids in the cockpit and gave kids wing pins. It made flying look really cool."

I remember having to print out directions from MapQuest for my parents, and I'm so glad that I have a talking robot telling me where to go whenever I'm driving through unfamiliar territory. If you're an older adult, what are some common experiences from "back in the day" that would have younger folks completely surprised? Let me know in the comments, or you can anonymously submit using this form!

Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.