'80s And '90s Kids Look Back On The 40 Things That The Youth Of Today Can Never Relate To
The cultural environment was so different before.
Remember when life was simple? No bills, no responsibilities, and the only thing you had to worry about was getting your homework done on time.
Those were the days. Nowadays, it seems like kids have more pressures and stressors than ever before.
But in some ways, it was actually easier being a kid back in the day. There was less pressure to succeed and be perfect, and life, in general, was just simpler.
There was no such thing as social media, so you didn't have to worry about what people were saying about you online. You could just be yourself and not worry about what others thought of you.
Life was more spontaneous. You didn't have to plan everything out ahead of time because there wasn't as much to do. You could just go with the flow and see where the day took you.
There was no such thing as being "connected" 24/7. If you were bored, you had to find something to do on your own. This often led to kids being more creative and resourceful.
Kids would also play outside together, ride their bikes around the neighborhood, and just generally hang out with each other. Nowadays, it seems like everyone is glued to their screens, and there's less of a sense of community.
But overall, life was just simpler back then. And in some ways, that was actually a good thing.
The folks over at Reddit remembered what made those days awesome in a thread. We picked the best ones below.
Check them out!
1. Some people used to have a digital pet.
Tamagotchi were actually fun
dick_pixie, Tomasz Sienicki2. No such thing as "pause."
Running to go to the bathroom during a commercial break
OptimistPrime527, Marnie Morris3. These are way better than NFTs!
Kids these days wouldn't understand why people who grew up with Beanie Babies won't buy NFTs
Lovebot_AI, Michael Lehet
4. Tough boys.
Calling a girl and having her dad answer the phone. That s**t was rough, kids.
clydem, Anselm Hook
5. Calling friends after school and spending hours talking on the phone.
Waiting for your friend to get home to call them. (Not having constant access)
est1979, David Wilson
6. Nowadays, people will share what they want to share.
I've noticed that many younger people who have grown up with social media don't have a strong sense of privacy. Everything is filmed and turned into a TikTok or an Instagram story without asking for consent to have your life shared like this.
Houndie,Marco Verch
7. Back in the day, these were the only colors you'd see on your computer screen.
A computer with a black screen and orange or green font.
Just_Series_3125, TiSanti
8. Everyone needed to agree on a movie before renting it.
Walking to Blockbuster and spending an hour trying to pick a movie everyone could agree on
sugarfairymagic, Ben Schumin
9. The coolest gadget back in the day.
Walkman
Shuoinked, Chris Waits
10. What people looked forward to on the weekend
The joys of Saturday morning cartoons
GallicPontiff, xmoltarx
11. You had to disconnect from the internet if someone was going to use the phone.
"Please get off the computer (internet) so that I can make a phone call."
Big-Professional723, Blake Patterson
12. It's not only The Wizard of Oz.
The Wizard of Oz was on once a year, and if we missed it, we had to wait another year to see it.
Fearless_Associate_5, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
13. Scavenging pay phones be like
Hunting for dimes in pay phones
stupidlyugly, theresajam1
14. Meetups were organized via phone calls.
Organizing to meet someone on a landline and actually having to turn up on time, or they wouldn’t know where you were because you had no way of contacting them.
withereddesign, Alan Kotok
15. How to save money on phone calls
Waiting until nights and weekends to make FREE phone calls on your mom’s Nokia.
SameAsk6997, Paul Swansen
16. No such thing as HD.
We had to walk up to the TV to turn it on or off, change the channel, or adjust the antenna when the picture became unclear.
BingeRedditor, noricum
17. We didn't have GPS or Google Maps at the time.
siriusonbroadripple,Rob Russell
18. Gaming used to be this hardcore.
Playing the same level on a game over and over because there were no save options.
drevilishrjf, blahter09
19. The challenges of owning a Game Boy
You needed a light accessory for your Game Boy because those suckers didn't have backlighting. And to trade Pokémon, you needed to use cables. CABLES.
gracefultime, Phil Nelson
20. Now, you can bring phones everywhere.
Phone corded to the wall.
Dendad6972, Joybot
21. Lite-Brite was cutting-edge tech.
That Lite-Brite was peak technology.
shanecdotes, fo.ol
22. You probably know at least five phone numbers by heart.
Memorizing people's phone numbers.
OptimistPrime527, Alan Levine
23. TV stations used to "sign off."
TV going off the air at night.
J_David_Settle_1973, Shal Farley
24. Road trips were so fun!
Going on road trips as a kid where the only form of entertainment was some sort of game played among your siblings in the back seat involving the license plates of other passing cars. On our car trip to Disney/FL from central PA, my brother and I had a competition on who could write down the most license plate numbers… we ended in the thousands, but for the life of me, I can’t remember who “won.”
Ambrosia0201, Rod Waddington
25. Do you remember that tone?
The sound on the phone when somebody was using the internet.
Poops_McClanahan, Ajit Beborta
26. Do you remember the smell?
Hitting that red strip of paper for your toy gun with a rock.
songinheart17, Harry20
27. Kids don't watch TV these days.
I recently had to explain what “changing the channel” meant to my young child because he only knows streaming. We’ve already covered CDs, VCRs, and what it means to roll down a car window. It was a little rough (for me, not him). Edit: Oh, and we watched “Turning Red,” and I got to explain what a flip phone is.
Proper-Emu1558, Forsaken Fotos
28. They are called "View-Master."
Those sort of binoculars with cardboard discs with pictures. I used to have Dora the Explorer ones.
guitarhansolo, Jack Pearce
29. Playing games had a bit of an extra challenge.
Blowing on game cartridges to make them work.
PrudentBuffalo4535, Kevin Bidwell from Pexels
30. Remember "Dinosaurs?"
NOT DA MAMA!
BeEccentric, Disney
31. You had to wait for your turn with the phone.
Picking up the telephone to call your friend and hearing people talking because it was a party line, meaning multiple households all had to share the same line, so you had to wait until it was available.
doinmybest4now, alphaspirit
32. Playing outdoors was such a huge thing.
How much time we spent playing outside, but not in organized sports. Pickup kickball in the street where you yelled “CAR!” to break up the game briefly for a car driving through. Coming home covered in dirt after disappearing for five hours. We all made fun of how we were called by our parents. We would explore and poke around, dig up worms, chase butterflies, freak out over finding a dead baby bird, skin our knees at least twice a summer, and entertain ourselves for hours.
GoddessOfOddness, Yi Chen
33. Back when there were cassette tapes.
Recording music from the radio.
AndNoc, schnaars
34. Remember this game?
Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?
cfishlips, The Learning Company
35. Using things to make rewinding faster.
Rewinding VHS or a cassette before returning it.
est1979, Allan HazleReport
36. The reason the young ones called the theater.
Calling the theater to listen to the prerecorded list of what movies were playing and at what time.
SteamboatMcGee, stu_spivack
37. You'd look at the TV schedule to see what's good.
How we had to plan our TV watching around a printed schedule. No VHS, no DVR.
thorndike, pizhonas
38. Back in the day, adult movies used to be rented.
Video rental stores with adult sections.
est1979, Stockbyte
39. Want to play video games? Turn to this channel.
It’s not working because it’s not on Ch3.
moridin82, cucuzza
40. We didn't have to worry about going viral on the internet for being so silly.
Getting to be goofy and awkward without worrying about it ending up online for everyone to see.
anon,Osvaldo Gago
41. Hoping the friend will come out
Knocking on your friend's door to see if they could come out and play.
whit3lightning, Henry Burrows
So much has changed since then.
But if you belong to the generation familiar with these items, you can't help but miss the old days. Items that used to be so big at the time are completely irrelevant today.
You also can't help but wonder how much things will change in the next decades.
