The other day, a friend and I were talking about how people growing up today will never get to experience what it was like to have a regular landline at home... particularly one with a ridiculously long cord that you could strangle a home intruder with. Remember those? They were charming. (I say that now, but I wouldn't one in my home these days.) I distinctly remember trailing that cord all through the house. My mother could take a call in the kitchen and cook at the same time without skipping a beat all thanks to that long-ass cord.
After Redditor sharkboy7777 asked the online community, "What is something that the younger generations will never get to experience that was instrumental to you growing up?" people shared their observations.
"No way to find you..."
Being 100% unreachable.
No cell phones. No way to find you unless you told them where you'd be. If I missed your call, it was just accepted I wasn't at home and not ignoring you.
"Waiting for a monthly magazine..."
Waiting for a monthly magazine to arrive in order to get more reading material on a hobby/special interest.
"Trying to memorize..."
Trying to memorize my friend's phone number on the walk home from school so that we could tell each other if we got permission from our parents to have a sleepover.
"So we all had common talking points..."
Everyone saw the same movies and stuff at the same time on the same night. So we all had common talking points at school the next day/Monday.
Ah yes...
...remember that? It was rather nice, very communal. The social experience is rather fractured these days, don't you think?
"Trying to ring someone for a date..."
Trying to ring someone for a date and having to speak to their parents first (one home phone only usually).
"I think with everything being digital..."
How mechanical things work, I don't mean machinery but something as simple as the functioning of a cassette tape. I think with everything being digital you get very detached from the physical world in that sense.
"The ability to make mistakes..."
The ability to make mistakes without someone recording it.
This is a big one.
Why does everything need to be online?! It's ridiculous.
"Riding bikes..."
Riding bikes all day until the sun went down without any contact whatsoever with parents.
"Not as arduous as cassettes..."
The art of burning a perfect mix CD.
Not as arduous as cassettes, but I always liked my CDs to have a good flow, so I'd get the BPM of each song in my library and string songs together that had similar tempos.
The trick was getting a list that flowed well and took up the maximum time on a CD.
Tried doing this with a GPM playlist but there's no field to see each song's BPM so it became too much effort. My playlists nowadays are just buckets I throw songs into then dump them out when I press shuffle.
"That, plus..."
Carrying a notebook handwritten with the phone numbers of all my friends and family. That, plus actually having to remember phone numbers.
My memory was definitely better before smartphones...
...and it's a bit more of a task to commit things to memory.
This next one takes me baaaack.
"Waking up early..."
Waking up early to watch the news to see if there was a school delay/cancelation.
"Having to schedule..."
Having to schedule around particular television shows you wanted to see.
"It was so much fun..."
Being able to just take off and play all day. Getting up early, eating breakfast and watching cartoons and then making the rounds around the neighborhood hoping your friends could come out too and just playing....for hours.
It was so much fun just being young...
I was 10 and under around this time in 95' and below, and while I'm all for my oldest kid to do the same, I worry about everything now.
"Parents would capture a few moments..."
Parents not trying to document every aspect of your life on a smartphone/social media. Parents would capture a few moments on a disposable camera, sure, but they would still embrace it.
"It was glorious."
Concerts before cell phones. It was glorious. I miss going to see a band when no one had a cell phone.
"Despite literally paying to be a member..."
Are fan clubs still a thing? Despite literally paying to be a member, I felt so cool and exclusive as part of the Spice Girls and Buffy fan clubs. My dad hated it because every month when the magazines came in I'd be trying to convince him to spend £10 on a branded keyring or some s***.
Well, this was a nice walk down memory lane.
It's astonishing to observe how much life has changed in such a relatively short period.
Have your own observations to share? Feel free to share them in the comments below.
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