It was quieter in a lot of ways. Or, I guess more specifically to my issues, there weren’t likely as many conflicting sounds playing at once. You might get some asshole with a boombox on the bus or whatever, but that was rare. I also spent most of my time until uni in the countryside (and moved rural again last year).

I don know if I would have survived phones with my sanity in tact. I guess Gameboys were a thing at some point in my youth (and gamegear and game-and-watch before that), but most people were not playing them with volume in social situations. Hell I still remember when using a cellphone in public was considered dickish if you didn’t excuse yourself to outside or something.