It’s easy to forget how drastically our world has changed over the past few decades. Watching films and TV shows from the ‘90s and early 2000s feels like observing a different planet, and it’s difficult to even recall how simple our lives were before smartphones had taken over. 

But if you’re interested in taking a trip down memory lane, you’ve come to the right place, pandas. Redditors have recently been discussing things that were totally normal only two or three decades ago that seem to have gone extinct. From telephone books to smoking inside at fast food joints, enjoy scrolling through these nostalgic replies. And be sure to upvote the things you had almost forgotten about!  

#1

Making a call in a phone booth.

The Yellow Pages.

Image credits: TheDude717

#2

Just showing up at someone’s door to hang out without notice.

Image credits: jtd2013

#3

Memorizing phone numbers.

Image credits: RadRhubarb00

#4

Spending an hour at Blockbuster or Hollywood Video searching for the perfect Friday night movie.

Image credits: dulioz1

#5

Privacy. You’re filmed everywhere now.

Image credits: frogjarhead

#6

The phrase “Oh, I wish I had a camera!”.

Image credits: whiskyfuktober

#7

Third places. Malls, parks, places where we used to go and just hang out at.

Image credits: nyanpegasus

#8

Low rise jeans, Jeans that were too long so got wet and frayed, Jean-shorts… denim has become very standardised .

Image credits: Outsiderendless

#9

Kids today will never take “computer lab” as a course. Literally a class where you f****d around on a computer and did whatever, maybe learned a few basic things or just played games the entire time. It was the only time of the day in class when you were on an electronic. Now, laptops are pretty much used for everything, from elementary to high school level. I’d guess the only class now where you don’t use a laptop is PE.

Image credits: Icy_Bottle2942

#10

Mom’s smoking a cigarette inside at the kitchen table talking on the house phone with a long cord.

Image credits: homemadejelly

#11

Kids playing outside. When I grew up kids were EVERYWHERE, couldn’t throw a rock without hitting one. Today, you just don’t see them.

Image credits: SillySub2001

#12

The terror of calling your boyfriends landline…

Ring… (Please don’t let his mum answer)

Ring… (Please don’t let his mum answer)

Ring… (Please don’t let his mum answer)

:click:

:gulp: is Kieran there please?

The embarrassment.

Image credits: PersonalityTough6148

#13

Being anonymous online. Today people on WhatsApp expect me to use my real name and picture, what the hell?

Image credits: malsomnus

#14

Having to pay long distance charges and waiting for later hours for it to be cheaper.

Image credits: ostellastella

#15

Maps when driving. Like big a*s maps that you had to unfold and figure out where you were.

Image credits: runitbymeonce

#16

A congress willing to impeach a president for blatant illegal actions.

Image credits: Lorgoth1812

#17

Neighborhoods going hard for Halloween and Christmas.

I remember as a young kid, from like 2004-2011, the decorations went crazy. There was one year I remember in lots of detail where, on Halloween, multiple houses had created haunted houses/mazes, and one house had a doorbell that bit your finger. And for Christmas my parents would drive us around to look at all the intricate Christmas decorations throughout the neighborhoods.

I hardly see people getting into any kind of festive spirit and decorations for Halloween and Christmas are few and far between. The lack of trick or treaters these days, more people keeping their porch light off, houses doing the bare minimum for Christmas.

It makes me really sad. I hope that once I’m able to get a house and especially when I have kids, that I’ll be able to go hard for those holidays. They’re my favorite.

Image credits: strawberryyogurt_

#18

Having hope for the future. F**k, I miss that feeling of believing that we had all turned a coroner. That even though nothing was perfect, that we were on our way to seeing a future where we could be. The walls were coming down, Mandela was free, the Cold War ended, the u”internet highway” was going to lead us to the age of information and enlightenment. Just hope, everywhere you looked.

Then it all turned to s**t when those planes hit the towers.

Image credits: JellyboyJangleDangle

#19

Inside thoughts.

With social media taking over SO much of the internet, there are LOADS of people who just s**t out all their dumb thoughts directly into Facebook comment sections or TikTok videos.

It’s one thing to be open about things, and share things that you may be experiencing that can help others that we used to see as something shameful to talk about, and there are things people share that should still be shameful, haha.

Image credits: FluffySpell

#20

Striking up a conversation with a stranger in a public place because you’re both bored. That doesn’t happen today because the instant boredom approaches, everybody pulls out their phone.

Image credits: Bizarre_Protuberance

#21

Getting a cart full of groceries for less than 200 dollars.

Image credits: AvocadoPizzaCat

#22

Calling out a president for lying.

#23

Being polite to others.

#24

Civility in politics. Even if you hated the other guy you were still polite and civil.

That, along with America as a whole, seems to have been tossed aside.

#25

Fireflies It was a normal sight after dark; I haven’t seen a single one in decades in our backyard.

Image credits: Hot_Bite

#26

Watching movie on a Saturday with the whole village together because not everyone had a tv or the power (literally electric power) to do so.

Image credits: inceptionkiller

#27

I hear sleep-overs aren’t really a thing anymore, due to overprotective parents. Trick-or-treating pretty much entirely died out where I live as far back as the mid-00s (rural place). And suburban neighbourhoods used to crawl with kids on Halloween, now it’s far fewer. Maybe 15-25% of what it was. I guess they do that lame trunk thing. Bah.

Image credits: TheOttee

#28

“Get outside and don’t come back until you hear me call you.”

No concern for RR tracks nearby or the random transient, just gtfo of her house and sight.

Image credits: beckster

#29

Smoking section.

Image credits: croc_rockin

#30

VHS.

Image credits: ZarieRose

#31

“It’s back oooooonnnnnnn” followed by the sound of galloping feet and a leap over the back of the couch.

Image credits: verynotberry

#32

Radio Shack.

Image credits: clearly_not_an_alt

#33

Being able to sleep through the night without having to get up and go to the bathroom.

#34

Critical thinking.

#35

The way we listen to music when we’re on the go. All streaming apps nowadays such as Spotify but back then it would have been MP3 players, iPods etc. Even back then listening to music at home would have meant listening to music on the radio or using the likes of discs.

#36

Optimism.

#37

Having a computer room.

#38

Leaning more towards the 90s: Common sense and trust in news (and news being trustworthy).

#39

Gameboy/Gameboy Color 😃.

#40

Having a phone cord so long that it can stretch between several rooms.

Sharing a phone line with 4 other people.

Picking up the phone and disconnecting someone’s internet connection.

#41

Channel 26 to see what shows are going to be on TV later.

#42

This is the song that Doesn’t End…
Yes, it goes on and on my Friends
Some people STARTED singing it, not knowing what it was
And they’ll continue singing it forever just because….

#43

Houses having colour. You would go in and there would be terracotta walls, Aztec pattern sofas, sun moon curtains. Now it’s whitewash or grey.

#44

That feeling of being completely disconnected from your school friends over Summer vacation. I had my neighborhood friends and my school friends (went to a private school).

You came back the following school year, eager to catch up.

If not completely, you probably communicated seldomly over AIM (or another messenger), but for the most part, you didn’t see/hear them.

#45

The oldest kid in charge of all the younger kids at home while our parents went out and lived their lives.

#46

Downloading a song (that was 50% likely to not even be the song you think you’re downloading) for like 5 hrs,. Lol.

#47

Send chains of Emails or SMS because “if you don’t you will have bad luck for 10 years”.

#48

Yugoslavia.

#49

White dog p*o.

Image credits: watch-kay-slay

#50

The pop in. It was completely normal to show up at a friend’s house unannounced.

#51

Netscape.

#52

My abs.

#53

Landlines. They are practically nonexistent. Even if you happen to have one because of your cable provider, they just aren’t used.

#54

Getting girls s*******d drunk to sleep with them. Consent was hardly an afterthought then, so that was considered a valid strategy. The world’s a better place today in that regard.

#55

Burning CD’s.

#56

The concept of a “Tomboy” with literally no inclination of gender identity or sexual orientation. The girls just like boys stuff and it was perfectly fine, if not awesome.

#57

Never experienced the 90’s but from what I’ve learned from this period (may be biased towards what books I’ve read show, please tell me in this case):

– Practically no security in airports

– Things coming from the US being something extraordinary, like some kind of seal of quality (for european kids)

– Physical PC games

-OS-less game consoles.

#58

Jimmy Saville being someone kids looked up to and aspired to meet.

Jesus H Christ.

#59

Writing letters and thank you cards. Calling friends. Blockbuster nights.

#60

Paying by cash. It hasn’t entirely disappeared in the UK but you get some funny looks from retailers when you attempt it.

#61

Floppy disks. 

Aka the save icon in software that kids these days can’t identify. .

#62

Neopets.

#63

Good music videos.

#64

Night games! All the neighborhood kids would meet at the manhole in the middle of the cul-de-sac at night and play hide and seek. We knew which yards to stay out of and which ones were cool with it. We made up rules on the fly and it was a different game every week. Kids would leave based on when their parents said they had to be home by.

#65

Integrity.

#66

1-800-COLLECT.

#67

Not being expected to be available and immediately reachable by employers during your free time.

#68

My in laws gave us a couple of audio books on CD for Christmas as we’re about to have a major road trip across Canada

They were STUNNED to find out we had no CD player in the car ….

#69

Real gold jewelry instead of everything being plated.

#70

Travelers Checks.

#71

Talking to people. Normal communication. Dealing with life issues without a life coach. Want a girl? You better get your balls together and make a move, no hiding behind apps and filters.

#72

Pagers.

#73

The little black book.

It was a small address book that guys carried around, to write down girls’ phone numbers before cell phones. It was a plot device for a lot of 80’s and 90’s sitcoms, since it was a big deal if you lost it.

I made a reference to a “little black book” recently and no one knew what the hell I was talking about.

#74

Water beds.

#75

Not wearing a helmet/seat belt.

#76

Answering machines.

#77

Prior to cell phones, I had to buy a calling card for payphones when traveling for business.

#78

Workers in break rooms talking to each other or reading the paper.

#79

Calling a movie theater to get the showtimes and listening to the whole recording.

#80

Boredom.

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