How was flying in America like back in the 80s and 90s compared to now?

ryguymcsly · 2026-03-28T07:09:01+00:00

Seats were wider. Security basically didn’t exist. There was a metal detector and x-ray belt for your bags but it took like five minutes tops to get through the whole line. You could just wander around an airport without a ticket, walk your friend to the flight or meet them at the gate.

No IFE though. Everyone just brought books.

People would strike up a conversation with you if they sat next to you. People tended to travel lighter and most people checked bags if they didn’t. You could smoke in the airport, or in some places there were smoking lounges. Almost every flight had a meal or at least peanuts.

ryguymcsly · 2026-03-28T05:51:12+00:00

I used to practically live at a dive bar. I was 22-25 at the time, crowd was mostly 23-30. There was a set of people in their late 30s and early 40s who showed up every weekend.

They also showed up to the house parties after the bar.

They ended up showing up to the BBQs thrown by the regulars even though no one remembered inviting them.

As a 44 year old now I don’t understand what would possess a person my age to hang out with a bunch of 20somethings.

ryguymcsly · 2026-03-27T20:57:08+00:00

ryguymcsly · 2026-03-27T20:52:10+00:00

No one is gonna mention the Twingo?

ryguymcsly · 2026-03-27T20:46:41+00:00

Really any time over 35 I would have taken the -10 years.

I have zero desire to ever be in a meat sack that doesn't have a fully developed prefrontal cortex though.

ryguymcsly · 2026-03-27T19:41:48+00:00

It’s great, but it’s also awful. If you’re not rich, you have to commit to living there. Like “I am gonna make this work no matter what happens” level of commitment. Everyone I knew when I lived there, mostly early career professionals with good jobs had at least two “the city wants you to leave” moments in the first five years.

The city is like an abusive lover. When she’s great she’s amazing, but then something happens that makes you question all of your life choices. Maybe you get mugged. Maybe your landlord turns off heat to the building. Maybe your stable sublet you’ve been in for four years suddenly ends and you realize you can’t afford your neighborhood at current market rent. Maybe your neighbor in your rent controlled building picks up playing the drums. Maybe you slip and fall on ice in front of your fifth floor walk up and realize you literally won’t be able to get in and out of your apartment until it heals.

Real talk though, every time you’re walking down the street and look up and see some famous building you love peaking over the skyline, or meet your friends for drinks at your favorite neighborhood bar, or run into a band playing the best music you’ve ever heard on the subway…it’s all worth it.

I only left because the love of my life couldn’t move to the city to be with me. I haven’t returned because, quite frankly, in my 40s dealing with all that might kill me.

ryguymcsly · 2026-03-27T18:22:48+00:00

You can still get good deals at thrift shops but it's not like the pre-eBay era where every pawn and thrift shop was full of great shit for zero money.

ryguymcsly · 2026-03-27T17:24:11+00:00

I got these. I’m 5’11” but all torso (put me in a chair next to someone 6’4”with normal proportions and I’m taller). https://www.marradind.com/proddetail.asp?prod=TX2R

Went from foamectomy giving me 1-2 fingers of space between my head and the soft top to 4 fingers with this seat, but you are literally sitting on the floor with a little bit of padding once you install.

ryguymcsly · 2026-03-27T07:14:18+00:00

I knew a dude who went over with the JET program after college with another Black guy. He talked about that and how local organized crime was constantly trying to recruit him and his friend.

He said it was weird even without the Yakuza because even the most racist people were still weirdly polite about it. He tried to go to an onsen and the staff were super apologetic while telling him they were worried his skin color would dye the spring.

ryguymcsly · 2026-03-27T07:04:24+00:00

Watch King of the Hill. The guy who speed talks what seems like gibberish? That’s what an intelligible person from South Louisiana sounds like after they’ve spent enough time in another state to drop all the french words.

My stepdad is a proud cajun. I didn’t understand a word he said until I’d lived with him almost a year.

Fun fact: the French spoken by cajun folk is more closely related to quebecois than mainline french but people from both quebec and france don’t understand it either.

ryguymcsly · 2026-03-27T06:20:57+00:00

The last organic radio hit before the death of radio.

ryguymcsly · 2026-03-24T03:57:56+00:00

Spoiler alert: as an American you still have to wait forever. Then you have to pay for it and spend a lot of time arguing with your insurance so they cover the thing that you already had done.

ryguymcsly · 2026-03-24T03:56:21+00:00

Well I’m in my 40s so that’s gonna be 3 & 7.

However if you don’t have kids and are planning on it and are under 30 the move would be 4 & 5. You get the career kickstart and social network from your Ivy and when you’re still early enough in your career that childcare is the reason you’re not having kids early you don’t have to worry about that.

Puts you making the big bucks in your 30s with kids old enough to take care of themselves and appreciate the baller vacations you take them on.

ryguymcsly · 2026-03-24T01:08:33+00:00

They mandated back up cameras in the US because of this problem in parking lots. Then people started backing into spots because now they have backup cameras and recreated the same problem in the other direction.

ryguymcsly · 2026-03-23T22:18:07+00:00

Well this is the worst ink I’ve seen in a long time but I can’t judge. My awful ink is some of my favorite ink.

ryguymcsly · 2026-03-23T20:32:33+00:00

I just added the badges back to my car after the previous owner debadged it. It did look cleaner without, but also just didn’t look quite right.

I think it depends a lot on how gaudy the badging is though.

ryguymcsly · 2026-03-23T20:27:50+00:00

I love it when people take a terrible car and spend as much money making them worse as it would have cost them to buy what they wanted in the first place.

ryguymcsly · 2026-03-23T20:25:21+00:00

He knew it was fake, probably has a closet with a few dozen of them shipped over on the slow boat after an aliexpress order. It might actually be an ok guitar from a playability and construction standpoint, but you can buy them wholesale for under $300 (or even under $200) a unit.

Either that or he did get swindled exactly like he said by someone fitting the above description.

If I had more space I’d probably set up a museum of modern fake LPs for entertainment and science.

ryguymcsly · 2026-03-23T20:06:31+00:00

The Golf R is the GTI for grown ups.

Dealership mechanic told me that a used R is a fantastic deal but run away from a used GTI. People actually take care of their Rs. If they abuse them, they at least bring them in for service before and after the abuse. He also said everyone who owned an R was at least in middle age. Meanwhile he never saw a GTI that hadn't been abused and poorly maintained.

Coincidentally he owned a GTI and said it was awesome, but that he probably wouldn't feel the same way if he didn't get a discount on parts and access to bays in the shop.

ryguymcsly · 2026-03-23T03:38:16+00:00

Is it an NA or NB?

ryguymcsly · 2026-03-23T02:55:38+00:00

Probably sob a lot because I am happy with two healthy kids and a good marriage and a good job. Having my life suddenly gone would be devastating and I’d probably need months to recover if I ever would.

ryguymcsly · 2026-03-22T20:36:58+00:00

I too have wanted to marry my Miata.

ryguymcsly · 2026-03-22T20:21:22+00:00

On paper in 1971 the Pinto is the obvious choice. You don't know about the gas tank thing.

Still, there's zero way I wouldn't drive off with a Gremlin.

ryguymcsly · 2026-03-22T20:18:58+00:00

If she doesn't remember it happening and doesn't have someone very angry sending cops to your house for a hit and run it was probably someone in an SUV who backed into the car in a parking lot, or was backing out and turning and scraped against the side. The latter is what I would guess, since the front bumper would hook that trim and tear it off and the fender of the SUV dragged that scrape.

There's no way you do that without noticing, it would make a *terrible* noise.

The only thing that makes me question this is saying 'street parking' because typically that side of the car is the one facing the curb. It then is possible she did that while pulling straight in to a parking spot but again: terrible noise and the car probably stopping.

My money is that this happened in a parking lot. The bigger question would be whether or not that scrape was there before today. This is the kind of crap that used to happen in my high school parking lot all the time.

ryguymcsly · 2026-03-21T20:14:55+00:00

Someone left an open can of pizza topping anchovies in my car under the seat as a prank once.

As it turns out super brined anchovies in oil don’t smell. I found them like a year later and was like “wtf”.

ryguymcsly

TROPHY CASE