I was watching a fictional story recently that had a recurring plot line of the main character accidentally zapping people when he touched them (and somehow using this to bring someone back to life) and got to thinking, I can’t remember the last time I got a shock. It’s been years at least, maybe more then a decade. I can’t even think of the last time I got the sensation of building up a charge, hearing or feeling the crackling or clinging of static.
But in my childhood and teens it was an extremely common occurrence. A few times a month inevitably touching someone would result in a zap. Going under the covers was often a fun little light on show. Laundry from the dryer was always glued together and crackling. There were even toys based on static electricity.
These sorts of things basically never happen anymore that I notice. There might be a tiny bit of clinging in the dryer if I don’t use dryer sheets but even that is dramatically less than I remember.
Is this a real thing, or just a really odd coincidence in my life only? Are fabrics and electronics subject to stricter controls for safety reasons? Are synthetics just much more popular, and the change over from CRTs to LCDs just creating less stray electrons? Or am I just a less negative person?