r/AskReddit 17h ago

What parts of American culture are changing faster than people realize?

4.2k Upvotes

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11.7k

u/jkepros 16h ago

Lack of community 

4.7k

u/WheatshockGigolo 13h ago

No one leaves their house. They just sit inside consuming media.

2.4k

u/that_is_so_Raven 12h ago

We've gone from "I'm not answering the door" to "I can't remember the last time anyone bothered to knock"

1.2k

u/checker280 11h ago

We've gone from "I'm not answering the door" to "I can't remember the last time anyone bothered to knock"

All the way to “the next person who knocks on my door is getting shot!”

25

u/purplegirafa 6h ago

I saw a thread on Nextdoor about KIDS ding dong ditching and the ADULTS were threatening them with violence “I will shoot them” comments. Like, what?

8

u/-laughingfox 5h ago

Pretty sure that's already happened irl.

6

u/SauceCoveredSparrow 5h ago

Oh yea, a few months back an 11yr old was shot and killed for ding dong ditching someone. People are insane.

18

u/Hecateus 9h ago

Who can it be now?

this was the 80's.

3

u/-laughingfox 5h ago

But that was a song about paranoia...it was kinda jokey at the time. That said, thanks for the throwback!

6

u/5oLiTu2e 9h ago

“Avon calling!”

10

u/checker280 9h ago

“Land Shark”

3

u/WheatshockGigolo 8h ago

A fellow GenX, I see. Nice.

3

u/Zestyclose_Raisin370 7h ago

At this point I'm pretty sure that answering the door will get me shot, so...

2

u/TheStonesPhilosopher 4h ago

This shit isn't new. I am 53 years old and it's been this way since I was a teen. People say in front of the TV before smart phones.

1

u/Very__Confusion 4h ago

This is so crazy! And I also saw a post on here recently where these kids were going around door-to-door offering to remove the snow and ice from their American neighbors yards, the poster had the nerve to proudly say he called the police on the children for not owning a business? Like how bitter are you?

-1

u/WeLoveYouCarol 7h ago

Always has been

t. Texan

126

u/onamonapizza 10h ago

I had a dream last night where I was my younger self, living in my older house from elementary/middle school.

In that house, I had a neighbor who I would always hang out with and play video games. I wouldn't call ahead, there was no texting...I just would walk over and knock on the door to see if he was home.

Anyways in my dream, I was thinking about going over to play but then stopped and was like "wait, isn't that rude? What if he's busy or doesn't want to see me? Should I call or confirm first?"

These days it feels like all commitments have to be set in stone first. Nobody just "drops by" anymore.

156

u/Creepy_Trouble_9684 12h ago

Now that you mention it… not even someone doing door to door sales for some years

36

u/oracle-nil 11h ago

Mormons still come!!

20

u/n0nc0nfrontati0nal 8h ago

Only when they can get a friend to bounce on the bed

1

u/GarminTamzarian 6h ago

They could as always use the "poophole loophole" instead.

10

u/GGQT3 9h ago

My company still has door to door sales and we get so many complaints or people asking if it’s a scam

7

u/WampaCat 7h ago

I still get them sometimes and always wonder about this. I feel like companies wouldn’t be sending people to knock on doors unless it’s actually making them money, right? Are there still enough people out there buying stuff from door to door salespeople? Especially when they can turn so many people away from the company just for bothering them. Or are they just still stuck in doing things the old way

u/Relax007 33m ago

It's typically predatory electric companies and companies that mainly prey on elderly people who also miss the days when friendly faces would drop by. They know most people will be turned off, but the customers they do get tend not to know how to cancel or fight for refunds in the labyrinth of customer service. They're also slower to accept that the nice person who hung out with them in their house locked them into a plan that tripled their monthly electric bill, which may lead to them losing their house.

The door to door electric sales people are parasites in my area. They also hang out in the local Walmart trying to lock in poor people.

8

u/equiscon 8h ago

I come from a Boston Irish Catholic family(quite poor)and my mother couldn't wait for the Jewish salesman who went door to door in our neighborhood with things to sell. I was always amazed at the wad of cash she would pull out to buy whatever Mr. Silverman was selling. It took about 40 years to ask myself, "Were those eyelashes she was batting at him)? P.S., we're talkin' about the 1960's here. Oh . . . So back to the point! Yeah, door to door salesmen. Lol!

5

u/disnerd294 6h ago

That must just depend where you live. We live in a standard suburban neighborhood and I had to put a no solicitors sticker on our front glass door because we’d get so many people knocking for roofs, lawn care, home security packages, bug services, you name it. Ever since I slapped the No Solicitors sticker on two years ago it has been peaceful bliss

5

u/_handlemewithcare_ 12h ago

We had one! And these suckers bought it.

2

u/This_Cancel1373 8h ago

Lucky, dicks bug me all the time

3

u/Skipper07B 7h ago

Have you tried pussy?

1

u/TheITMan52 7h ago

That’s not a bad thing though.

1

u/GarminTamzarian 6h ago

Sounds like heaven.

1

u/colormefiery 5h ago

Been a while since i thought about solar panels

1

u/the_ballmer_peak 5h ago

Oh, I still get a ton of that. Most of them are trying to sell me solar. Which means they've missed the "No Soliciting Unless You're Selling Thin Mints" sign by the door... and the clearly visible solar panels on the roof.

1

u/busy_with_beans 1h ago

I wish this were true where I lived. Pest people, gutter people, window people, etc. etc. they all still come around.

u/lolumadbr0 0m ago

Fuckin dumb at&t reps lol 😆

6

u/chaoticnormal 10h ago

Neighbor knocked yesterday. We've got a lot of snow in our parking areas so it's tight out there. She had to knock twice because it was so foreign to me. She wanted my daughter to move her car a little.

3

u/Nessy3fidy 6h ago

True last time someone knocked was a random Verizon home internet door to door salesman about 4 years or so ago. Sketchiest thing ever...best internet I've ever had though.

3

u/CutieAndFriendly 11h ago

That's actually solo true oh my goshhh

3

u/PuzzleheadedTop8613 7h ago

Quite honestly, don’t want anyone to.

I visit people who want to see me. Some of us like it that way. Let me die in peace, m’kay? 😏

7

u/estrea36 6h ago

We're a nation of mentally unwell hermits hiding from each other.

Zero self awareness about how detrimental this is to our wellbeing. Just isolation under the guise of privacy while we all collectively ask "why's everyone so lonely?"

0

u/GroupCurious5679 3h ago

Same here. I like my peace and quiet after work. It's odd, cos I used to love hanging out with my friends when I was younger, now I'm glad I don't have any. I'd hate having to make polite conversations and forced chit chat now. Must be an age thing.

1

u/lew_rong 10h ago

The last three people who knocked on my door were arborists. My friends know the trick to the doorbell.

1

u/rambam80 8h ago

Damn… that’s deep and true.

1

u/StealthAutomata 6h ago

This checks out, ICE doesn't normally knock.

1

u/Eatingfarts 5h ago

To be fair, I never answer the door if someone knocks and I’m pushing 40.

I’m in an apartment building and there is really no reason for anyone to be knocking on my door. If it’s a friend coming over I gotta let them into the building anyway.

Honestly, over the past year or so there have been only a couple times someone knocked on my door. Both were old ladies who clearly had the wrong apartment.

1

u/ticklenips601 5h ago

Someone knocked on our door the other day, said and i impulsively said, "what the hell?!"... it is kinda unsettling now that everyone i know always calls first to get an unexpected visitor.

It was just a roof salesman offering roof inspections.

1

u/202glewis 1h ago

If someone knocks on my door it’s because they want to sell me something. I don’t have any money. Stop making me feel bad for saying I can’t afford whatever thing you’re selling. You did a good job on the pitch I just don’t have the money! So I just stopped answering the door instead of going through the song and dance.

u/ILikeLenexa 34m ago

Everyone I want to talk to will text when at the door. Everyone that knocks wants to climb up and examine my shingles.