Maybe in the future there will be things that seem farfetched now but might be reality a few decades from now. For instance, I would gladly pays tens of thousands of dollars for a crème (or outpatient operation) that would stop all facial and neck hair, thus eliminating the need to ever shave again.
Add a few dreamlike items such as a high alcohol beer that actually burns calories like celery does. Maybe an actual transporter that gets me to work in 10 seconds, although I’m sure with my personality I’d find some way to incur Transporter Rage. But items like this I would gladly pay through the nose for.
Of course, there were things that seemed “far out” when I was growing up that are now reality. Think about how some of these things were so fanciful while growing up.
Pay TV – Cable TV really was still a novelty when I was growing up. Satellites were still the size of, well, actual satellites in outer space. By the time I graduated high school, my family became one of the few households left that didn’t have cable or satellite. Having to go to other friends houses to get your MTV fix is no way to live.
Pay radio – This was a foreign concept even up to a few years ago. But satellite radio has one thing going for it over “terrestrial” radio – niche marketing. I’m a perfect example. Living in the south, where college football is king, I can barely get any hockey updates even though the local NHL team is in first place, much less any hockey news outside of the city. And this is coming from a city with 2 AM radio stations that are dedicated sports-only programming. Now, with XM, I have a 24-hour NHL channel (along with an assload of music channels that don’t play commercials) and I gladly fork over $13 a month for this convenience.
Bottled Water – This concept was truly foreign as we were growing up although my parents were actually at the forefront of this trend. Paying for something that is “free” for the taps in your house was as ludicrous as paying for those free TV airwaves. What’s interesting now is that, given a choice, people reach for water now, not soda, now that we all know how rotten high fructose corn syrup is for you. Sure, most of this bottled water is simply purified tap water, but it’s a great alternative to all those sugary drinks.
McDonald’s – Yes, we all sort of knew the food at the Golden Arches wasn’t the best for you, but it wasn’t as demonized as it is now. Has anyone had a Chicken McNugget in the past decade? They’re absolutely horrendous and I have no idea how I liked those horrific creations while growing up. Then again, I was never exposed to the divine Chik-Fil-A chicken nugget until I moved down here. Remember when the McDLT was the wave of the future? Hot on one side, cold on the other. I still rue the day they got rid of the crispy apple pie crust, opting for a supposedly healthier baked crust. It was the worst thing they’ve ever done.
Cell Phones – Remember the pay phone? Neither do I. Thankfully we don’t have to touch those germ-infested machines ever again. What’s amazing is that even as late as 1997, I knew someone who graduated from college whose first job was as a pay phone installer. That job went away faster than a shag carpet designer in the 1980s.
Direct Deposit – Even as late as 1996, I was manually depositing my paychecks twice a month and I was actually interfacing with a bank attendant. Remember having to fill out your deposit slip with that pen attached to the desk? Not having to manually deposit your checks is one of the 20th century’s true conveniences that I am forever grateful for.
Standing in line for tickets (or waiting on the phone) – Where was the internet when I most needed it? In 1992, I sure could have used this wonderful concept when I had a broken leg and had to stand in line for hours outside the Peoria Civic Center in the middle of February to get crappy behind-the-stage tickets for Van Halen’s “FUCK” tour. While I still detest Ticketmaster and what they stand for, going online sure as heck beats having to dial 500 times before you finally get through, wait on hold for 45 minutes and then are subjected to a nonstop selling-up by the Underpaid Ticket Representative who is trying to sell you the TV Guide and a concert video of Queensryche’s Operation Mindcrime Tour to go along with your Def Leppard tickets. Now I can simply rant at my monitor about the $9.50 surcharge on my ticket and no one gets hurt.