Born in 1993, it's starting to occur to me that I am, in fact, an 'old.' I was around for floppy discs, lolcatz, dial up internet, and polaroid cameras that were the standard, not the trend. Reddit user u/Apart-Scale asked the question, "What was normal in the 1990s but rare or nonexistent now?" Let me tell you, reading this list of things that 80s and 90s babies remember that are either rare or no longer exist was the punch to my 29 year old face that I really didn't need this morning.
- "Being completely unreachable by anyone for an entire day or more with no one thinking it was unusual or rude." You used to call me on my corded house phone.
- "Taking your disposable camera to get developed and having no idea if any of your pictures were even usable until you go the pictures back." I remember my mom getting so mad when she got that little white envelope of 50 blurry pictures with her fingers in them. Goodbye Wisconsin Dells Vacation 99, you'll always exist in our memories.
- "Coin arcades in malls. And the malls, I guess." Do kids still hang out at malls anymore?
- "A printed list of family and friends' phone numbers stuck on the fridge." "Similarly, parents leaving $20 under a magnet on the fridge for pizza with the number of the restaurant they were eating at, you friend's parents down the blocks number, and maybe your grandmothers landline as a last resort." Was there anything that made you feel more grown up than eating pizza and staying up late on a Friday night watching movies by yourself while your parents were out? What a glorious time to be alive, honestly.
- "Calling the movie theater or looking in the newspaper for movie times." DO YOU ALL REMEMBER MOVIEFONE???
- "Playing multiplayer video games with all of the players IN the room together. We had some pretty heated N64 parties." Follow up to this, the crazy long cords that EVERYONE would inevitably trip over while fumbling through to get. soda from the kitchen.
- Speaking of malls... "Giving a meeting point and a meeting time in case we get lost." I always chose the food court. It was the pretzels for me.
- "Home telephones and answering machines. Also with these, memorizing phone numbers." Other than my own, I know TWO numbers by heart - my mom's and my best friends moms landline that she hasn't used since our childhood. Though, I suppose technically I remember three if you count my man JG WENTWORTH 877 CASH NOW. I cannot explain how bad I wanted a structured settlement having absolutely no idea what it was as a child just so I could call this man and see the f* was up with my man JG.
- "Floppy discs. My parents had a file cabinet full of those things." I learned how to use them just in time for them to be replaced by USB LOL 90S BABY THINGS.
- "Renting movies, video games, VCRs, and game consoles." My dad used to take us to Blockbuster once a week to pick a movie to watch. He always got us candy at the counter. He passed in 2015 and by far Blockbuster movies nights are one of my most cherished memories of him. I know most of my articles are sarcastic and snarky humor, but this one really hit me in my 90s heart.
- "Keeping a binder full of CDs in your car." Quick follow up, HAVING THE BINDER STOLEN FROM THE CAR. Like COME ON I just got some of those!!
- "Landline home phones. And having to talk to your friend's parents for a couple of minutes while you waited for your friend to come to the phone." I'm pretty sure this experience is what caused me to have social anxiety.
- Number 13, the one YOU ALL HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR, "Dial Up Internet." I think reddit user Khajiit hairball summed this one up best when he said "EeeeerrrrDEEDUReeeeeerrrrrDUReeeeeeeeeeeeeeeE!"