# Things we used to be allowed to do (in the last 60 years) that we aren't anymore. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 28, 2005, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-used-to-be-allowed-to-do-in-the-last-60-years-that-we-arent-anymore/328285 "2005-10-28T05:57:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-used-to-be-allowed-to-do-in-the-last-60-years-that-we-arent-anymore/328285/21 "2005-10-28T14:07:42Z")
Bring that rifle to school and go hunting after Skip out across the highway during lunch for pizza Make a bomb in school in Chem class. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-used-to-be-allowed-to-do-in-the-last-60-years-that-we-arent-anymore/328285/22 "2005-10-28T14:11:39Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > Example, please? [http://www.ashevilletribune.com/the\_rain\_tax.htm](http://www.ashevilletribune.com/the_rain_tax.htm) It’s not the town that I know of implimenting it in Wisconsin this year. You can do the searching if you want more. I’ve already lived through it being implimented. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-used-to-be-allowed-to-do-in-the-last-60-years-that-we-arent-anymore/328285/23 "2005-10-28T14:14:29Z")
> [@Harmonious Discord](#): > > [http://www.ashevilletribune.com/the\_rain\_tax.htm](http://www.ashevilletribune.com/the_rain_tax.htm) > > It’s not the town that I know of implimenting it in Wisconsin this year. You can do the searching if you want more. I’ve already lived through it being implimented. That is quite possibly the stupidest thing I’ve read in a long time. What next? A sunshine tax? The unbridled greed and idiocy of the government (any government) never ceases to amaze me. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-used-to-be-allowed-to-do-in-the-last-60-years-that-we-arent-anymore/328285/24 "2005-10-28T14:15:42Z")
Attend Junior High and High School with a Barlow pocketknife in my pocket at all times. Get a couple aspirin from the school nurse for a headache. Experience the Bible read to me every day for half an hour in public elementary school. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-used-to-be-allowed-to-do-in-the-last-60-years-that-we-arent-anymore/328285/25 "2005-10-28T14:37:43Z")
Get pulled over by the police after drinking and having them follow you home or give you a lift, not arrested. ---
**Author:** ![taxi78cab](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47c2d/32.png) [@taxi78cab](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/taxi78cab)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-used-to-be-allowed-to-do-in-the-last-60-years-that-we-arent-anymore/328285/26 "2005-10-28T14:54:05Z")
> [@CBCD](#): > > Do needlepoint on an airplane. > > Now you can’t have a needle, and you can’t have scissors on a plane. Why bother to fly anymore? You can still take needles on airplanes. I’ve taken my cross stitch with me on many flights. You can even have “safety” scissors (no sharp points). Or use your nail clippers to cut threads as I do. Here’s the [TSA’s list](http://www.tsa.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/Permitted_Prohibited_9_6_2005.pdf) of permitted and prohibited items. (pdf file) ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Means\_Go](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cc9497/32.png) [@Green\_Means\_Go](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Means_Go)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-used-to-be-allowed-to-do-in-the-last-60-years-that-we-arent-anymore/328285/27 "2005-10-28T14:56:11Z")
> [@](#): > > You can’t drive across the Hoover Dam anymore. The road that runs across the top of the dam was permanently closed after 9/11. They’re building a bridge nearby to serve the traffic that used to drive over the dam. I am not sure if this is correct currently… at least I know I’ve driven accross Hoover Dam several times in the last 2 years, most recently in July. You can see the massive undertaking involved in creating a new route that was mentioned though and I bet it’ll be quite a road when its done. Back on topic, things you can’t do anymore… Smoke in most of the bars in my state Also wasn’t it not nearly as big a deal to drive around with an open beer in your car 60 years ago? ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-used-to-be-allowed-to-do-in-the-last-60-years-that-we-arent-anymore/328285/28 "2005-10-28T14:58:16Z")
Smile at a child in a public place. ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-used-to-be-allowed-to-do-in-the-last-60-years-that-we-arent-anymore/328285/29 "2005-10-28T15:11:14Z")
> [@taxi78cab](#): > > You can still take needles on airplanes. I’ve taken my cross stitch with me on many flights. You can even have “safety” scissors (no sharp points). Or use your nail clippers to cut threads as I do. > > Here’s the [TSA’s list](http://www.tsa.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/Permitted_Prohibited_9_6_2005.pdf) of permitted and prohibited items. (pdf file) I’ve been shut down by several flight attendants. But I haven’t flown much in the last three years, so I’m glad to hear things have changed. ---
**Author:** ![CBCD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@CBCD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBCD)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-used-to-be-allowed-to-do-in-the-last-60-years-that-we-arent-anymore/328285/30 "2005-10-28T15:13:06Z")
Buy Quaaludes outside Union Square Park on a Friday night. :eek: Oh wait, that was someone else. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-used-to-be-allowed-to-do-in-the-last-60-years-that-we-arent-anymore/328285/31 "2005-10-28T15:17:29Z")
> [@Harmonious Discord](#): > > I could eat any part of a cow I wanted. The same goes for deer, moose, and elk. Say _huh?_ I recently purchased a cow and had it butchered. They gave me all the parts of the cow generally considered edible (and some I deemed were _not_). What? Are you wanting to eat the hooves? > [@](#): > > I could buy household items without having to show identification period. I bought a microwave last week, and no one checked my ID. I even paid with a credit card which has “SEE I.D” written in big letters on the back, and they didn’t ask to see any identification. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-used-to-be-allowed-to-do-in-the-last-60-years-that-we-arent-anymore/328285/32 "2005-10-28T15:52:40Z")
> [@hildea](#): > > In my country: > Blatantly discriminate someone based on gender (probably race, sexual orientation and religion, too). > Beat your children. > In the aftermath of WWII: Sentence someone to death. > > No, I’m seldom nostalgic for the good old days, I like the present fine! 🙂 Yeah, I’m not too nostalgic, either. In my country, 60 years ago, you could: 1. Deny basic services to black people–for example, you could make sure that they had inferior schools and lousy public facilities for everything from taking a crap to getting broken bones set. You could also decide not to sell a house or rent an apartment to someone because they were of the “wrong” ethnic background–black, Jewish, Italian, or what-have-you. 2. Deny loans or other financial transactions to married women if their husbands didn’t approve. You could also decide not to hire someone because she had a second X chromosome. Oh, and, if you had decided to hire a woman for some job, you could pay her less for that job than you would have paid a male employee. In fact, you could even state different wages for men and women in the want ad for the job. And if the woman you hired got married or pregnant, you could fire her, no problem. 3. If you were in charge of a police department, you could have the vice squad raid local gay bars. I’m sure that was always fun for everyone involved. 4. If you were a police officer about to arrest someone, you didn’t have to tell that person about their rights. You could use a pretty wide range of rather unpleasant tactics to get the info you wanted out suspects, too. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-used-to-be-allowed-to-do-in-the-last-60-years-that-we-arent-anymore/328285/33 "2005-10-28T16:24:18Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > You can’t drive across the Hoover Dam anymore. The road that runs across the top of the dam was permanently closed after 9/11. They’re building a bridge nearby to serve the traffic that used to drive over the dam. Yes you can. [Crossing Hoover Dam: Guide For Motorists](http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/crossingguide.pdf) (Adobe PDF file warning) ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-used-to-be-allowed-to-do-in-the-last-60-years-that-we-arent-anymore/328285/34 "2005-10-28T16:28:02Z")
> [@Lissa](#): > > Say _huh?_ I recently purchased a cow and had it butchered. They gave me all the parts of the cow generally considered edible (and some I deemed were _not_). What? Are you wanting to eat the hooves? > > I bought a microwave last week, and no one checked my ID. I even paid with a credit card which has “SEE I.D” written in big letters on the back, and they didn’t ask to see any identification. Chronic Wasting Disease - CWD - or Mad (Deer, Elk, Cow) Disease Fertilizer, some paint solvents, medical supplies (not just medicine), alot of adhesives, and whatever else the store gets nagged about being available to the public. People actually think you can stop someone determined to do others and themselves harm by requiring an id for anything that causes harm. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-used-to-be-allowed-to-do-in-the-last-60-years-that-we-arent-anymore/328285/35 "2005-10-28T16:38:55Z")
I liked that a US citizen had to be charged with a crime to be arrested, and other people that tried to find you would be told you’re locked up. Today you can disapear, not be told why, be denied a lawyer or trial, and people inquiring about you not be informed you’re being held. Your just a missing person. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-used-to-be-allowed-to-do-in-the-last-60-years-that-we-arent-anymore/328285/36 "2005-10-28T16:50:58Z")
> [@Switchdoc](#): > > I am not sure if this is correct currently… at least I know I’ve driven accross Hoover Dam several times in the last 2 years, most recently in July. You can see the massive undertaking involved in creating a new route that was mentioned though and I bet it’ll be quite a road when its done. > > Back on topic, things you can’t do anymore… > > Smoke in most of the bars in my state > > Also wasn’t it not nearly as big a deal to drive around with an open beer in your car 60 years ago? Huh. I was in Las Vegas last year, and the road across the dam was closed. It didn’t sound like they were planning to reopen it, but maybe they changed their minds. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-used-to-be-allowed-to-do-in-the-last-60-years-that-we-arent-anymore/328285/37 "2005-10-28T16:52:44Z")
Ok. I’m not going to post to this thread anymore. I’m not going to have this ending in Great Debates. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-used-to-be-allowed-to-do-in-the-last-60-years-that-we-arent-anymore/328285/38 "2005-10-28T16:55:10Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > That is quite possibly the stupidest thing I’ve read in a long time. Excuse the hijack - This tax is a direct result of the passage of the Clean Water Act of 1972 - which, IIRC, is something the _American People_ wanted. Clean water, that is. The problem is that the Federal Gov’t expects smaller governments to implement and monitor these stormwater pollution control regulations without Federal funding. Thus, you get a local tax imposed on ya to pay for the local government’s involvement. Clear now? 😉 - end hijack ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-used-to-be-allowed-to-do-in-the-last-60-years-that-we-arent-anymore/328285/39 "2005-10-28T17:08:48Z")
A few years ago, you could drink a beer while driving, and toss the empty in the back seat to throw away later. I knew one guy who didn’t throw them away until he couldn’t see out the back. Now, it’s illegal to have an empty alcohol container in the car, so you have to throw them out. Once, you could go watch a basketball or hockey game in the very arena where Elvis Presley did his last concert. Market Square Arena doesn’t exist today. Elvis doesn’t, either, for that matter. My brother went to a political speech, and he shook President Jimmy Carter’s hand. He didn’t have to sign a party loyalty pledge to get in. Today, nobody gets within 100 yards of the president unless he pledges to support him. About 5 years ago, our city council passed an ordinance requiring leashes on all cats allowed outside homes. (Let no mouse live in fear!) In all that time, I have never seen a cat on a leash, nor have I heard of anyone being ticketed for letting a cat run loose. ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2005, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-used-to-be-allowed-to-do-in-the-last-60-years-that-we-arent-anymore/328285/40 "2005-10-28T17:12:54Z")
I remember the teacher (and some boisterous boys) playing with mercury in science class. My mom told me that it was fun to play with it if you broke a thermometer too. Now, if someone releases a thermometer’s worth of mercury somewhere, they close the place down, have a HazMat team come in and then arrest the person responsible. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-used-to-be-allowed-to-do-in-the-last-60-years-that-we-arent-anymore/328285.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-we-used-to-be-allowed-to-do-in-the-last-60-years-that-we-arent-anymore/328285.md?page=3)