It's 2025. What things don't you miss now that used to be commonplace?

[Gepard]

Sitting through television commercials. Thanks to DVRs plus streaming, it's possible to effectively cut them out of your life entirely.

Smog. Not that there still isn't any, but stricter emissions standards mean noticably cleaner air.

Cassette and VHS tapes. Who doesn't love media that wears out as you use it, and has awful fidelity? Sorry, the 80s, but that's one bit of nostalgia I won't fall for.

 

[Set Harth]

It just occurred to me, I can't not remember a time having a teacher who didn't smoke.
I would go to the main office, and the teacher's lounge would be filled with teacher's on their break, smoking.

The only time I can remember a teacher smoking was this time in grad school when I went to a guy's office and he was smoking up a storm in there.

 

[The Friendly Jewish Ghost]

Smog. Not that there still isn't any, but stricter emissions standards mean noticeably cleaner air.

Tell me about it. I remember heading north on the 405 freeway, coming over the crest of Sepulveda Pass and seeing the San Fernando Valley spread out before me -- with a thick brown haze hanging in the air. The city would regularly issue SigAlerts warning people to stay indoors as much as possible because the air quality was so bad. Thanks to California's strict air pollution controls, the air has improved markedly since then. I do miss smog jokes, though.

And while we're on the subject of car-related stuff, here are some features of American cars that I don't miss: Tacky fake wood on the dashboard and interior. Cheesy-looking stamped aluminum wheel covers. Soft, wallowy suspension. Numb power steering with no road feel. Cars so goddamn big you could land a helicopter on the rear deck.

 

[DarrenTR1970]

Tell me about it. I remember heading north on the 405 freeway, coming over the crest of Sepulveda Pass and seeing the San Fernando Valley spread out before me -- with a thick brown haze hanging in the air. The city would regularly issue SigAlerts warning people to stay indoors as much as possible because the air quality was so bad. Thanks to California's strict air pollution controls, the air has improved markedly since then. I do miss smog jokes, though.

I remember flying into Denver in the mid nineties to visit my Mom and Wink and the city was in the middle of one of those inversion layers and driving from the airport to Winter Park on I-70, the city was blanketed in this cloud of smog.

 

[The Salt Umpire]

I remember flying into Denver in the mid nineties to visit my Mom and Wink and the city was in the middle of one of those inversion layers and driving from the airport to Winter Park on I-70, the city was blanketed in this cloud of smog.

When we lived on March AFB in California we'd drive to visit relatives in Santa Barbara on the coast. That meant driving thru LA and at times smog was so bad my eyes hurt. I don't miss that at all. Dad's big Fury was big enough to land a Cub on. It sure was quiet and comfy.