Millennials And Gen X Are Sharing Things From The Past They Think Gen Z Is Missing Out On, And You Can Almost Taste The Nostalgia
If you look back on life in the '80s, '90s, and even the 2000s, it's pretty obvious that things are VERY different now. And there are many things from that time period that today's current generation will probably never get to experience.
NBC
In the name of curiosity, Reddit user u/XD_HyperCraftYT recently asked, "Millennials and Gen X. What things are us Gen Z’s missing out on from your generation?" Millennials and Gen X came through with plenty of nostalgic answers. Here are their responses.
*Some responses from this Reddit thread were also included.
1."Being unreachable sometimes."
2."Not having all your f*ck ups forever uploaded to the internet."
"I can't believe the sh*t I got away with as a kid, no photo evidence. Whew."
3."Watching a live performance (a concert, for example) without millions of phones in the air blocking your view."
4."Having your self-esteem affected by only your immediate peers and not the internet. The pain is real. I would get off all social media immediately. The stuff is all toxic."
5."Parents that let their kids run free. Stranger Things is actually a pretty accurate depiction of how much freedom kids had. Ride your bike wherever and be back when the streetlights come on. Playing outside every day and being home for dinner. Not many obligations, maybe practice a few times a week for basketball or whatever."
6."Musical involvement. Spotify has made everything so available, but it seems it has also destroyed that sense of connection. When you were only buying a few CDs every year, you got to know those albums inside and out. Interviews with the artists would reveal their influences that would often lead you down a new, unfamiliar path, and was a journey that could take years. Now, it's instantaneous, and a little disposable.
7."The quality of fast food and chain restaurants was way better in the '90s. Places like Pizza Hut were amazing and the food wasn’t all processed and frozen."
8."Being able to appreciate technology. When you grow up with smart phones and the internet, it's easy to think things have always been this convenient."
9."Being uncontactable for a weekend wasn't a big deal. It feels like people take it more personally if you don't respond immediately."
10."The thrill and excitement of getting back developed film."
11."The wild west of the Internet, pre-social media. Back when Reddit didn't exist, you would have fan and community-ran forums and websites dedicated to each game, hobby, etc. And clickbait-y titles were much less common because people were reliant on offline jobs to pay for servers and websites rather than ads and per-click revenue.
12."Checking the TV guide and getting excited about a show or movie that’d be on later in the week. Having nearly any and everything on demand sucks in some ways."
13."Coming back to 20 messages after putting up the most cryptic away message on AIM."
14."Parents not having HD security cameras. As someone who grew up with strict parents, I’m so happy I was able to sneak in and out without them knowing."
15."Browsing the video rental store. You can still do that today with library DVD shelves, but it’s not quite the same."
16."As weird as this sounds, I kinda miss cable commercials and cable in general. Sometimes you remember commercials more than the actual shows you watched. They become such big markers for the eras in your life."
17."Real, actual boredom. The kind of boredom that you couldn’t drown out with accessible games and on demand streaming. So you were forced to be creative! I learned instruments, to draw and paint, and write poetry when I was bored out of my mind as a kid."
Is there anything from your generation that you think Gen Z is missing out on? Share it in the comments!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length/clarity.
