'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.

May

• Published in Nostalgia
• July 12, 2022

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.

And 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

2. No such thing as "pause."

Running to go to the bathroom during a commercial break

3. These are way better than NFTs!

Kids these days wouldn't understand why people who grew up with beanie babies won't buy NFTs

4. Tough boys.

Calling a girl and her dad answers the phone. That s**t was rough, kids.

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)

6. Nowadays, people will share what they want to share.

I've noticed a lot of 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 insta story without asking if you consent to having your life shared like this.

7. Back in the day, these are the only colors you'll see on your computer screen.

A computer with a black screen with orange or green font.

8. Everyone needed to agree on a movie before renting it.

Walking to blockbuster and spending an hour trying to pick a movie everyone agrees on

9. The coolest gadget back in the day.

Walkman

10. What people looked forward to in the weekend

The joys of Saturday morning cartoons

11. You had to disconnect to the internet if someone's going to use the phone.

"Please get off the computer (internet) so that I can make a phone call."

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

13. Scavenging pay phones be like

Hunting for dimes in pay phones

14. Meetups are organized via phone calls.

Organising to meet someone on a landline and actually having to turn up on time or they wouldn’t know where you are because you have no way of contacting them.

15. How to save money on phone calls

Waiting til nights and weekends to make FREE phone calls on your mom’s Nokia.

16. No such thing as HD.

We had to walk up to the t.v. to turn it on or off, change the channel, or adjust the antenna when the picture became unclear.

17. We didn't have GPS or Google Maps at the time.

18. Gaming used to be this hardcore.

Playing the same level on a game over and over because there’s no Saves

19. The challenges of owning a Gameboy

You needed a light accessory for your Gameboy because those suckers didn't have back lighting. And to trade Pokemon, you needed to use cables. CABLES.

20. Now, you can bring phones everywhere.

Phone corded to the wall.

21. Lite-Brite was a cutting-edge tech.

That Lite Brite was peak technology

22. You probably know at least 5 phone numbers from memory.

Memorizing peoples phone numbers

23. TV Stations used to "sign off."

TV going off-the-air at night.

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 amongst your siblings in the back seat involving the license plates of other passing cars. On our car trip to Disney/FL from central PA me and my brother 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” 

25. Do you remember that tone?

The sound on the phone when somebody was using the internet.

26. Do you remember the smell?

Hitting that red strip of paper for your toy gun with a rock.

27. Kids don't watch TV these days.

I recently had to explain what “changing the channel” meant to my small kid 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.

28. They are called "View-Master."

those sort of binoculars with cardboard discs with pictures. I used to have Dora the Explorer ones.

29. Playing games had a bit of an extra challenge.

Blowing on Game cartridges to make them work.

30. Remember "Dinosaurs?"

NOT DA MAMA!

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 and so you had to wait until it was available.

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 yell “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.

33. Back when there were casette tapes.

Recording music from the radio

34. Remember this game?

Where in the world is Carmen San Diego?

35. Using things to make rewinding faster.

Rewinding vhs or a cassette before returning.

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.

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.

38. Back in the day, adult movies used to be rented.

Video rental stores with adult sections

39. Want to play video games? Turn to this channel.

It’s not working, cuz it’s not on Ch3

40. We didn't have to worry about getting viral on the internet for being so silly.

Getting to be goofy and awkward and not have to worry about it ending up online for everyone to see.

41. Hoping the friend will come out

Knocking on your friends door to see if they could come out and play.

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.

May