Older Adults Are Sharing Their "Outdated Skills," And As A Millennial, I Had To Google Half Of These
With constant technological advances, it's inevitable that useful skills from decades ago will become nearly obsolete in the modern age. (Still, it's pretty cool to be able to tell people you can communicate in Morse code.) Recently, redditor u/NuclearFamilyReactor asked older adults in the r/AskOldPeople community to share their "outdated" skills. Here are the pretty fascinating talents they shared.
1."I know how to shear, wash, card, and spin wool. I also know how to dye fiber using plant dyes. At this point, I have made all of my socks, mitts, toques, scarves, and sweaters."
2."Fast forwarding or rewinding a cassette tape to the exact start of the song I want."
"Also, rewinding or fast forwarding a cassette by spinning it on a pencil or Bic pen to save the batteries in your Walkman."
3."Film developing and printmaking."
"I spent so much of my teen years learning chemical photography. Thank goodness for digital, but I resent the wasted skill points."
4."Map reading and being able to use a paper map to get where I am going without turn-based directions."
"I tested off the charts on map reading/navigation back in fourth grade. Centuries ago, I could have had a career. Now, my brilliance has been usurped by a free app."
5."Being able to drive a manual car. Believe it or not, this skill is disappearing with the younger generations. Most cars and even large trucks are now automatic, so there's little reason for the common person to learn manual. I feel like saying, 'I got my manual license' sounds super dated, but it used to be a badge of honor back in the day."
6."I used to remember at least 50 phone numbers, friends, family, and work. Ironically, I used to work for the phone company."
"I used to do that as well. If I had to dial a number more than a couple of times, I'd memorize it. Now I know three numbers: mine, my wife's, and our landline (yes, we are dinosaurs; I give it to businesses that actually need a phone number).
Well, four if you count my home phone number from when I was a kid, which I haven't dialed in nearly 40 years."
7."Morse code."
"I learned Morse code around 2005. It was outdated then, and I don’t remember it, but I think it’s good some people still know it. Just in case."
8."I can utilize a slide rule and type 150 words per minute."
"OK, using a slide rule is definitely an outdated skill but wicked cool. I have some of my dad's, and one day, I will figure them out. I know he showed me the basics like 40 years ago."
9."Mental math. Just the basic stuff, but I'm really quick."
10."Writing in cursive."
"I'm 52 and my son is 13. I'm trying to teach him how to write cursive. I got a card written in cursive just yesterday, and he couldn't read it."
11."Using the card catalog/Dewey Decimal system. I used to be your go-to guy for doing library research."
12."Read, turn pages, and fold the New York Times or any large newspaper with one hand without hitting any pages on your fellow cramped passengers inches away. It's a special skill you do while standing, and your other hand holds the subway car hanging straps (the pre-bar era in the '70s and earlier)."
"My fourth-grade teacher spent half a day teaching my whole class how to do the subway fold for the New York Times!"
13."My handwriting is something 1800s letter writers would be proud of."
14."Drafting. I took four years of it in high school, but post-college, I did 3D drafting for engineering firms on the computer and found almost every technique I'd learned was obsolete. No one draws technical diagrams with a pencil anymore."
15."Celestial navigation. I can use a sextant to figure out and fix my position."
16."I know how to use a type of shorthand called speed writing. I was also pretty good at Gregg, though nothing of that has been retained in my brain. Unfortunately, the only thing it's done is make my personal notes look wild for anyone else to read. Even writing a list to my family gets odd. Speed writing uses principles of phonetic cursive, where you omit vowels and capitals to change the sound of the letter."
"I still use Gregg shorthand! I haven't had to use it at work for about 10 years, but I use it for notes for myself all the time. Warning: it ruins your regular handwriting."
17."Being able to throw a rolled newspaper over the top of my manual 1971 Toyota Corolla left-handed and land it inside the newspaper delivery boxes beside the mailbox eight out of 10 times."
18."I can still splice a 16mm movie film and thread the projector properly. It got me out of more than one high school class to rescue a panicked teacher back in the day."
Do you have any seemingly "outdated" skills? Tell us about them in the comments! If you prefer to remain anonymous, you can also fill out this form.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
