Anyone From Ages 27–42 Will Appreciate These 16 Things That Younger Generations Will Never Understand
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As a millennial, I sometimes feel nostalgic for the good old days. Sure, today's world has a lot more tech and convenience, but there was something special about the way we grew up.
Well, Reddit user u/My_Names_Jefff recently asked, "Millennials, what is something you grew up with that Gen Z will never be able to enjoy or do?" Here are some of the top-voted responses:
1."Pre-9/11 airport security. Airline pilots letting us kids into the cockpit and giving us sweets."
"Nothing was better as a kid than getting off the plane and walking out of the gate to the waiting arms of loved ones. Definite core memories built from those experiences."
2."Doing something stupid as a kid and not worrying about it being immortalized on the internet."
"Yup! Some of my moronic moments will luckily just remain bad memories."
3."Mall culture."
"Makes me sad for younger generations because big, in-person social atmospheres like that as a teen were electrifying. It was like the center of the universe."
4."The rush of internet chat (AIM, ICQ, Yahoo Chat), and the nascent newness of the internet as a whole. (Make a website at Geocities! Shop online! Napster!)"
"That feeling when your best friend or crush came on AIM and it made that sound."
5."The absolute joy of hearing a song that's been stuck in your head for a week come on the radio, and finally finding out the artist/title."
"If you caught it fast enough, you could hit record on your stereo and add it to your mixtape. Had to time it just right so you didn't get the DJ intro/outro."
6."Renting a movie from Blockbuster/Hollywood Video! I love the convenience of streaming, don't get me wrong, but there was something really special about walking around the store and picking out the right movie, buying some snacks, and really making an evening around watching a movie!"
"And everyone watched. No one was staring at their phone."
7."The Wild West days of the internet. The forums. The places where you and your niche interests could flourish and no one would call you weird or bizarre. Social media sucks these days. We were never meant to be all under one roof."
"Corporations monopolized the spaces, and now everyone is stuck together in a homogenized, boring, 'safe' corporate environment. Social media today is like those offices without cubicle walls."
8."Those CD cereal box games for PC."
"Oh man, Chex Quest was a legitimately good game."
9."Kid-oriented game shows. Legends of the Hidden Temple, Double Dare, Nick Arcade, Nickelodeon Guts, Figure It Out, etc. Nickelodeon of the '90s was something special."
10."Waiting like 12 hours for a song to download off LimeWire, only for the song to actually be Bill Clinton saying, 'My fellow Americans...'"
"That, or some demon listed a track as 'Korn — Freak on a Leash,' but you got something by Disturbed or Alien Ant Farm."
11."Socializing without phones or social media. There was a time when you could just get away with some friends. No phones, no computers, no tech. Just food, board games, hiking, friendship. It was, and is, amazing. You can still do it, but good luck telling a friend, 'Hey, leave your phone at home when we hang out' (unless they're already in the mindset to do it on their own)."
12."Taking photos with a camera and having to wait to get the film developed."
"Funny story: Driving past Walgreens one day, my daughter saw 'one-hour photos' on the sign and asked me why people would sit for an hour to take a picture. Oh, you sweet summer child…get out of my car!"
13."Strategy guides. Back in my day, if you got stuck in a video game, you had to buy a physical book called a strategy guide. It would have walkthroughs, lists of items and enemies, and such, and you had to flip through to find the part you were stuck on. And sometimes they would be wrong, and then you were just screwed. Now you can look up a YouTube video of someone showing you how to get through that part on your phone for free."
"To add to this, actual complete games. No patches to fix a ton of bugs on day one, no downloads. Just pop it in, and it was ready to play at that moment."
14."Grabbing your favorite VHS tape and watching it for the millionth time. Mine was the Land Before Time series (don't judge me)."
15."Watching the same TV show at the same time as everyone else in the country, then talking about it the next day. Remember when Goku hit Super Saiyan the first time? Everyone at school went nuts."
16.And finally, "True independence as a child. I did not have a cellphone. I rode my bike around town all the time. I would get home when I said I would, and my mother had no idea what I was actually doing. She couldn't track my cellphone or text me to get an update. I, of course, always came back home, but when I was out, I was free."
"In the summer, my dad would toss me outside and tell me not to come home until the streetlights came on. I'd ride my bike, go play in a nearby forest/woodlands that we kids had turned into an awesome BMX trail, and generally run wild and free until the lightning bugs appeared. Damn, I feel a little sentimental and wistful for those days."
If you are a millennial or belong to an older generation, what's something you grew up with that Gen Z will never understand? LMK in the comments below!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
