Not the op, but my guess is people weren't glued to their smartphone all the time like they seem to be these days. In '97, '98 I met a large group of folks at a diner they and I both frequented. They just started chatting with me and we hit it off and I started hanging with them.

These days, if the diner even allowed them to hang out and drink coffee for hours on end, they'd be nose deep in mobile FB or whatever zombification they prefer - rather than have "deep" and interesting in-person conversations.