Open Thread: Remember When This Was Weird?

When the Doobie Brothers released “What Once were Vices Now are Habits” in 1974, they didn’t realized how prescient they were.  From louder public places to dogs in shopping carts, there are now tons of weird behaviors that have become mainstream…and really annoying.

Weird Habits that are Normal Now

Too Much Screen Time

As a kid, I was cautioned not to spend too much time watching TV .  (“You’ll ruin your eyes!”)  I was even chided for sitting too close to the set.   Now, of course, I spend most of my workday looking a screen that is much closer than my TV ever was. Nationwide, people are looking at screens for upwards of four hours a day. Kids in strollers are staring at screens in parks instead of playing on the grass.

Unsolicited Comments from Strangers

In the days – and years  – before COVID, you could live your life blissfully unaware of what random strangers in public thought of your hat, your shoes, your meal or anything else.  Since then, it seems, strangers seem comfortable offering unsolicited advice, commentary or criticisms about anything, AKA the “Karen” syndrome – but men do it too!

Wearing PJ’s in Public

People going outside, conducting their business in the drugstore, the coffee shop or the supermarket…in their pajamas.  With booties. The last straw?  Young people wearing jammies to the airport. What’s next – a binky?

Pets in Bars and Supermarkets

Haven’t you noticed how pets (often but not exclusively dogs) are infiltrating bars, restaurants, stores, and other places?  I love dogs, but they don’t belong anywhere food is being prepared or sold.  It only takes one time to see a dog in a shopping cart or peeing on a lower shelf in a national supermarket chain or drugstore to make someone a believer…plus they interfere with the work of legitimate service dogs.

Loudness in Public Spaces

Remember when public spaces especially public transportation, were blissfully quiet?  No music blasting, no being unwilling eavesdroppers to others’ personal conversations?  No loud music blaring from cars at window shattering volume? I miss those days, don’t you?

Porn!

I don’t think it’s just me that porn now is watched by more people, at younger and younger ages, and is more extreme than ever before.  I’m no social scientist but I think even our Sex Columnist Joan Price, might agree that despite so-called ‘ethical porn,”  there are some porn out there that shouldn’t be. There are several studies that indicate that the porn available today can encourage violence against partners and normalizes activities like choking during intimacies and sexual coercion. I really think all porn should have a black box warning at the start reminding viewers that it’s make believe, it’s performed by actors, and it’s not sex education.

YOUR TURN

But that’s me. How about you?  What habits, practices or concepts that were unusual or abnormal in prior years are now normalized?  Share your thoughts in the comments!

Virge Randall is Senior Planet’s Managing Editor. She is also a freelance culture reporter who seeks out hidden gems and unsung (or undersung) treasures for Straus Newspapers; she writes frequently on Old School New York City and performs at open mic readings throughout New York City.  Send  Open Thread suggestions to editor@seniorplanet.org.