We rarely like it, but change is an inevitable thing. We see it all around us and it can be difficult to accept. This is especially the case if it’s something we enjoy, and even more so when it happens without us noticing. In a recent discussion online, people shared things they wish were still around. Here are ten of their most-missed things.
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1. Toys in Cereal Boxes
Sadly, no toys are found in cereal boxes these days, and that’s a shame. Millions of childhoods in the 80s and 90s were marked by small plastic toys or stickers placed inside cereal boxes.
I distinctly remember being just as excited about the toys inside the boxes as the delicious cereal itself. Interestingly, the best toys were placed inside the sugariest cereals, as if kids needed another reason to beg their parents to buy them!
2. 3D Televisions
I feel bad for anyone who purchased a 3D television in the late 2010s. It was a technology that didn’t pan out in the long run. “My wife and I were talking about that the other day,” reveals one man.
“There have been several attempts to make 3D take off for decades, even generations, and it hasn’t gotten past the novelty stage. We were trying to figure out why there hadn’t been more buy-in and didn’t really come up with a good answer. She’s happy about it because she has a bad eye and because that 3D stuff doesn’t look right to her.”
3. McDonald’s All-Day Breakfast Menu
Ah, the McDonald’s all-day breakfast menu. Numerous commenters gave their disappointed views on why that is no longer around.
One person explains their frustration, saying “As someone who works graveyard it’s very sad not being able to have McDonald’s breakfast if I want when I wake up at 2:00 p.m.”
Agreed friend. Agreed.
4. The Taco Bell Dog
I last thought about the Taco Bell dog many years ago, and I am shocked so much time has passed since I last thought about it. The pup was featured in countless television advertisements and disappeared into thin air one day! “Taco Bell used to have a chihuahua as their mascot,” recalls one woman. “The little dude just disappeared one day, and anyone born after 2000 probably doesn’t even know what I am talking about.” I hope he’s enjoying puppy heaven these days.
5. Expansive Video Game Manuals
Every kid who grew up in the 80s remembers the feeling of opening a new video game and being overwhelmed by a larger-than-life manual that served to heighten your excitement. “I miss buying a new game and having a thick chunky manual filled with game lore which you would read before playing and heighten the anticipation of the game itself,” explains one gamer.
I remember my grandma buying me Halo 2 as a kid and then going to a furniture store, so I followed her around, reading the manual while she looked at furniture.”
6. The Right to Join a Union
Workers legally have rights here in America. Sadly, most companies try ways to curtail those rights or look out only for themselves.
One person explains their frustration, saying “The rights of people to unionize is sadly going away. We’re slowly losing more and more rights, making it harder and harder to do. Consequences for companies participating in anti-union behavior have been going away too.”
It’s all about the bottom line far too often.
7. Ownership of Tangible Things
When it comes to ownership of physical things, everything changed in a blink of an eye. Physical media has essentially become extinct, replaced with endless subscription services. “We used to pay money, and then the thing actually belonged to us,” laments one man. “Now everything is rented or leased. Everything is sold as a ‘service.’ Music as a service. Movies as a service. Software as a service. Even printer ink as a service. We spend and spend, and in the end, we hold nothing in our hands.”
8. Long Sports Highlights
I distinctly remember watching ESPN’s SportsCenter each morning as a kid in the early 90s for my fix of sports highlights. Each game had a few exciting minutes of highlights broadcast, and each segment captivated me.
Unfortunately, SportsCenter has changed in the modern era, and each game is allotted just a few seconds of highlights and statistics, a far cry from what it used to be.
9. The Term “Cyberspace”
During the early days of the internet, the world was filled with lexicon like “cyberspace,” “the information superhighway,” and “the world wide web.” These terms aren’t used today because, as a society, we’ve all adjusted to using the word “internet” as a catch-all to describe all online activity. I must be honest; much of the early web lingo was cringeworthy!
10. Service Clubs
Service clubs have been around for decades. The Rotary, Shriners, and more have been an active part of society, but they do seem to be dying out.
One commenter agreed, saying “Oh, they’re still around. But a common complaint among them is they’ve got no members under 70 and no new members are lining up to get in.”
It makes one wonder if they’ll still be a thing in a few more decades.
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This thread inspired this post.
I’m John Schmoll, a former stockbroker, MBA-grad, published finance writer, and founder of Frugal Rules.
As a veteran of the financial services industry, I’ve worked as a mutual fund administrator, banker, and stockbroker and was Series 7 and 63-licensed, but I left all that behind in 2012 to help people learn how to manage their money.
My goal is to help you gain the knowledge you need to become financially independent with personally-tested financial tools and money-saving solutions.
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