A couple of my local petrol stations did free oil checks and filled the tank for you until about 5 years ago. I was pretty upset when they both went out of business. It felt kinda classy to have the tank filled without leaving the car.
I think it’s the kind of practice that should come back into fashion. If I have to pay £1+ per litre then I want some better service into the bargain.
Ya, there are always problems with every decade because people are involved, and there will always be problems in every decade to come… As long as people are involved. It’s nice though to think of the good stuff whether it was the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s or whatever. Heck, even the age of the hair bands had it’s moments. The 60’s though were really a fascinating time in a lot of ways. It is too easy to be cynical even if it’s with good reason. If a person knew that we would destroy ourselves as a species in the next 20 years would that mean we should stop enjoying ourselves? Melt down all the unis, and sit around waiting?
Oh oh … why romanticize an epoch in either way (good or bad)? each generation had some excessive landmarks but though some “peace and love” people were romantic (even unrealistic in the way they lived it) it remains that many things that you and you and you and everyone of you can do … you owe it to cultural trends that emerged at that time.
It amuses me to see that president Sarkozy of France demonizes “68” and is happy to profit from things that emerged then: equal opportunity, women lib (in its best acception), gay acceptance, planned parenthood ,and so on …
in international politics some romantic view of red china for example were fakeries, but Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela showed also that dreams can lead to important changes in the real world.
Even if you look closely at things such as acceptable attitudes in the army you can discover that they stem from problems that were discussed then!
note : I was 20 in 1968 and I fully accept the “68er” tag. I have evolved but do not think I have betrayed my ideals.
Fantastic decade, the 1960s. 
In America, the Jim Crow Laws ended, and Americans in many states could for the first time choose to marry people from different races without fear of imprisonment. How progressive.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (in my life time) ended racial segregation in cinemas and restaurants - at least in law if not necessarily in practice.
1962, the Cuban missile crisis had the whole world gripped with terror at the thought of imminent nuclear holocaust.
A popular president of the USA was assassinated (JFK).
In 1961, the disastrous Bay of Pigs battle occurred. Lots of people were killed trying to oust Fidel Castro, who in fact survived unscathed until stepping down voluntarily, er… in 2008, a mere 47 years later.
Over here, Labour won power under Harold Wilson with a tiny majority and limped on for a couple of years before having to go back to the polls and securing a bigger majority. They were grim times.
Meanwhile, the Vietnam War raged for the entire decade. I don’t think anyone thinks that was a good thing.
It was certainly not a better time than now. Same sh*t differnt day.
I remember terraced houses with damp outside toilets, damp inside walls, and tenants having few rights and no power to do anything about it.
On the other hand, there were the Rolling Stones, the Dave Clark Five, and mini skirts, so it wasn’t all bad. I was too young to appreciate the mini skirts at the time.
Yup, yup. Making a sweeping description is like saying everyone was the same, whether they were in the Hells Angles or a Barber Shop Quartet. Hey, didn’t the H.A’s have barber shop quartets? If you’re a 1%er, please don’t kill me.