25 Very Common Things That Millennials And Gen X’ers Did Growing Up That Today’s Generation Just Wouldn’t Understand
Back in my day, we had to rewind VHS tapes, blow into Nintendo cartridges, and memorize phone numbers — things today’s kids would probably think are weird, ancient late 1900s things.
Every generation says, at some point, “Life used to be so much simpler when I was young.” But now, with soooo much technology, the lives of kids today truly feel drastically different now than; for example, the difference between 2004 and now feels much bigger than the difference between 1994 and 1974.
Recently, Redditor Gsquat was interested in just how different things are now compared to life in the ’80s and ’90s when they asked: “What’s something you did growing up that today’s generation will NEVER understand?”
The thread got 2.8K comments. Below are the top, best, and most-often repeated things that older folks grew up with that today’s kids just wouldn’t understand:
1. “Spending hours making mixtapes from the radio and waiting for your favorite song to play on the radio just to hit record.”
2. “Organized my activities around TV show times because once the program was shown, there were no reruns the next day, no VCR, no internet or streaming, nothing. You snooze, you lose.”
3. “Checking which movies were showing at what theaters and time in newspapers.”
4. “Having to actually memorize phone numbers or using a map to get around… now it’s all about apps and Google Maps. Crazy times, right?”
5. “I went outside when I was bored and just did stuff.”
6. “Taking pictures, then waiting for them to be developed to see if they turned out okay. Then, finding the whole roll of film is someone’s thumb cause they didn’t know how to hold the camera.”
7. “I used to blow into video game cartridges to make them work. If a game wasn’t loading, you’d take it out, blow into it like your life depended on it, and somehow that fixed it, lol. Kids today will never get how that little trick saved so many games from not working!”
8. “The simple reality of wondering something and not knowing the answer for days, if not weeks later.”
9. “Having to use the TV Guide to know what was going to be on TV.”
10. “Having to converse with your crush/SO’s parents in order to talk to them because we all had home phones and parents always picked up first 😂.”
11. “I used to buy cigarettes for my mom and got to keep the change. I used the change to buy candy that day or wait until the next time to get soda and candy. I used to get clear cream soda with dropped M&Ms. Yummy!”
12. “Calling a number to find out the time or temperature.”
13. “Snow that lasts most of the winter. I grew up in New Jersey, where we used to make some epic snow caves and regularly get multiple 18-plus-inch storms! My kids are lucky to see 6 good inches in a season.”
14. “Having to actually talk to people face to face, like no texting or selfies, just raw awkwardness and random hangouts.”
15. “Browsing through the Sears Wish Book catalog (toys mostly for the Christmas season). Good times.”
16. “Prank calls before caller ID and *69. Also, *69.”
17. “Trusting that someone would show up on time when you’ve made plans.”
18. “Writing letters to people and getting replies in the mail.”
19. “Playing outside without constant supervision from 6 years old and on. I would play for hours and hours outside in the woods and fields around my house. These days, I don’t know a single parent that would allow their 8-year-old to play by themselves without constantly checking on them every 5–10 mins.”
20. Having to manually turn a hand crank to raise and lower the car windows.
21. “Having a written list of family and friends’ phone numbers.”
22. “Using dial-up internet 🙃.”
23. “Having a shared set of facts and cultural touchstones. There were three TV stations that had the news on once a day and were judged by their accuracy and impartiality. Political talk shows were on Sundays only with actual experts. We disagreed about policy, but we agreed on what the facts were. Someone like Trump never would be even considered, at all, a real candidate for president.”
24. “Having to go down to your buddies’ houses and knock on the door and ask the parents if they could come out and play.”
25. And lastly, “Saturday morning cartoons!”
You can read the original thread on Reddit.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
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