/r/AskOldPeople

Photograph via snooOG

We are not a personal advice, health, or mental health sub.

Please only respond directly to posts if you were born on or before 1980. If you are younger, please restrict your activity to asking questions and responding to existing comments.

This is not an advice forum.


About

We are not a personal advice, health, or mental health sub.

Please only respond directly to posts if you were born in or before 1980. If you are younger, please restrict your activity to asking questions and responding to existing comments.


Rules

1. Respondents to posts must be "old": Born 1980 or prior

2. Please do not seek personal advice or emotional support here.

3. Posts must be 300 characters or less

4. No surveys or homework help

5. Be cool to one another

6. Maximum three questions per user per week, one per day

7. Questions should be topical for the subreddit and its audience

8. Questions about current politics are banned

9. Health questions belong in other subreddits


Links

Advice subreddits:

Related subreddits:

/r/AskOldPeople

788,229 Subscribers

3

People who grew up in the West or Western-aligned countries during the Cold War: how much was the Soviet Union seen as a threat?

I was a kid when the USSR collapsed, so have no memory of when it was powerful. Were people in the West, of all ages, constantly terrified of it? I'd like to get answers from a wide range of countries, if possible.

11 Comments
2025/01/31
23:36 UTC

50

What's a food people don't make anymore?

The other day i was thinking, when was the last time I had salisbury steak, has to be the early 80s.

488 Comments
2025/01/31
22:00 UTC

153

What small thing you've acquired has made a big difference in the quality of your life?

I'd have to say it was buying a toilet seat bidet ($39). Can't believe I lived over 60 years without a device to do what toilet paper can never do!

214 Comments
2025/01/31
19:23 UTC

14

Did something ever happen to you, that you don't have explanation for?

Paranormal/glitch in the matrix

69 Comments
2025/01/31
17:16 UTC

8

Hobbies that were popular during your time.

Are there any hobbies/pastimes that were popular especially during your time? Specifically, are there any that you don't see younger people enjoying today? I am 21, but I noticed that fewer people go to movie theaters now compared to when I was a kid.

89 Comments
2025/01/31
17:03 UTC

7

For those in between 58-63 that are retired, do you feel like you have enough?

78 Comments
2025/01/31
16:10 UTC

2

What are some good satirical comics, publishings from the past?

Seems like they have been around forever. Curious to know some from political venues of yesteryear. Or just current event related.

12 Comments
2025/01/31
15:36 UTC

47

Whats the coolest thing you've crossed off your "bucket list" so far?

With February upon us, one of our neatest was going to see Punxsutawney Phil on Groundhog Day. Absolutely not what we were expecting but super happy we did it for the experience.

295 Comments
2025/01/31
15:34 UTC

9

What was the moment that you decided to live life your own way?

64 Comments
2025/01/31
15:32 UTC

182

How quickly did the years 35 to your age feel like they passed by?

I'm 36. I often wonder. In hindsight it seems like yesterday I was 18 finishing highschool heading to college. I know that during most of it it felt like a snails pace though.

For you how quickly did the time feel like it was passing by from it mid thirties?

495 Comments
2025/01/31
13:46 UTC

30

What is the most sick you’ve ever been, and how did you make it through?

Looking for your stories of hope and overcoming.

146 Comments
2025/01/31
13:20 UTC

14

What's up for the weekend, vintage comrades?

You tell me your story, I'll tell you mine.

73 Comments
2025/01/31
13:12 UTC

7

Why is it easier to say, "I love you," to dogs than it is to my loved ones?

33 Comments
2025/01/31
12:54 UTC

1

What group of fans was most annoying in the 60s/70s/80s?

Sports, entertainment, or other?

109 Comments
2025/01/31
11:50 UTC

17

Women who were around in the 70s, how big was the “natural” makeup look really? Always thought it looked real pretty in movies from back then, and seems like it’s kind of making a comeback these days

47 Comments
2025/01/31
11:44 UTC

12

What’s your favorite memory as a kid ?

58 Comments
2025/01/31
05:49 UTC

14

What's the thing you always wanted to do but couldn't?

92 Comments
2025/01/31
04:52 UTC

68

What foods/drinks do you recall from many years ago and seldom or never see now?

For example, we always had nuts in the shell stitting around in bowls, along with nutcrackers and picks, especially during the holidays, but harder to find them now.

264 Comments
2025/01/31
04:44 UTC

198

If you don't mind sharing - What would you consider the biggest mistake of your life?

33M here and I'm currently dwelling on a bad mistake I made about 12-13 years ago. Care to share something you kick yourself in the ass about time to time?

794 Comments
2025/01/31
04:31 UTC

26

What is a new tech thing you love.

What’s a gadget or new technology you like using?

104 Comments
2025/01/31
02:52 UTC

3

Scams Over the Years

It seems like scams have gotten more sophisticated over the years, and I find myself double-checking everything. I wonder how this compares to past decades. Were scams always this common, or has technology made them worse? What do you remember about scams from years ago?

33 Comments
2025/01/31
00:44 UTC

27

Fooda you did not have?

It's weird to me sometimes. We never had wings, tacos, avacodos, guac, speciality coffees, a lot of foodstuffs that are popular now?

216 Comments
2025/01/31
00:52 UTC

10

How noticeable were all the changes happening in the mid 20th century

How noticeable were the changes around you living during the mid 20th century?

For example did you notice how much was changing from for example 70s to the 80s while they were happening, and how do you feel the changes are nowadays in the 2010s and 2020s. Has it stagnated or does it seem the same?

44 Comments
2025/01/30
21:56 UTC

296

What was your starting hourly pay?

Mine was $3.45 an hour.

2464 Comments
2025/01/30
20:57 UTC

21

Was Superman, Batman, or Spider-man the most popular superhero when you were growing up?

93 Comments
2025/01/30
20:52 UTC

0

How important is the love feeling in a marriage from a woman's perspective?

Should a woman choose someone who she deeply loves but has to tolerate lots of things, or should she choose someone that she could potentially fall in love with, because the man has great qualities as a husband? What was your experience and what did u learn?

39 Comments
2025/01/30
19:10 UTC

52

what was your first job?

347 Comments
2025/01/30
17:58 UTC

126

What part of your body makes you feel aging.

What make you feel old the most?

793 Comments
2025/01/30
17:53 UTC

35

If conscription had to be reinstated in your country, would you want it to stay male only like in the past?

Or gender neutral like in Israel?

282 Comments
2025/01/30
16:37 UTC

37

What's a recent trend or innovation you resisted because you thought it signaled society moving in a bad direction, but ultimately got on board with because it wasn't going away?

183 Comments
2025/01/30
16:28 UTC

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