35 Older People Post Things That Today's Youth Would Never Understand

Remember the old times when we had to get up to change a channel on TV because there were no remote controls? Yeah, for once, I'm glad that's over.

Since I was the youngest, the number of times I've gotten up to change channels could break someone's record. So I'm glad we have remote controls now, but the remotes aside, there was something magical about the 80s and 90s that today's youth will never understand.

Maybe it's the millennial inside me talking, but back then, things were so much different, so much better than they are today. Even without the remote, TVs back then would air incredible channels, including Discovery and the much-loved Cartoon Network.

Have you seen the kinds of TV shows that the youth watch today? They'll give you a headache and force you to question reality.

Even without phones in our pockets and without social media, we were more connected to people than we are today. We didn't have Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, or Twitter, but we still knew what was happening in other people's lives.

That doesn't mean we used to gossip about others, lol. It just means that people used to get together often, talk often, and call often.

We used to have little notebooks in our pockets with phone numbers of people we knew. Libraries weren't extinct.

The radio filled the weekend air with tunes and classic hits of the time. Every house would have a radio, tape recorder, and enormous stacks of cassettes of their favorite songs.

Redditor MatsGry posted a question asking older people what the youth today wouldn't understand and over 4,200 people commented. This shows how much people miss the good old days.

Sigh. Let's walk down memory lane and find out what today's youth will never understand.

1. TV and channels

History Channel, Discovery Channel, The Learning Channel, and a bunch of other cable networks that are now dedicated to absolutely bottom-tier garbage reality TV shows used to be amazing nonstop documentary TV.

Chubby-Tumbles

2. No unnecessary disturbance.

People could not always get a hold of you and it was a good thing.

TechFiend72

3. Phone numbers

Memorizing phone numbers.

usmcmech

4. Libraries.

Needing to do a report on a topic. No internet. No encyclopedia on CD. Going to the actual library to find someone in your class already grabbed the one book on the subject.

ImCaffeinated_Chris

5. Radio.

Waiting for your favorite song to come on the radio.

rackfocus

6. TV Guide.

Opening up the newspaper to look at the TV guide to see what was on that night.

Actuaryba

fuzzusmaximus

7. Cassettes and pens or pencils

The relationship between audio cassettes and Bic pens (or pencils).

TheWrongFusebox

8. Video rentals.

The excitement of going to a video rental store on the weekends to get to pick out a movie.Actually picking one out was just as exciting as watching the movie.

brokendowndryer

9. Smoking.

omg smoking EVERYWHERE! In theaters, planes, offices, hospitals, trains, restaurants, schools... just everywhere (and the outrage when it was finally banned lol)

MagentaX

10. The urgency to not miss a second.

Going to the bathroom during a commercial break and hearing the dreaded “IT’S ON!!” when you’re not done.

JoePikesbro

11. Movie timings.

Calling the movie theatre to hear the recording with the movie times on it.

StanePantsen

12. Draft lottery.

Watching a draft lottery to see if your number would be low enough that you will be drafted to fight in a war in Asia.

randomcanyon

13. The power of tomorrow.

When you left work you left work. There is an emergency? Oh well, I guess we can solve that problem tomorrow.

StanePantsen

14. Handwritten letters.

The sheer joy of receiving a handwritten letter from someone you haven't seen in a long time. I really miss the days when I had a nice stationery set, and I would write long letters to friends and relatives.

IrianJaya

15. Airport gates.

Picking up or saying goodbye to airline passengers right at the gate.

IsSecretlyABird

16. Camera film rolls.

Taking photos using those little rolls of film and having to take them into a shop for processing. You often wouldn't know if any of the photos were good until a couple of months later.You also had to manually wind on the camera after every shot.

Orlando_the_Cat

17. Video tapes.

Hovering over your stereo with your fingers ready to hit play and record simultaneously while the radio DJ intros the song you've been dying to hear.Recording movies straight off the TV onto VHS tapes and having the dedication to stop the recording to cut out the ads.

Blobfish_Blues

18. Glass is brown.

Be kind rewind.Smoking or nonsmokingI left a message but I think the tape cut out.So when should I call?Get off the line!I got to swing by and drop off some film.I tried calling but I think he's online right now.Everything glass is brown and that's normal.

ClusterChuk

19. Cartoons and cereals.

Watching Saturday morning cartoons with cereal.

Guergy

20. Waiting...

Making plans ahead of time (meet you in front of the theater at 8:25, okay?) and if said friend was late to show up, you had no idea what happened to them. No changing plans last minute, no finding out where they were, just you standing in the meeting place, wondering how long to wait, if you should just tell the ticket seller to let your friend know you’ll be inside etc... (we all had one of those friends).

FadeOutAgain4

21. Rainbows on TV.

TV Channels signing off for the night.

Chubby-Tumbles

22. Floppy disk.

"Insert disk 2"

srentiln

23. Buying a house.

Buying a home at 3-6 times your annual salary and being able to get by on a single income

KingScottKing1985

24. Free toys

Getting a free toy inside a box of Breakfast cereal.

The_Geordie_Gripster

25. Maps and instructions.

Asking for and writing down directions to somewhere, or even looking up and following directions on a map.

kellieander

26. Promotions.

On the job training. Actually being promoted for working hard.

CrazyCoKids

27. Pop in.

Your friends used to just show up unannounced, and you'd have to hang out with them. It was called a pop in, and it was totally normal.

StanePantsen

28. Typewriter.

Lining up the carbon paper so you could get two copies of the document you were writing in the typewriter. And then how annoying it was if you made a mistake and had to break out the Twink.

Orlando_the_Cat

29. Tough choices.

If there were 2 shows on tv at the same time and day you had to make a choice. No dvr no vcr no on demand

hellyea63

30. Wheel-less suitcases.

Suitcases never used to have wheels

Original-Pie99

31. To the old times...

I think youth do understand mundane things like landline phones and B/W TVs, but I don't think they understand how different the life felt back then. I'd say mobile phones and Internet caused the change somewhere in 2000-2005. We went from unconnected to always connected. The world back then felt much slower. The days that were simply boring and nothing to do were super common. Today? I can't remember when I was previously really bored. Everything is so available and entertaining.I also remember how small the world felt. Like, there's your family, guys at work, relatives and that's about it. Someone might have had a pen pal. You couldn't follow your idols, instead you just imagined how they were through their work and perhaps a poster.Personally I'm super glad that I got the change to see both worlds.

Raunhofer

32. Friends and life.

How kids at one point were just everywhere with no supervision. Hell, when I was little it wasn't uncommon for a group of us under the age of 12 to just disappear into the forest/woods/desert for the entire goddamn day. As long as you were back before the streetlights turned on and didn't come back injured your parents just did not give a f**k so long as you were out of the house and out of their way.Also, and this is definitely a guy thing, but every friend group had that friend with an older brother who at a certain point would bequeath their entire porn collection onto the younger kids, usually by telling them where it was hidden. I've seen hollowed out trees with hidden trap doors that had entire libraries of ancient playboy, hustler, and misc porno mags in them. Now if a kid wants to look at porn and their parents don't lock everything down, they just go to any of the millions of available sites for it.

amalgamas

33. Checking on loved ones.

Getting in your vehicle and driving to your friends house to see if they were home. No cell phones, gas was cheap. Driving was freedom.

SoCalRc

34. Landline phones.

Having to call your best friend on a landline and the ensuing anxiety that:A. Their mom might answer. B. They might not be home and who the hell knows where they are?! C. Nobody answers and how long do I wait to call back???

adrivebycastellanos

35. Friday nights.

I miss not knowing where anyone was on a Friday night. You just had to drive around to all the regular spots looking for your friends.You didn't always find them but sometimes you met other cool people and had other adventures. There's less chance for serendipity when everyone knows where everyone is 24/7.

headzoo

There are so many more things that youth today won't understand, and maybe that's for the best, I guess. They'd lose their minds.

Although life was much better back then, today life is simplified, but much more complex. I feel that people were less attached to material things than they are today.

Remember licking postage stamps? Those were some times!

Well, here's to life for giving us the opportunity to see the transition from great TV programs to bottom-tier garbage reality shows where nothing makes sense and people still cheer.

I love the 80s and the 90s. What about you?

You'll do me a solid by sharing this article with others who feel the same way!