Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Share The Typical 90s Scenarios Gen Z Will Never Experience

Woman with 90s side ponytail and makeup
Photo by Nancy K on Unsplash

Reddit user MediumRareTaint asked: 'What was a typical 90s scenario that today's youth will never experience?'

From latch-key life to knowing when someone's home based on their bike being thrown on the front lawn to the earliest, cringiest days of social media, 80s and 90s kids are full of stories from their childhoods.

But these stories are uniquely nostalgic as kids today will never quite experience this type of childhood ever again.


Redditor MediumRareTint asked:

"What was a typical 90s scenario that today's youth will never experience?"

Landline Etiquette

"Talking to someone's parent and asking for your friend, because it was the landline and no caller ID."

- MixedSyrup

"Answering the phone in the kitchen, then running back to your room to take it there, and yelling, 'MOM, HANG UP THE PHONE! MOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM, HANG UP THE PHONE!'"

- manderifffic

The Dial-Up "Song"

"Dial-up internet. That tone is ingrained in my memory."

- Reeeeaper

Downloading Woes

"The experience of losing connection when you downloaded 99% of the file because your mom picked up the phone. Still hurts."

- Cute_Panda9

"Telling everyone in your family you're downloading a big file; don't pick up the phone."

"Reminding your family that you're downloading a big file; don't pick up the phone."

"Telling your family the file is almost done; don't pick up the phone."

"Then someone picks up the phone with ten seconds left... and you have to start the 14-hour download again tomorrow."

- Mustang46L

Internet Sounds in the Home

"The dial-up internet tone that was like nails on a chalkboard."

"'Welcome! You've got mail!'"

"The happy logging onto AIM sound."

"Someone yelling from another area of the house, 'Get offline so I can make a call!'"

"Starting a file download/upload... walking away to make a sandwich, brew coffee, fold laundry, start a new load of laundry, put the laundry away... and coming back and the download/upload is still not complete."

"Getting disconnected from the internet because someone picked up the phone to make a call while you were in the process of the aforementioned download/upload, and losing your everlovin' mind on that person."

"The best part: The original Oregon Trail game."

- Just_another_Sue

Renting Movies

"Getting a video to rent and watch at home made you feel like you were going 'out' to do something."

- ekimlive

"Oh God, movie rental, a pizza, some microwave popcorn, and some soda. It was such a fantastic night if those things were planned."

- GreenOnionCrusader

True Quiet and Disconnection

"The feeling of coming home free from school or work, and the outside world was very separate from you until the following day."

"You couldn’t easily find out what your friends were doing (they weren’t doing anything anyway), you couldn’t easily catch up on the news unless it happened to be on, and you couldn’t catch up on new movies or celebrity gossip unless you had a magazine lying around, which would come out monthly."

"It’s a level of relaxation that we took for granted, but we were likely the last generation to experience it."

- Own-Firefighter-2728

"Man, this is a really good one. We are so, so connected and it's so, so unhealthy for us."

"It was really nice when we were an entire phone call away. I didn't need to know anything about anybody, the focus was on the people you were with, and experiences outside of the home were more special."

- artemasfoul

The All-Important Meeting Place

"Making plans beforehand and having a meeting place since no one owned cell phones."

- MixedSyrup

Being Stood Up

"My youth and adulthood perfectly straddle cell phones. Last-minute cancellations became increasingly more common throughout my 20s but were rare in my teens."

"What really sucked was when a date didn’t show up and you had no way of knowing whether 1. they were ok, 2. they had a good reason, or 3. they just decided to stand you up. You generally assumed the worst, or at least I did."

- Dudley_Do_Wrong

"I never adjusted to this. I still hold true to my original plans and am confused with today's culture on this. Like, we made plans. If you didn't want to, don't say yes."

"And I am only 39."

- x-Mowens-x

No Cameras Rolling

"I grew up in the 70s and 80s, but this applies to the 90s as well…"

"You could do the absolute dumbest, craziest, most embarrassing s**t you could possibly imagine, and no one was recording it."

- FrankNStein

Safer Surroundings

"A parent saying, 'Here's $20, I'll pick you up at 8:00 when the mall closes. Don't talk to strangers.'"

- Nonsenseinabag

Airport Security

"Meeting people at the gate when you pick them up from the airport."

- Main_Maximum8963

"Romance movies have been ruined because of this."

- lifejustice

Cramming Commercial Time

"Making a dash through the house from the kitchen to the couch when someone yelled out, 'It’s back on!'"

- NicGyver

"This is how my mom used to get my sister and me to clean the house. One commercial at a time during a movie."

- reklawpuck

Live Television Programs

"Missing an episode on tv and never knowing when you can see that episode again unless some chance someone recorded it."

- Cute_Panda9

School Delays and Cancelations

"Waiting for your school district to be announced as on time, late, or canceled on the news when it snowed."

- SuitableNegotiation5

"Seeing your school scroll across the ticker was like winning the lottery."

- umanousti

Simpler Travel

"Stopping at a gas station and asking for directions."

"Or driving around aimlessly looking for a place to eat."

- Actuaryba

"Using an actual physical map. Then trying to fold it again."

- he77bender

Anyone who was a kid or young adult in the 90s will surely get feelings of nostalgia from at least some of these memories, but with the way technology is rushing forward, it's unlikely that kids today will ever get to experience these.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

bedazzled MAGA hat
Timothy Hurst/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Threads User's Epic Rant Ripping MAGA Fans Who Now Claim They 'Always Had Doubts' About Trump Has The Internet Applauding

As prominent MAGA minions, like QAnon conspiracy peddler and former Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, have come out against MAGA Republican President Donald Trump, so too are some lesser known individuals.

Whether it's his Iran War, his continuing saga with the Epstein files, his utter failure to keep any of his campaign promises that they banked on helping them, or the abject incompetence of his hand-picked personnel, some members of MAGA are distancing themselves from the cult.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Trump Ripped For Somehow Making His 'Happy Mother's Day' Post All About Himself Without Any Mention Of Melania

President Donald Trump was criticized after he "honored" mothers on Mother's Day by attacking Democrats in a self-absorbed post on Truth Social, never mentioning his wife, First Lady Melania, who is the mother of his youngest son Barron.

Instead of acknowledging her and mothers around the country, Trump gloated about the economy and accused critics of having "Trump Derangement Syndrome," targeting Democrats and Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve Chair he's been trying to push out of his administration.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Zach Galifianakis; Donald Trump
Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend; Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Zach Galifianakis Expertly Lays Into Comedians Who Refuse To 'Challenge' Trump When He's A Guest On Their Podcasts

Actor and comedian Zach Galifianakis called out comedians who have had President Donald Trump on their podcasts and didn't "challenge" him, noting that they've effectively abdicated their role by not making jokes at Trump's expense or pushing back against things he says.

Galifianakis made that argument during a recent episode of Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, where host Conan O'Brien remarked that few, if any, people have challenged a sitting president the way Galifianakis did when he interviewed then-President Barack Obama in 2014 on his satirical series Between Two Ferns.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Sean Duffy
Fox News

Sean Duffy Ripped After Encouraging Americans To Take 'Road Trips' As Gas Prices Continue To Soar

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was called out after he encouraged Americans to take "road trips" as gas prices continue to rise as a result of President Donald Trump's war in Iran.

Republicans have faced pressure from constituents nationwide to address the rising cost of living, but Americans are feeling pain at the pump now that the Iran war, which the Trump administration kicked off in late February, has prompted a spike in gas prices.

Keep ReadingShow less
Crossing guard Jamele Ransom went viral after eating ice cream during a live TV interview.
@nbcphiladelphia/TikTok

Philadelphia Crossing Guard Goes To Town On Ice Cream Cone While Describing Truck Crash On TV—And Becomes An Instant Icon

I scream, you scream, and apparently, Philadelphia crossing guards scream for ice cream during breaking news interviews. Crossing guard Jamele Ransom became an instant internet favorite after casually eating a cone while recounting a chaotic playground crash near S. Weir Mitchell Elementary School on live TV.

The now-viral moment came after police said Robert Littlepage, 18, of Douglasville, Georgia, allegedly attempted a carjacking last Tuesday before stealing a white utility truck and crashing near the school.

Keep ReadingShow less