10 Things You Grew Up With Your Kids Will Never Know
Technology is amazing and has made everyday things so much easier for us than they used to be. Every generation brings new ideas and advances to existing ones, until it’s almost hard to remember how you managed without them. It is no surprise that our own children will never know about some the the wonders of yesteryear. Here’s a little trip down memory lane on just a few of things that they won’t have to deal with, but were so common to you in jr high.
- Walkman – Your kids will never know what it is like having to flip a cassette to play the rest of an album. They will also never have to refrain from walking too briskly in fear of making the cd skip.
- CD Cases – Similarly to the walkman, they won’t ever have to carry around a giant case in the car to be able to have a good music selection. The year I first started driving, and a few years before my first Ipod, I used to cruise with one of these bad boys on the passenger side. When I finally did get an Ipod, i ceremoniously gifted my younger sister my behemoth beast of a case.
- Waiting for the internet to dial up – that tone that is so familiar to us 90’s kids is foreign to our children. Their only concern is the wifi password and not who is using the phone when they wanna use the internet or waiting for it to connect.
- Encyclopedias – Today’s children will probably never have the need to use one to write a paper. Wikipedia searches have replaced the giant dusty books we had to lug around to study. This is something that bibliophiles like me are a little sad about.
- Phone calls tethered to the base – Yes, your kids will only know the convenience of being able to walk away to make phone calls in privacy, or better yet just using their cellphone. But what about that nostalgic scene of sitting next to the “phone spot” in the house, twirling the cord around. I’m not even gonna get into the satisfaction of slamming the phone down in a dramatic hang up. It’s just not the same to angrily press “end”.
- Payphones – Speaking of cellphones, who remembers having to carry change to be able to make calls from a public payphone? Not your kids! These things have almost gone extinct along with the walkman. Did anyone else always make collect calls and yell “MOM-PICK-ME-UP-AT-4!!!” instead of the name, knowing your mom would decline your call and avoid the charge.
- Front seat shotgun – Your kids will have to wait a long time before fighting with their siblings over riding in the front passenger seat of your car. Mostly because they have to wait till their 28 based on current safety standards. Just kidding, but it is a long wait.
- Blockbuster – the closest thing today’s kids will have to this is going to the redbox machine. Streaming movies and shows is so much easier, and you don’t have to remember to rewind for that.
- Mapquest – Gone are the days of having to take the time to look up directions to a new place on the trusty old website. We would either print or quickly scribble the directions down and head out. No detours, no sudden ideas to stop for food or bathroom breaks. Once on paper the Mapquest directions were law.
- Cell phones that only made calls. Yes, you will one day tell kids who narrow their eyes in disbelief there was once a time when you could only talk on your phone. Actual calls are probably the least used feature now, but there was once a time before texts, apps, photos/videos, and games.
Do you guys have any nostalgic memories that are basically pre-historic for your kids? Comment them below!