It’s nice to get a useful piece of advice when we’re really looking for one. But as time goes by and things change, not everything that we once thought to be true and helpful could be applied in today’s context. Having this in mind, Reddit user @u/KarenTheManagah asked others online “What was great advice 20 years ago, but definitely isn’t now?”, and her question received more than 31k upvotes and got 14k responses.
The question made people online remember how certain things were back at the start of the 2000s and wonder how time flew so quickly. Some of the answers included topics on education, work, dating, and technology, demonstrating how much the world has changed in 20 years, including our habits, choices, and certain beliefs. With the rise of the internet over a couple of decades, we probably forgot what it was all like at the very beginning when it was advised to print out our maps or download some music for the road. Now that we have smartphones, different apps, and streaming services, this all puts a smile on our faces, reminding us of older and perhaps simpler times.
A lot of users online still remember hearing that it’s much smarter to bring your job application to the workplace rather than send it online. It’s interesting to think about whether anyone still does that now or if it’s even possible to apply for a job this way.
What was a piece of great advice that you heard a long time ago, but now think that it’s no longer valid? Don’t forget to leave your thoughts in the comments down below!
More Info: Reddit
#1
I remember when my dad told me as a teenager to never be the one to pursue a guy (because I’m a woman). Maybe that was to keep me safe in my youth, but I’ve since come to realize that most of the dudes who are worth being with are either shy or oblivious, and I have no choice but to make the first move.
Image source: coke8827, mrhayata
#2
“You can rest when you are dead”, in my opinion the “grind” culture is harmful and leads to a lot of physical and mental Illness. Stress induced illnesses have never been as bad as it is right now. Burnouts have never been as high as they are now. Mental health is plummeting. I understand that in some countries you have no choice but to grind to survive, but in developed countries I do not think society should encourage that mentality. Stress is a disease and this society is sick.
Image source: NotUrKhaleesi, Fabian Rosdalen
#3
“Highschool is some of the best years of your life”
Yeah, I might have believed that b******t back then, but having lived an actual life between then and now, highschool was nowhere near my best years!
Image source: Lord_Jair, m_takahashi
#4
“Everyone needs a college degree.” Trade school is absolutely the way to go for some people, myself included. And I did both.
Image source: Av8rDave1994, Joe Hall
#5
20 years ago: Don’t meet up with people you met on the internet and don’t get in cars with strangers.
Today: Get into the car with a stranger that you’ve summoned to your house using the internet.
Image source: DarkShadow04, Alper Çuğun
#6
You won’t always have a calculator in your pocket!
Image source: parishilton2, Jan Kaláb
#7
Stay away from the guy walking down the street having a full conversation with nobody.
Now it’s just Airpods.
#8
To this day, my mom believes the way to apply for ANY job, is to walk in and hand your future boss your paper resume. Whether or not they’re actively hiring.
She’s not even 60 yet, but calls anyone who applies online a “lazy piece of s**t,” and she doesn’t believe I have an actual job because I work from home. She just hates computers.
**Edit:** I guess some people like sorting by new, lmao. I don’t live anywhere near my mom. We don’t get along, but if we did live close she would absolutely assume I’m available all day long. No, I don’t know why she hates technology. She thinks it’s all a scam. She’s the person that would call IT Support asking where the “any key” is. My job is entirely tech based, and we only meet in person to run inventory quarterly, but she’s 1000% under the assumption I work in a diner because that’s the family legacy, I guess. Or maybe because I just love diners, so she assumes I work there? I’m uncertain.
Image source: IAmBabs, Chris Blackwell
#9
“if she says no, just be persistent! You’ll wear her down eventually”
Edited to add: I took the question to mean “What was assumed to be good advice”.
Like, if it was asking what good advice 100 years ago was, it would include things like smoking cigarettes whiner pregnant so you delivered smaller babies, or using cocaine to treat a teething baby. In hindsight, it’s certainly not good advice. At the time, the culture thought it WAS good advice.
Image source: spasticpoodle, Ștefan Jurcă
#10
Stay at the same company for long periods – they show no loyalty or keep up in pay rises. If you want pay increase and promotion best to swap company every 1-3 years
Image source: DarkDarkness, Dushan Hanuska
#11
“Save your money” lol like how…? We live paycheck to paycheck. We don’t even make enough money to save to begin with!
Image source: Mediocre-Wasabi-9470, Lee Haywood
#12
Take your money and put it in a high interest savings account.
Sure thing, should I be getting 0.5% interest or 0.8% interest on that?
Image source: go4tli, Reading Tom
#13
Get a masters degree and you can become a professor.
Right now, you are lucky to be an adjunct.
PhD is the new masters for academia.
Image source: Setthescene, todd.vision
#14
Be kind, rewind
Image source: ShakyTheBear, Natxo Rodriguez
#15
Buy that house!! Sure it seems weird that you qualified for such a high home loan but I’m sure they wouldn’t offer it to you if you couldn’t afford it.
Image source: JD_85, David Sawyer
#16
You’ll never run out of space with a 10GB HD.
Image source: AndrewSB49, Scouse Smurf
#17
You need to memorize this cause you won’t have the info accessible later
Image source: rt312410, Paul Keller
#18
“Work hard and you’ll go places and live comfortably with a successful career that will cover everything you want in life or at least let you live comfortably.”
Pensions no longer exist in almost every career, single earner household’s went from 65% of all households in the 1970s to under 20% by 2020. My dad made $25/hr stocking shelves at Stop and Shop when he retired in 2011 because he was grandfathered past the pay cap of $12/hr at the time in the state of CT. My first job was retail at Target where even the assistant floor managers were capped at $15/hr where I made $9.00.
So work hard, forget the extra money that would be in your pension that you should see in your paycheck now, and get capped on the value of your labor. Took 7 years after graduating college in 2011 for me to have a job that covered COL expenses. After that I spent 60+ hour weeks for several months on end, just to basically get dumped by one company for another. I went on about 5 vacations with my family for weeks before I turned 16, haven’t been on one ever since, even alone.
Image source: lostcauz707, David Martyn Hunt
#19
In high school as part of one of my classes they brought in a lady who worked HR for some recruiting firm for a few days to teach us how to do resumes and cover letters and such and she told us even if a place has an option to apply online always go in person and pick up an application no one takes online applications seriously.
Image source: profJesusfish, Blogtrepreneur
#20
“Spending whole day on the internet would never make you successfull in life”
Image source: livelifereal, Bryan Alexander
#21
To look after your phone battery you should let it go all the way down to 0% and then charge fully to 100%.
Image source: PangolinMandolin, Jacqui Brown
#22
When you dial collect on the pay phone, just say where you are, what time you need a ride then hang up as not to get charged.
Image source: Practice_Girls, Mike Mozart
#23
Don’t forget to print out your directions from MapQuest before you leave
Image source: stugautz, Paul Swansen
#24
“If your tv isn’t working, try hitting it.”
Image source: SuvenPan, Jon Lee Clark
#25
My dad told me once, “Son you shouldn’t schedule a single vacation day the first year of your job. It shows you’re committed.”
Image source: DayDreamer9119, Nogwater
#26
You’re searching for a soulmate on the internet? Lord you must be insane.
Image source: yanks8190, Cristian Ungureanu
#27
Get into teaching. You get summers off and good benefits…
Image source: cinefilestu, Daniel Nugent
#28
This was real advice when I was in college: “What degree you get doesn’t matter; employers just want to know that you can stick with it for 4 years.”
Image source: cyclopath, Michael Lehet
#29
Plastics.
Well maybe more like 50 years ago.
Image source: ninjamullet, Mr.TinMD
#30
Get an ARM loan on your house! Values go up like 10-20% each year and by the time the load adjusts, flip that house for a sweet profit!
Image source: Evets616, 401(K) 2012
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