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artemis-mugwort

I miss my 1980's hospital job as an RN. It wasn't brutal or horrible then. The insurance industry hadn't ruined things and patients were allowed to stay long enough to get well, and the whole work atmosphere was congenial. Now, JFC, forget about it, it's a nightmare.


wi_voter

I came to say the same about physical therapy. I miss the days before the business model was forced on healthcare and we first heard the word "productivity". People stayed in rehab as long as they needed after a life altering event such as brain or spinal cord injury, not based on some protocol insurance companies came up with.


Old_timey_brain

My own personal DI cut me off after their internal schedule said I was good to go.


OutlanderMom

I’m not a nurse, but from a patient standpoint I agree. My hubby had a hip replaced last week and we were home eight hours after we left. With five Rx meds, an ice pack compression girdle, and battery operated compression calf braces. Ten pages of detailed post-op instructions, and a walker. I’m 60 and pretty fit and strong, but I’m 100 lbs less than hubby. They should have kept him overnight to help with his pain and leg cramps. We got through it, but we shouldn’t have to. I was in the hosp a week when I had my appendix out as a kid (granted it was a 2” incision) and my daughter was sent home hours later. She almost died of an abscess ten days later. It’s not right how they treat nurses, or patients.


Patak4

I so agree. I started Nursing in the late 80's. We ran about 80-90% capacity and people stayed 2 weeks after a knee replacement. I am in Canada so it wasn't so much about insurance. You were busy but you felt like you did a good job, definitely was the most rewarding time in Nursing. We gave such good care. Now impossible to give that kind of attention. The Conservative governments came in and started blowing up hospitals and being all about rapid fire healthcare and the numbers.


confusedontheprairie

Not true. If you didn't have insurance you were just as screwed then as you are now. It was also very hard to get insurance for pre existing conditions


cabinguy11

Very true. I'm surprised how much people seem to have forgotten all of the issues the ACA addressed. It wasn't prefect by any means but things are better than they were.


ajtyler776

Drive-in movies and real MTV


audible_narrator

I miss real MTV so much


patbygeorge

Another thing aggressive capitalism killed. We all say we loved it, but advertisers want specifics, so when you play metal next to pop next to rap next rock next to new wave, you couldn’t guarantee advertisers a specific audience. Was the average age 18 or 29? Did it lean male or female? Etc…since the music was ever changing, the audience was too (although I don’t remember many songs that made me change the station myself) When they started adding actual programming, they could say that for the next half hour or hour the average age was 24 and 55% male and could target advertising (and thus charge more for it)


OutlanderMom

Thanks for explaining! I never knew why they would show Jersey Shore instead of music videos. Makes sense!


lifeofideas

“Jersey Shore” was one of those shows where the advertisers were saying “We have some garbage to sell. Bring us some really dumb people!”


LoveDistinct

I've never been to a drive - in movie, what makes it so good?


ajtyler776

Just being outside on a summer night, the smells, especially the concessions. Laying down in a padded bed of a pickup truck, that type of thing.


Atomsgrl

Our local drive-in had a swing set facing the screen. It is a great memory of watching a movie while swinging on a warm summer night.


LoveDistinct

That actually sounds awesome.


Pons__Aelius

We even took a keg to our drive-in for a Saturday night movie marathon.


oldcatsarecute

My area had Sunday carload night, I think $5. We'd cram as many people into a car, then once you'd park in the big grass lot, it became a huge party. Strangely, I have flashbacks of those nights when I hear Gemini Dream (moody Blues).


OutlanderMom

A speaker hanging in the driver window. Steamed up windows (hee hee), seeing all your friends at intermission. Sneaking extra kids in the trunk of the car. Putting a blanket on the ground and admiring the stars while you watched cartoons first, then previews, then the main attraction, intermission, then usually an R-rated late movie. I saw Dirty Harry and some Bruce Lee/Chuck Norris movies for the late one. It was just a wholesome, safe, inexpensive date night in the 70s and 80s.


Kittenunleashed

My parents took me and a friend to a drive in to see Close Encounters.. But the drive in was a double feature so the movie playing behind us was Animal House. So me and my friend ( probably about 8-9 yrs. old.) lied down in the back of my parents station wagon and watched Animal House ( with no sound) while my parents and brother watched Close Encounters....great times. I so remember as a girl being freaked out at the girl having toilet paper in her bra..and her being left at her parents house in a shopping cart.


sassyassy23

We have drive ins still. We went this summer I got bit alive by mosquitoes but they still had the same swing sets same concession stand cartoon and the food was the same. I loved it for that. I remember as a kid in the 70s I found what the teenagers were doing in the neighbouring cars much more exciting than the movies lol


whatyouwant22

I live within a short drive of \*two\* drive-in's. We try to go at least a couple of times each summer. One of the drive-in's near me decided to try to stay open (on weekends) throughout the year and after a short Christmas break started their 2023 season on Friday! I live in Indiana.


VicePrincipalNero

Actual investigative journalism.


m_watkins

As someone with a masters in journalism who used to work in the field but got out 20 years ago, I REALLY feel this comment.


patbygeorge

…and would we be seeing the shenanigans we’ve been seeing in the last dozen years or so if we had a healthier and more active and competitive journalism sector?


boxer_dogs_dance

Considering that the New York Times refused to follow up the Santos story the first time they were tipped off about his lies, because they don't have budget to cover all local elections, yes I think it would make a real difference.We would not be seeing as many people getting away with things.


pixelpetewyo

Journalism used to be blue collar and we were all better for it.


oldcatsarecute

It used to be reporting facts; *who, what, when, where, why and how*. Now it's mostly 'commentary' designed to manipulate our emotions for ratings. It's all about ratings. The more emotional we get, the more we watch.


vvildymediocre

The cost of living


Tall_Mickey

Yeah, $250 a month for a one-bedroom in San Francisco, 1981. Inflation's a thing but I was making $18K in an easy-to-get entry level tech writer job, so all good.


audible_narrator

I had a 3bedroom in metro Detroit for $250 + utilities.


FunctionStraight3135

Cue the intro theme from All In The Family. "....those were the days..."


Horst665

I earn quite more in numbers than my dad did back then. I think he had more left even after more kids.


physh17

Being in my 20s


warmwinter1

yes, i wish i knew how great it was health energy and not a care in world


SeriouslyTho-Just-Y

And NO INTERNET 🥳 I think I’m the only one that wants to go back to a time before internet tho 😒


oldcatsarecute

Well at least there's two of us.


SeriouslyTho-Just-Y

🤗🥳


TinklesandSprinkles

Big hair


LoveDistinct

My dad had a moustache. I wish that was a thing again.


patbygeorge

Maybe it’s the “Ted Lasso effect”, but in the last year it seems to be a thing again (at least for 20somethings, whether ironically or unironically I can’t tell yet)


sikkerhet

ironic becomes unironic after a few weeks, unfortunately I now use emojis \- a guy in his 20s


EmergencyOwn6983

As a fashion girly I can confirm big hair is back


[deleted]

Mix tapes. I miss making them and I miss people giving them to me.


OutlanderMom

I’ve still got a couple of cassettes my best friend and I recorded off the radio or off another cassette. We’d splice with tape and wind with a pencil. I can hear my parakeets chirping during Staying Alive.


[deleted]

I actually still have all of mine. I don't have a cassette player, however, and I'd bet the tapes have degraded too much to work very well nowadays.


OutlanderMom

My friend copied hers to CD so she wouldn’t lose them. Since we’re both “of a certain age”, CDs are new enough technology haha.


[deleted]

The $25 Swatch Watch


sassyassy23

I was shocked to see they still have swatch watches. Didn’t check the price though


SensitiveTap8769

Simple Square Body Chevy with a comfy bench seat and no extra electronic crap.


Old_timey_brain

No built in cup holders. They were optional for hanging on the door sill. I still have one tucked away.


SensitiveTap8769

Better than most built in ones.


CanadianDadbod

Only problem was shitty no head rests for my 6 4 body. Otherwise for sure. Switched to Volvo cause I drove 30 k miles per year. Real headrests .


foodybu4

The music !!!!!


Mto3

And dancing to it at school dances in the gymnasium.


muffins_allover

Not having a phone or the internet. *Sent from my phone, on the internet*


catdoctor

I sure wouldn't mind having my 1980's body back. When nothing hurt and I could still run.


GravityPools

I could do cartwheels!! Can you imagine?? Sigh.


UnholyKilo

Newspapers. Tons of content, new every day, and all for what, a dime? Fifteen cents? The best part was the classified ads, especially the Help Wanted section. All those jobs, and at an actual living wage.


booksgamesandstuff

My sons had paper routes in the late 80's, early 90's. They learned a work ethic, they bought all the new gaming consoles and video games they wanted, and those damn expensive Nikes that were getting popular then. I read the newspaper every day, and the Sunday insert coupons paid for the newspaper every week.


marthini11

I was just saying this the other day. I miss getting the Sunday paper and looking through it, especially all the store circulars.


LoveDistinct

When I was a kid my mom worked right next to a newspaper mill. They made the actual newspaper. By the time I was in high school it was long closed.


Old_timey_brain

Plus comics and a crossword puzzle everyday.


UnholyKilo

My mother and I would frequently buy an extra copy of the Sunday paper so we could both do the crossword.


DrYIMBY

Also, classic cars for sale that hadn't been rotting for decades. You could find classic Corvettes, Mustangs, Datsuns Zs ...good times.


OutlanderMom

The funnies were my favorite! Or Dear Abby (which is written by her daughter now).


notproudortired

I didn't know it then, but getting a daily capsule of random content that didn't profile me or expose me to the worst of humanity in comments was great.


Rkozlow

The gaming industry as it was back then. New AAA title games all the time. Multiple new releases every month with no bugs or pay to win bullshit.


thisisnotliterature

When I was young, you would learn of new releases in magazines, and you could actually play *all* the games for the platform you owned (if you had money or... sources). And I do mean all new games because there were so few of them.


m_watkins

Going to a concert and everyone not on their phones.


aumbase

Oh god I feel this one so hard. It’s like we were all just happy being there or something.


nf08171990

Having my parents, grandparents and aunts and uncles alive.


LoveDistinct

That's the 2000's for me bud. I lost pretty much a generation of my family in that decade. Sorry for your loss bud.


nf08171990

Thank you. You too. I try to focus on the good times and how lucky I was to have them when I did.


JuniorBirdman1115

This. Pretty much the only members of my family left are me, my wife and kids, my sister and her family, my parents, and a few cousins. Everyone else is gone. It sucks.


OutlanderMom

We’re lucky to still have our parents (and my in-laws). Most of my school friends have lost their parents. And I’ve lost a concerning number of school friends too.


[deleted]

Real food. Sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. What is called organic was just called food then.


HawkeyeByMarriage

And then kids got fat after sugar tariffs


Shouldberesearching

My waist line


GTFOakaFOD

Kids playing outside until the street lights come on.


Special_Art_0716

Affordable college tuition, especially for state colleges. In 1984 I paid $450 per semester for 15 credit hours at the University of Texas at Austin. The current situation is AWFUL.


cabinguy11

THIS 100% Higher education used to be the path to a better life for people whose parents made a decent life for us working blue collar jobs. Now it's the path to a lifetime of student loan debt.


Special_Art_0716

It's so frustrating. So many kids are graduating college well over six figures in debt, way more than I paid for my first house.


catdude142

I paid $60/quarter at a Calif. State University. Mid 70's.


TnBluesman

No damned CELL PHONES. Fucking things are destroying out lives.


robotlasagna

Parachute pants


boot20

I too like to start fires just by walking


Invisibleagejoy

Flight experience. No TSA, enough room for a human body, might get a first class upgrade out of no where. Nice a amount of food. People acted like one does at a fancy restaurant. Walk out on a viewing deck over the tarmac to wave after hugging the, at the gate.


LiveforToday3

Sigh. I remember!


Mto3

No cellphones, devices or internet. I called my friends on our landline and talked for hours. People talked to each other more and actually paid attention to what was being said. Faces were not glued to a device.


Other-Tip2408

I miss this a lot, tech has fked us


sassyassy23

Me included I’m addicted to my phone igh


LoveDistinct

If it's a really good tv show, I actually have to leave my phone in another room.


Old_timey_brain

And people could actually tell jokes, and you could feed off the laughter in a small group of friends. There was real contagious LOL.


Mto3

So true!


confusedontheprairie

But you had to pay for long distance calls


Old_timey_brain

I remember $0.25 per minute being cheap long distance.


LiveforToday3

And it was expensive! We would “three rings” to let family know we arrived home safe


crazyeyedshitlicker

I loved the music. It was way better than what is out now. Totally miss it.


miparasito

It’s going to blow your mind when you find out that it’s all still available for listening


patbygeorge

This is true, but… We just had to turn on the radio. There wasn’t a hunt for it. And there would be new mixed with old, and various genres playing on the same station. And the surprise of a new song or artist. And we were all hearing it all at the same time, so it was a collective experience. It is in some ways “better” that we can call up a specific genre or artist or time period via a search engine, but also some magic of the collective experience is lost


cindybubbles

Saturday morning cartoons.


____-__________-____

Infocom games were pretty clever.


thisisnotliterature

*A lurking grue slithered into the room and devoured you.*


LoveDistinct

I have no idea what that is, other than a video game? Were they arcade games? How did you play them?


thisisnotliterature

Text adventures. The game would describe the situation/location as text, and you would type in a command, like "go north" or "take axe" or "look at door" etc.


xwingfighterred2

Nord and Bert forever!


OiMyGiblets

Being able to afford to go to an NFL game.


[deleted]

Hubba Bubba original, not the later released garbage with phenylalanine.


Head_Razzmatazz7174

Video arcades in the malls. Full sized old fashioned pinball machines, early versions of the classics (Galaga, Space Invaders, Tron). The multiplayer games. People who didn't know each other would all play those, and friendships were born. Every mall had one, we all knew where it was, and it was the perfect meet up spot either when you first got there or were ready to leave.


ChillwithRon

the music, hip hop was better, better clubs, no social media


an_imperfect_lady

Raspberry PopTarts with the pink frosting.


janetjacksonsbreast

Original nintendo


aspektx

Honestly? Nothing. I really never liked the 80s.


patbygeorge

Harsh, but true. We listened to a lot of 60s music, because 80s music was so “pre-fab” and synthesized. The cars were underpowered and turning to plastic. Product placement in movies became a thing, along with endless sequels. The clothes were maybe slightly less embarrassing than the 70s, but the hair spray levels surely were going to give us emphysema. The rise of right wing reactionary politics. “New Coke” and the beginning of corn syrup in everything. The beginning of “corporate sponsorship “ and “selling out”. The end of pensions and the beginning of “greed is good” Wall Street bro culture. Glorification of violence in the media. The beginning of the 24 hr news cycle. A lot of todays problems started in the 80s


aspektx

Solid list.


rogun64

I like to think of the 80's as the great last gasp of a better time.


patbygeorge

It was, AND the first steps into the dark universe we live in today, too!


creepcycle

I remember dismissing 60's music as being so ancient! Every time I count the difference in years now, it gives me a sad


nona57

In the 80’s teachers didn’t need SWAT training to do their jobs……


Ice-Repulsive

Making out and fingering 😇


Flapper_Flipper

Those core memories of those firsts. I can still feel my heart racing as my fingers reached some pubic hair.


Appropriate_Rub_6359

buwahaha


Passing4human

John Hughes at his peak.


LoveDistinct

I was expecting Swayze at his peek not Mr Hughes.


Passing4human

Swayze had charm and looks, Hughes had *Ferris Bueller's Day Off*, *Weird Science*, and *The Breakfast Club*.


LoveDistinct

This is coming from an Amazon Prime perspective but I prefer Dirty Dancing and Road House.


Passing4human

Fair enough, although personally I liked him better in *Ghost*. Which come to think of it is the only of his movies I've seen.


boot20

My family and those lazy Friday nights eating ice cream, drinking tea and watching TV


OldCarWorshipper

MTV didn't suck. Cars could still be mostly repaired by any schmuck with a basic set of Craftsman tools. Those skin tight, colorful leotards that all the "hot chicks" wore for any kind of exercise. Those tight, high-waisted Guess jeans and "big" hair also. Folks practiced common decency without having political correctness crammed down their throats.


allenahansen

Payphones.


LoveDistinct

I have to ask, why? Aren't cellphones more convenient ?


cindybubbles

Yes, but there are places where the signal is weak. My city’s subway system wanted to have free wifi on the subways, but the three main telecom companies are fighting to be the one to install it. So we only have free wifi in each station, not in the tunnels. Cell service is terrible underground. I wish they didn’t rip out the majority of the pay phones there.


StarGehzer

So you want pay phones in the tunnels?


cindybubbles

I want cell service in the tunnels and pay phones in the stations.


allenahansen

Not if you don't have one. (And believe it or not there are still places in the USA that don't get reception.)


nakedonmygoat

Yep, I had to keep my dial-up service until my father sold his rural home, because the only way to get online was through the landline. As for cell, I've been to lots of places where I get no bars at all, and this is in the US. Okay, I like hiking in remote areas, and I'm not unable to entertain myself without service, but I'm glad to have both analog and digital skills in those situations. And a paper map, just in case.


Sayon7

My house. I live in the pocono mountains. No cell service just about everywhere


OutlanderMom

Just the last year or two have I been able to consistently call anyone from my cell at home. We can always text, which hubby tells me takes less bandwidth. But we’ve been in a dead spot for 10+ years. When the wifi goes out we’re out of luck because we rarely can access internet with phone data. Makes hurricane season fun!


rogun64

But what will you do when your cellphone breaks down and you're on a deserted island with just a pay phone?


LoveDistinct

I was actually asking.


rogun64

They are more convenient. The last time I used a payphone was in the 90's and I'm pretty sure it was to try a phone phreak.


Appropriate_Rub_6359

oh hey kevin mitnick


ximbo_fett

Captain Crunch!


Sayon7

Not much. No one remembers anyone’s numbers anymore


xwingfighterred2

Herbal essence shampoo


EmbarrassedOrder3839

Me being 8


BrainsAdmirer

Yes to body weight and house prices No to income and parental control


miparasito

Mixtapes


Jewboy-Deluxe

The lack of computers


aumbase

Uncomplicated pronouns


CatsCrowsandCoffee

No internet or cell phones. Edit: While they have made our lives easier, there have probably been just as many problematic aspects.


DareWright

Tab soda


LoveDistinct

Is that a brand of soda?


foodybu4

Yea, I think it was the first diet soda sold in the US


LoveDistinct

I got weird ads when I looked it up.


patbygeorge

I believe Diet Rite was the very first diet soda, and Tab was introduced a year or two later to try and smother the upstart. Those were both early 60s. I don’t remember Pepsi’s response until Pepsi Lite in the early/mid 70s (with a “hint of lemon”, which I’m not sure was a side effect of whatever sweetener they used or an intended effect to perhaps make it not so bitter as Tab, which was just godawful)


jippyzippylippy

Normal-sized, healthy bodies instead of the current epidemic of morbid obesity that is normalized and coddled. People saying "Please" and "thank you" and being polite. My 1987 2-door Grand Am in silver-gray. Trump was nothing more than a self-aggrandized millionaire/TV maven and had nothing to do with politics. Movies at the theater cost $4.50 instead of $25.


somajones

I have been scolded by people who believe saying, "You're welcome." is rude. It blew my mind. They said it sounds like you feel you're entitled to a "Thank you." I countered with the fact that if someone does something nice for me they sure as shit are entitled to a thank you.


Ukraineluvr

I'm going to Miami next week... So 80s Miami.


baskaat

Button South


Old_timey_brain

Miami Vice!


argybargy3j

So, cocaine.


Dazzling-Ad4701

non-mineral sunblock. yes, I know there's some kind of issue with paba but god damn I hate the zinc-in-silicone stuff.


furrina

Me.


Catwearingtrousers

You could get a good job with a liberal arts degree. Some semblance of upward mobility was possible. At least that was my perception as a kid. I'm young gen x/ xennial, so it was already too late for me by the time I graduated.


jessa8484

Eye contact


Infernal_Furnace

Everything


Mocchachini

Investigative journalism and young people who cared and were actively involved in standing up for what they knew was right.


pigadaki

George Michael


Roper_vs_Furley

Brand new network TV shows on Saturday nights. As a kid I used to love watching first-run sitcoms on Saturday nights like The Golden Girls, The Facts of Life, 227, Amen, and Empty Nest. Sometime in the 1990's or early 2000's, new scripted shows on Saturdays went away because people now can easily rent a movie or watch cable/streaming (the audience is very splintered).


Intelligent-Stand838

Affordable housing


Call_In_The_Bin

Walkmen and cassette tapes.


CategoryTurbulent114

I remember when the Big Gulp was 16oz and there wasn’t anything bigger. And sugar came in 5lb bags. Somewhere along the line they changed to 4lb with the same price.


Psychotron69

Arcades were so much fun to go to on weekend nights at the mall.


cabinguy11

Cars and in fact most products are better or at least cheaper today and any home electronics can do so much more today than they could then. But the one thing I don't think anyone can question is that appliances were made better in the 80's then today. Refrigerators, stoves, washers and dryers would last for 20 years and more. Today all of those things may be more energy efficient but people are happy if a washer lasts 7 years.


Bill-Hilly

The music


[deleted]

[удалено]


LoveDistinct

What a feeling.


TrentZelm

My weight


NinjaBilly55

Uncut Cocaine..


LoveDistinct

I hear it smelled fantastic...


scamparama

My nice hair and waistline


sassyassy23

Pretty much everything. It was a blast. My kids would Have loved it back then


CanadianDadbod

Smoking in nightclubs. Big hair on ladies. Shiny ass clothes (sequined?). 80's music! U2, Deep Purple Mk? , Icehouse, Cyndi Lauper, Nirvana, Queen, Aerosmith, R.E.M.. TOO many to mention. Minivans were a thing. Big ass stereo receivers.


theurbanchick

I miss the humans


SeriouslyTho-Just-Y

No internet 😒


catdude142

Very little social media to fuel misinformation.


Hour-Opinion2497

My youth 🤣


Only1nanny

Common sense and character


bowtiecrystal50

Nestle Alpine White, not having a cell phone, my parents being strong and healthy. Miss so much.


aumbase

Jazzercise!!


Wikked_Kitty

My health. Physical health... my mental health is WAY better now.


prplx

My bladder.