People share 10 things that are currently normal but won't be the same 25 years later

Relevant now but irrelevant later.

Life was quite different for people twenty years ago. So, it makes sense when we think about all the changes that are about to come in our society in the next 20 to 25 years. Imagine a world where we don't have actual office buildings anymore and working from home has become the norm. Maybe we won't have any physical currencies and digital money will be the only thing that will help us carry out any transactions. Or there could be inventions that eradicate single-use plastics forever. A Reddit user, u/Every_Cartoonist3965,  asked the community to share their thoughts on what is normal now but it probably won't be in 25 years. Here are some of the interesting answers provided by people online.

1. Affordable colleges

"Affordable college. Most degrees don’t need students to be in a brick-and-mortar building, I hope in 25 years the cost of college will be significantly cut down." u/Relative_Airline354. "If tuition were affordable (or free) most of us would be able to pay room and board (if also priced reasonably). Tuition is insane, especially for out-of-state public and private universities, where $200k tuition for a 4-year degree is becoming the norm." u/Viperlite. "Community college is free in a lot of places and most state schools are not free but priced well. I hope people stop looking down on those institutions and start looking at them as viable alternatives to big-name private schools. Looking back I should have just gone that route instead of going private. Or started with a lower-cost school and transferred." u/drunkasaurusrex

2. No paperwork

"We’re slowly seeing paperwork die out in hospitals as nurses. I often think about down the line when employees will think it’s crazy I worked when they still used paper. Everything is online now." u/rawr_Im_a_duck. "That drives me insane. I have one healthcare provider who requires paperwork online, then calls you before your appointment to ask you the same questions, and then you answer the same questions a third time when you have your appointment." u/RoeRoeRoeYourVote. "I nearly had a major sleep apnea appointment cancelled because they refused to do this by email, but only operated the phones during school hours. I'm a teacher, so guess what exact hours are almost impossible for me to talk with someone on the phone?" u/meltingkeith

3. Countless streaming services

"56754 different streaming services which amount to more than anyone ever paid for cable." u/the_write_speak. "I think people forget how expensive cable was. I remember it being like $60-80 in the 90s. Figure $150 adjusted to 2024. It may be cheaper now accounting for inflation, but that's only because they lost their home entertainment monopoly. I've never spent more than $20 on streaming/per month." u/Diet_Christ. "I never had a contract but when I canceled I was paying $235/mo for cable and internet. I’m a tv/movie junkie so I have pretty much all the streaming services and fiber internet now and it’s still cheaper than cable. Also when I finally canceled my spectrum because it was insanely crazy. Like on the phone for an hour listening to this lady offer me every deal on earth can be a pain." u/JBFRESHSKILLS

4. Illusion of having privacy

"It's been gone even before the patriot act. Absolutely despicable how much the US invaded its people's privacy illegally and without most even knowing about it. They have the game on lock. It sucks that those that have it on lock, just so happen to be the exact same citizen-murdering traitors. Correct me if I'm wrong but a plan to bomb civilians was drawn up and approved by the Gov. Project Northwoods. Only rejected by a certain president. That happened to have a bad hair day once upon a time in Texas." u/slashertale. "Afraid the lack of responses to your comment says a lot about how much privacy is valued in 2024." u/threefifth

5. Drive-thru service

"I think a LOT of fast food is going away anyway. It is too expensive now, and they have cut the staffing SO much that it is also no longer fast. I had a 3-item order at Del Taco take 20 minutes yesterday. It's like, what's the point?" u/squirtloaf. "They all want you using the app for their stores and doing pick up. Using the old boomer method of going in or driving through order on the fly will have you waiting or pulling ahead to wait more often than it used to be. They also only put their best deals on their apps. I don’t like it but that’s how it works now. The people continuing to do it the old way are just getting fleeced twice." u/Muffin_Appropriate

6. Single-use plastic

"I don't use straws for the most part anymore. For times when I have to use one, I carry around a collapsible metal straw. It works great. I just run it under a tap when I'm done using it, collapse it into its little case, and then drop it in my shoulder bag. When I get home, I'll give it a good cleaning with soap and a pipe cleaner. Same for plastic cutlery, I have a collapsible fork as well. I picked both of them up from REI." u/DAVENP0RT. "In my restaurant, we use wheat straws, they have smaller diameter than plastic paper ones but we put 2 or 3 depending on the size. Feels better on the lips and they stand strong until the last drop of your drink." u/isinsub

7. Current education system

"Yup. Imagine going into a public library and asking for a book. The library tells you that they don't have that book in stock. So then you turn around and demand a Barnes and Noble gift card from them. That's how this voucher system will work that Republicans are frothing at the mouth to implement. The 'there is no such thing as a free lunch' crowd absolutely wants a free lunch. And they don't want the sandwich that everyone else is getting, they want a whole cheese pizza for themselves. Let's also not forget that private schools get to freely pick and choose which kids enter, and are being given even more rights to discriminate with the current Supreme Court. Now think back to all those states legalizing children working in extremely hazardous jobs." u/ThrowsSoyMilkshakes

8. Certain haircuts

"There has not been a single generation since the dawn of time that hasn't looked back on their teenage haircut and cringed. I grew up in the emo hair era, I'm not about to laugh at today's kids for their broccoli hair." u/Expensive_Plant9323. "Hello, original emo MySpace celeb here. Emo hair was either amazing or absolutely awful. A lot of people cut their hair themselves so it ended up looking really bad. The fashion was inspired by the Japanese visual kai which is incredibly extravagant. Emo was just the budget version but a few managed to pull it off really well. Either way, we all had so much fun back then. No regrets." u/ElusivePlant

9. Long commutes

"Work from home is slowly gaining a foothold in the workforce and for good reasons." u/ItsFancyToast_. "Depends where you are based. In the UK I see a drift in the other direction with many companies now back to pre-pandemic mindsets while some offer bad hybrid offers. For most office work I'm only seeing fully remote offers very rarely. Remote working was never big here as for medium towns to cities the travel infrastructure has largely been okay albeit it was stupidly expensive. Collaborative working is better than face-to-face although good internet, video calling, and half-decent communication between colleagues make a lot of that advantage disappear. The commute time and price do not justify any remaining advantage for roles that can be done remotely in any way." u/darybrain

10. Fax machines

"I don’t think I’ve seen a fax machine in 10+ years but I’m sure they are still useful in some way." u/Eggxactly-maybe. "I can send my doctor a physical letter to pre-order prescriptions, so they are done when I come to pick them up, or I can send a Fax. Luckily my router has a built-in fax function. Specialty doctors sometimes have e-mail but I tried at one two weeks ago. Never got a reply nor the script sent to the pharmacy. So I guess that landed somewhere in their spam filter. That particular doctor also has a phone hotline with an answering machine where you can put your orders. Tried that today. Wish me luck. I guess the advantage of Fax is that you know that it actually got there and is now lying as paper in a tray. Your e-mail might have gotten lost on the way." u/Lansamkoenig