What are the three things about America you miss the most?

This is a place to write about things you miss in everyday life from your childhood or teen years that just has gone away do to changes, social and time going by.

here is the three things I miss the most, and I was born in 67

one. I miss the A+W drive-ins

two. I miss drive in movies

three. I miss the dating scene before AIDES

I was born in 1974.

1. I miss the way food used to taste. I know this sounds weird but things just do not taste like they used to. I think it has to do with mass production, the adding of preservatives and so on. Examples: Velveeta, mayonnaise, and pork chops all taste different than they did when I was a kid.

2. I miss the excitement, anticipation and hope for the future. I know loosing excitement and hope probably comes with age but this is different I think as a society in general we have lost hope regardless of our age. Things just are not like they used to be, I think we all know we are on the brink of something like the end, weather it be the end of the world or the end of this age.

3. I miss good music. The 60’s, 70's and 80's had great music. In the 90's it became mostly crap and now it is just plain sh*tty, for the most part.

I could go on but these are the first three on my list. But I do want to mention I miss America the way I knew it growing up, we didn’t take any bull sh*t, we made immigrants conform to our laws, language and culture and we stood up for what was right.

I miss all the taffic jamms,due to all the manufacturing that used to go on in this country, along with all the heavy trucks, this country has been pimped out, our work that is , to the orient, and south america, while the owners of these componies, are now saying they are bankrupt,

I'm thinking back to the early and mid-1970s now (born in 1968), but I miss the idea of America being 'exotic'. I miss the idea that American food, clothes and culture generally were somehow foreign and faraway. Things seem genuinely glamorous and interesting because of the novelty of them. This weird, bright, colour-saturated culture that was so far removed from my Northern English town.

No offence America, but now I resent you being part of my daily life. I loathe the influence you've had on the rest of the world over the last couple of decades.

Originally posted by Merriman Weir
I'm thinking back to the early and mid-1970s now (born in 1968), but I miss the idea of America being 'exotic'. I miss the idea that American food, clothes and culture generally were somehow foreign and faraway. Things seem genuinely glamorous and interesting because of the novelty of them. This weird, bright, colour-saturated culture that was so far removed from my Northern English town.

No offence America, but now I resent you being part of my daily life. I loathe the influence you've had on the rest of the world over the last couple of decades.

someday america will be a land of freedom again, and when that happens we will become exotic again, gain our flavor and color back...

Born in 1960

I miss:

1.) REAL rock and roll (70s mostly, i.e. Aerosmith, ZZ TOPP, etc.. before they got old like me )
2.) Formality (i.e. dressing up for an airplane trip or just for everyday things, etc.). Or as Merriman Weir said above... glamour.
3.) Respect (NOT political correctness) for others, especially elders.
4.) Respect for the office of the president.





[edit on 17/3/2009 by Iamonlyhuman]

1. The way people were; more social, more caring, less critical, less caught up in being hip.
2. political incorrectness
3. lack of feminism

Hey we've got an A&W Drive-In and a Drive-In theater in my town, so that's two out of three.

1) Government Cheese (if anyone remembers this stuff you will know what I'm talking about)

2) Freedom. (man we used to have it so good back in the day didn't we?)

3) Electronic Typewriters (you know the ones with the ball of letters that made the most atrocious noise when you used it?)

I miss when you had to really work to get the catsup out of the bottle.
Not that sissy plastic squeeze container.

I miss the watery, cheap, bad tasting beer that sold for .50 a qt.

I miss 3 duces, positraction and a 4 on the floor factory installed.


I wish I had more than just 3; I can think of about 9.





[edit on 17-3-2009 by whaaa]

1. Banana's that tasted like them. (same for apples)
2. Lots of VW bugs.
3. Free camping.

I'm going to bend a little bit and list my 3 as what I might have missed had I been a really really old person right now:

The absence of Interstates.
Non paved roads.
DC powering.

no, I'm not a hippie. I suppose somewhere between the old west and modern day would be juuuust fine for me in America.

I don't know if mine are what you are looking for, I was born in the mid 80's so I don't have much of a frame of reference, but here it goes:

1) Being able to go on the airplane with my own thermos of drink from home. I used to love to take my plastic container with my lemonade or iced tea to drink on the plane. Now I can't. If I want to, I have to pay a crazily high amount for a beverage in the terminal.

2) Customer service centers! I remember taking our Bissel to a Bissel repair shop locally, same for Maytag and be able to have someone who knew what they were doing repair our items. That and calling a customer service hotline and speaking to someone in the USA.

3) Going to the terminal and waiting for whoever to arrive. Now its basically either in the pick up lane you greet your visitors or friends/family or down near baggage claim. Takes a little bit of the excitement out. Same with not seeing my family or friends when I get off the plane there waiting.

So many more that are more important but these are nostalgic.

1) Kraft Spaghetti with meat sauce. Remember the kind in the red box?

2) 1978 Pontiac Trans AM "Bandit Special" (I never had one I was too young but I loved them).

2) My 1976 Honda XR75 out of all the exotic motorcycles I have had since...this little bike was the best.

I miss sitcoms... There simply aren't very many of them these days.

I miss the days when you could feel confident just letting your kids roam, and not worry about them being kidnapped or molested.

I miss the way being an American used to garner respect (instead of revulsion) when travelling abroad...though I'm still proud to be one.

1) Tearing apart and rebuilding things using my father's workbench. Like building a hovercraft (working) out of a electric motor, a prop from a rubber band airplane, a HO scale race track transformer, and a butter container.

2) Sitting around a table in the lunch room before class and discussing if it would be possible to destroy the High School using a needle and a artificial dimensional rift.

3) My Brother and I playing croquet on my Grandpa's lawn when we weren't trying to clobber each other with the mallets.

1. The dream of a better future for my kids.
2. Privacy.
3. Pride.

Nothing.

It's been a sham for quite some time, just wasnt as blatant as they've become now.

The only thing I miss is being a child, because of the innocence.

Well as someone who returned to Russia from USA this New Years, the things I miss about US:


Warm weather

Friends and family

Driving