Things that would never "fly" today

[bobyoung53]

I'm so old I remember guests smoking on the set of talk shows...

I'm so old I remember when you didn't change a bass string until it broke.

 

[Alkali Ike]

The comment my ex boss made in an open office to a very hard working coworker who said “I don’t get paid enough for all the effort I put in”

my ex bosses answer; “you’re the highest paid female in this company “

The whole office fell dead silent and all eyes were staring at him in disgust and disbelief.

¡Ay caramba! That definitely doesn’t fly today.

 

[48thStreetCustom]

When I was in 5th grade, my little league baseball coach used to show up to practice with a six-pack, stand on the pitcher's mound, crack a beer, put it down and say "anyone knocks it over, they're doing laps."

 

[Alkali Ike]

In junior high we were absolutely required to take a shower after gym class. This one day I was running late and would have been tardy for next class, so I skipped the shower. Well someone ratted me out to Coach Gibson. He came and physically grabbed me by the neck and threw me into the locker room and said TAKE A SHOWER NOW AND I DON’T CARE ABOUT YOUR NEXT CLASS!

 

[Guild B301]

At my school kids used to have their guns and rifles on gun racks in the back windows of their pickup trucks all the time. So did the teachers. Most times we didn’t even bother to lock the doors. We didn’t even roll up the windows.
On Thursdays, our Texas History teacher had a “trading post” day, where kids would trade things like Rodeo trophy belt buckles, school supplies, and guns & knives. No one even blinked an eye to say it was bad or wrong. It was just accepted as commonplace.
We never had anything more violent than a fistfight ever occur. Whats wrong now - is you can’t trust people to behave decently.

 

[12BitSlab]

The original “Dumbo” animated feature couldn’t be released today.

 

[Iridescentone]

Any TV, movie, video, or similar production that depicts smoking is pretty much forbidden.

There was a very popular fantasy adventure genre comic book series in the 90's called "Bone" by Jeff Smith. It wasn't for kids but for adults and teens.

Several attempts to make the series into a feature length movie have been tried but all have been abandoned because all of the prospective producers have wanted to purge the story of certain elements that aren't culturally acceptable to put on video, and Smith has refused to allow extensive alteration to his story.

The main sticking point has been that several of the main characters smoke. Unfortunately, the author has embedded the smoking habit of these characters deeply into the plot lines so it's not just a matter of making them nonsmokers. Entire segments would need to be extensively rewritten.

I understand the reasoning behind the producers insisting that any movie they make doesn't glorify smoking. In fact, that's pretty much what Smith has done (unintentionally, I assume) with his books.

One character is like everyone's favorite uncle and he constantly smokes cigars. Other beloved elderly characters smoke pipes. Probably the coolest character in the series is an elusive, fire breathing dragon who chain smokes cigarettes. He avoids being seen by anyone, but you know he's around somewhere when you smell the cigarette smoke. A running gag is that when he does show himself, he asks for a light - even though he literally breathes fire.

Apparently you don't have Netflix? I've been watching Peaky Blinders, my lungs ache just watching the characters endlessly chain smoking.

 

[Lesfunk]

Johnny space commander costume

 

[MJ5150]

At my school kids used to have their guns and rifles on gun racks in the back windows of their pickup trucks all the time. So did the teachers. Most times we didn’t even bother to lock the doors. We didn’t even roll up the windows.
On Thursdays, our Texas History teacher had a “trading post” day, where kids would trade things like Rodeo trophy belt buckles, school supplies, and guns & knives. No one even blinked an eye to say it was bad or wrong. It was just accepted as commonplace.
We never had anything more violent than a fistfight ever occur. Whats wrong now - is you can’t trust people to behave decently.View attachment 4034367

This was one I thought of too. It was the same at my high school.
I remember when that subtly started to change. A new family had moved into our neighborhood from California around 1991. The son and I buddied up, so we'd hang out.
One afternoon the dad comes over to our house and sees the guns in my truck. He starts telling me how foolish I am for carrying guns and then asks me 'what's going to stop you from grabbing that gun and shooting someone if you get mad?'
Gee, I dunno Mr. McKinney, because that's illegal? Because I have respect for life? Because these guns aren't for killing people? Common sense? My parents taught me not to shoot people who make me angry? My pop taught me gun safety?
As surprised as he was that I had the guns in my truck, I was just as surprised he even asked me a dumb question like that.

-Mike

 

[Bajo Clarkko]

My mom gave me my first pocket knife when I was seven. (This was in 1967; my dad was in Vietnam at the time, he was fine with it.)

I carried a Buck Knife with me in high school; one day in shop class the teacher needed to open a package and asked if anyone had a knife, because he knew some one did. I loaned him mine. Afterward, he admonished me that it was “Against school policy”. We all had a good laugh.

My brother wore his Buck Knife on his belt. Nowadays, that would not only get you suspended/ expelled, it would get you arrested as well. (Sigh...) Good times.

 

[jerry]

Rock stars abusing groupies!

 

[yodedude2]

tear-gassing a high school and saying it was a prank gone wrong

 

[friskinator]

Rock stars abusing groupies!

Aside from the abuse, I’d guess the groupie scene is largely a thing of the past. Musicians don’t hold the same ubiquitous appeal as they used to, and with the rise of the internet/camera phones/social media, everything can be documented and distributed instantly.

In my touring days in the 90s, my band wasn’t exactly Motley Crue, but we engaged in some offstage behavior that I’m glad wasn’t filmed or photographed.

 

[fhm555]

Lawn Darts with metal pointed ends

View attachment 4033696

A kid on my street had Jarts back in the day. He went on to sit on our state supreme court.

 

[buldog5151bass]

The original “Dumbo” animated feature couldn’t be released today.

Dumbo, Fantasia, Song of the South, Peter Pan, Aristocrats...

 

[Richland123]

When I was in Junior High School, there was a history teacher/football coach who was a real tough guy. He actually put a kid's head through a slate blackboard. I ended up in his class and I saw the hole in the blackboard. When I went to Senior High School, the same teacher went to that school and h treated me great.

There were several male and female teachers at my Senior High School who dated students and nobody said anything. One teacher even got a student pregnant and she walked around school like that and everybody knew he was the father but he never got in trouble or lost his job.

 

[sleddogn]

I knew a guy who dated then moved in with his high school english teacher.

 

[friskinator]

Corporal punishment in public schools. I remember paddling going on at my junior high and high school, and this would have been late 80s/early 90s.

 

[Richland123]

Cartoon characters used in cigarette TV commercials and for corporate beer training movies.

 

[shadowtippy]

Most of the guys in my school carried a knife and there were a lot of firearms in the vehicles in the parking lot. I remember my shop teacher showing off his new deer rifle in class. A teacher would be crucified for that today.