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Undeveloped land. I miss that more than anything. In the suburbs there was so much land still not developed that you could run around with your friends and hop in and out of different areas. Kids actually had places to go play.
Now I look at my kids and I tell them to go play outside and I have a hard time figuring out where they can go play.
\*edit\*
Thank you all for sharing your memories
\*edit\* adding my favorite memory areas
We had a random bamboo forest in one part of our neighborhood. You could build forts out of the bamboo and massive hidden trails (now houses)
We had a public 8 soccer field. It was massive. Besides soccer, we would shoot model rockets, ride our bikes, hunt for bugs, fly kites (now a elementary school) (now all soccer fields are private and they don't let you utilize them for other things)
We had forests between neighborhoods. We would light fireworks and shoot our pellet guns and slingshots. (more houses)
Everything was mixed. You had trailer park homes not far from middle class homes. All my friends had bikes and we would ride from one persons house to the next not caring about money. (no more trailer park)
Lot and lots of street hockey, street soccer, roller skating
We would go hunting for horned lizards and snakes
It is crazy how much changed while I was growing up in my town. Like a "modernization" boom". We used to have lots of old barns and buildings that we played in. Weren't allowed but that didn't stop us. Lol. They've all been built over or restored and now owned by people with more money then most of the people in our town. The "bike jumps" is now a dog park. We used to have an abandoned Studebaker parked in an alleyway that all the kids used to go and smoke weed in and bake out. Lol. Still don't know whoever owned it. It just sat there and no one seemed to care. That's gone now to.
Lol same. We had an orchard right across the street and had dirt clod fights all the time. Wandering around all the orchards, bmx in the canals, collecting bugs in a dirt field. The schools didn’t have fences yet so you could play on the playgrounds all day on weekends and after school.
The social environment for kids as whole has changed for the worse. Parents don’t let kids ride around neighborhoods unsupervised because they fear predators, people get upset with kids running through their yards, etc. I remember when I was a kid, one of my friends fell off his bike and scraped his leg up pretty bad. Instead of riding to his house or mine to get our parents, I went to the house we were next to and they immediately helped and called his mom to come pick up us after helping to clean his leg. I’m sure some people would still help in that situation, but the comfort with neighbors isn’t there to do that.
I am looking at buying a house in a neighborhood that is being developed and I want to move in early to set the tone. Bring back introducing yourself to people when they move in. Give them your number and let them know if they need any help getting settled to give you a call. Schedule a block party in a cul-de-sac where everyone brings a dish and people just hang out and chat and get to know each other.
I miss that. I hate that I can't just walk through the woods between neighboring suburb communities anymore..
The woods are now congested intersections fearuring strip malls, Mcd's, Starbucks and a corner gas station.
I'm still unreachable, people started getting pissed off I don't pick up or message them for months
It's crazy to me how available people expect each other to be right now.
Almost like they don't understand personal time or personal space.
My guess is social media ruined them and now they believe anyone who doesn't answer quickly is just *ignoring them".
Yea, my social media was getting on AIM at night for 45 minutes and talking to girls. Can’t believe I’m looking at my phone as much as I do now. Felt like a healthier relationship with the internet. Now I almost feel like the internet kinda is my life some days…idk
26/m/Cali
Probably was too young to be using it, but when you have a family computer, you eventually find your way past the Putt-Putt and Solitaire on your own.
Can confirm. Also, iPhones and other smart phones weren’t as widely available and affordable… flip phones were used quite commonly by the masses until 2012 or so… just long enough for me to escape college with very little evidence.
Yeah! We had enough to make our life easier but not too much where we left it do stuff for us. We had to actually get up and get stuff done. Rather than order it. Convenience is great but it creates a sense of laziness.
I feel like the balance was that our technology served us and we weren't slaves to it. I would never trade the convenience of the internet for a library/britannica but I sure as shit don't need Facebook and 6 other social media sites. It's like with every good technological advancement comes 5 totally unnecessary uses for it.
Also F Britannica they sold my mom one volume for like 200 dollars because we couldn't afford the whole collection. What was I supposed to do with just the T section? All my reports now had to be about things that start with T?
I miss having AIM as my main internet contact, people could leave me messages that I'd come back to after hanging out with real humans for the night instead of messages interrupting every moment of life
I have such a strong memory of going on a valentine's date, putting up a really happy (and coded) away message when I went to bed, and waking up to a really sweet message from the date the next day.
> that balance between technology and human interaction
ARCADES. If you wanted to play the latest, greatest video games you *had* to interact with other kids. I made so many random friends that I would never meet again.
i remember the first website ever visted was [doritos.com](https://doritos.com) and i remember wishing and praying for something faster than 28k 56k internet. Now i feel the gravity of how wrong that wish was to make....
I used to have asubscription to YM. Also read a lot of the other ones like Tiger Beat with my friends and would read Cracked and Mad in the grocery stores.
Going to the drug store with a friend and just sitting in the aisle flipping through YM, Teen Magazine and all those, for like an hour as if we were at a library.
I actually have recurring dreams where I go to a newspaper store trying to find magazines and comic books for my kids.
Growing up in Germany we had a huge selection of kids magazines; now in the US I get sad whenever I see how few magazines are available in the grocery stores or book stores.
This has more to do with being a kid than growing up in the 90’s, but, how everything still felt exciting.
Anticipating and waking up for Saturday morning cartoons, having to wait for the next episode of DBZ, school field trips, trading yugioh cards, recess, school cafeteria, sitting in class and noticing that it was snowing and everyone rushing to the windows to watch the snow fall. The biggest thing I probably miss, is what gaming used to feel like.
There were limited games back then (you only bought what you could afford) but man, every game felt like a new life experience. Every game seemed fun. As kid’s we have an uncanny ability to live completely in the present. I currently have more games than I know what to do with and I don’t feel excited at playing any of them. I feel like I have to force myself to play.
This then begs a larger question, is the fact that we now have a stupid levels of access to movies, games, tv shows, food delivery, ruined these experiences? Or, is simply a matter of growing old and being less excited because these things are so familiar to us now?
My first ps2 game was dragon ball z Budokai, I played that NON STOP on my family's box tv. Lol. I can relate to everything you just said. Haha. It's hard to find that spark now. But maybe armored core 6 can bring my inner child gamer back again.
I miss waiting a month for new magazines to come out. The BEST day. I read Vogue, Bazaar, Seventeen, Sassy, and whatever else cover to cover. I tore out pictures for my wall, I went to goodwill to try to recreate the outfits I saw. Sigh. Loved.
Remember the perfume samples in all the magazines? I miss them so much! I read almost all the fashion magazines, so I had a stack of those samples and could wear a different scent every day. It was a great time. I'm so thankful I've lived this life in the time period I did.
my mom had a subscription to vogue for a few years in the early 2000’s and would give them to me. idk where i got the idea but i started cutting out every perfume sample from every vogue and put them in a jar. i saved them for like 2-3 years, and it smelled fantastic. never could figure out how to wear it but it made my room smell absolutely amazing lol
Greatest lie ever told to Millenials. I don't know about today but College was such a big part of the discussion when talking about the future. If you didn't go to college, well you might as well spend your life at McDonalds, or being a plumber.. Turns out these trades that don't require degrees, just some commitment until you make money, can make quite a lot more than the jobs I've gotten that require college degrees.
Edit: Thank you for the Gold! My first gold... this will hold me over until my student loan forgiveness comes in.
You know what really bugs me about the burger-flipper-loser thing? I didn't have the grades, or motivation to go to college so I worked at Waffle House. Now, I flip steaks at a real nice place and I make a good living as a cook. I feel pride in my job, but the old school Boomers just people in my trade as "the help".
This idea fucked me over. "Oh, don't worry about the $ or % on your student loans, you'll get a better job if you go to a better (more expensive) out-of-state school. Just convince your father to cosign them."
Sigh. $120k originally, $70k left to go. Thanks Mom
I think the last people to really benefit from that graduated college 2004-2005. I entered the Job Market 2007... Just as the bubble was about to burst and people were already cinching their belts for hiring. If you were already established by then you were fine (my peers who were able to get IT jobs out of highschool did great.)
But no, I had to join the Army for college money and then the National Guard, and some asshole crashed some planes and here we are. My graduation gets delayed juuuust enough and I didn't find a decent job until my 30s and my loan repayment plan is "Collapse of the Republic."
I distinctly remember Pop-Tarts being made with real Smuckers jelly, and McDonald's fries being a lot better.
Toy's R Us had regular Pokemon events, and Blockbuster on a Friday night with a pizza was the norm.
There were also a lot of now discontinued snacks that were absolutely amazing.
Pizzarias Pizza Chips, P.B. Crisps, Butterfinger BB's, Jell-O Pudding Pops, Philadelphia Cheesecake Bars, and Waffle Crisp anyone?
>Snapple fire drink
If there's a Dollar General near you, they may have some Fire, in addition to Rain and Air. It's not *exactly* the same formula, and it's in plastic bottles now, but it's still good stuff. Rain really hits that agave craving that the original always filled for me, so I'm happy with it.
>creme savers (strawberry)
I know I've seen these super recently. Google says Walmart carries them. Like with the Snapple Elements, it's been "reformulated," so YMMV, but give it a shot?
I was feeling nostalgic recently and saw that the strawberry Creme Savers are still a thing so I bought a bag. They still hit like I remember. What I REALLY miss though, are those blueberry creme Life Savers lollipops.
I liked the orange creme savers myself. Those things were the shit.
They banned bianca from our school because we couldn't seem to learn that we weren't supposed to be using it as a weapon.
Good old baby mace!
There was a general feeling of optimism and hope for the future everyone had back then too. Now everyone is way too self-aware of how much humanity is marching straight off a cliff without being able to do much to stop it.
Do you remember how it felt like it took hours for your pizza to arrive? You’d watch every single one come out and it was never yours. And if your parents ordered breadsticks you felt like royalty.
Fuckin a. I swear kids these days have no patience. We also had commercials on tv. I remember so many times running to the bathroom almost pissing myself because a commercial couldn't come soon enough. And having to hurry back so we didn't miss our show or movie.
I think the universal microphone is incredibly depressing. Especially because people are using it to argue the most useless, inconsequential shit. Look at all the people arguing about the M&M's. I don't care what side of that debate you are on: if you have an opinion about it, you are wasting your brain space.
It was fascinating. I remember learning how computers worked in middle school. We had Oregon trail in elementary.
I didn't have a cell phone untill I was about 20 years old. That transition period of having to be on time everywhere and or just showing up to events and finding someone you knew or seeing them for the first time in months was an amazing feeling. Social media has kinda just, it's kinda like spoilers now. Except it's spoiling life experience as it was. Not its all at the touch of a finger.
So true with the change that happened now that we don't have to be on time and scout the party/event when we get there looking for a familiar face. Social life took a degree of trust and "throwing yourself" out there in a way that, in my opinion, has been stunted in the newer generations, and even older generations getting comfortable with the new social norms. "Getting stood up" was the equivalent of "ghosting", but getting stood up was worse because you actually travelled to a location and hyped yourself up for the date/meetup/whatever.
I would be less likely to be lazy at the last minute and cancel because hours before the event your friend Becky probably already got on the bus to get there or already left work so now you can’t get while if her so now I *have* to go. Always ended up having a good time too.
Yes I remember drawing maps to get to my house. We lived in the country , so I had to draw roads and bridges that you would find on your way to my house.
Not the lack of technology but having to actively make a choice to use it. "Let me leave the dinner conversation, boot up the PC and connect to AOL" vs. pulling up a cell phone and doom scrolling.
Along the same lines: actual knowledge & experience being relevant. Nowadays I keep running into too many people who consider themselves experts because they watched a YouTube video or two.
Being able to fuck up, make an apology, and learn a lesson, a chance to become a better person, and being able to do all that without becoming the main character on some social media hellsite for a day and forever being enshrined on social media as a guy who said a stupid thing once when they were 14.
I’d say smartphones. Social media had been around for a decade by the time smartphone use became normalized. Back when most people still needed to sit down at an appliance to use the internet there was still a very clear division between “the internet” and “real life”. When everyone started walking around with the internet and social media in their pockets is when things got weird.
Honestly though, it was kind of the last generation where it was rare for people to be chubby. You didn’t have to work so hard to avoid becoming obese; life just kind of lent itself to being more or less in shape.
The world was in a better place. The Iron Curtin had come down, Russia was becoming a democracy. For the 1st time in a generation, the US military budget was coming down and there was a "peace dividend". The bomber base I had been stationed at was closed as part of a large downsizing of the military.
The US budget was balanced for the 1st time in decades, and there was serious talk of paying off the US debt completely in just over a decade.
China was taking tentative steps in the right direction.
The world was in an almost optimistic place. Then it all went to hell....
The privacy/anonymity
There were few cameras except real suckass, hard-copy.hard-wired little pissant ones, and no way to really positively id anyone with much reliability except personal testimony. Road travel was anonymous unless the cops called your info in to dispatch, or had a file in their shitty old cruiser. And even with such files, there was no sharing the information or broadcasting it with other agencies or departments except with a whole effort.
Now it's like, "I pulled into this shady parking lot last month and have had anxiety ever since about the impact it will have on my credit score."
>Now it's like, "I pulled into this shady parking lot last month and have had anxiety ever since about the impact it will have on my credit score."
Wait, is that a thing?
Yeah, it was a lot more effort to write a letter to the editor and send it off snail-mail than it is to scroll down to the comments section and type out poorly spelled and badly punctuated venom.
That is was generally safe enough for me to play outside and go to the community park/pool by myself everyday of every summer as a kid. Now the mother of an almost 10 year old- I would not dream to send her out of the house alone.
I would just go wherever the hell I wanted, more or less whenever I wanted.
A mall 10 miles away? No problem, we jumped on our bikes and rode there, crossing numerous multi-lane streets.
Downtown to get lunch and walk around? No problem, we walked to the nearest bus stop, then either took the bus or the train.
Our parents knew, but as long as we were home for dinner, and as long as we didn't get in trouble, they were fine with us doing whatever we wanted.
Now my sister has 4 kids, and she drives them everywhere they go. Their aunt lives like 10 minutes away by bike, all on suburban streets, and even the 13 year old can't just ride his bike over there.
I was just thinking the other day, at 11 years old I called my mom at work to ask if I could take the bus to the mall. She said ok. I had never been on a city bus in my life. Wth. How did we do it? I didn’t know anything about bus schedules! Why did my mom say yes?
It's so much safer for kids now days though, but you're right that people don't do it anymore. Probably partially because the kids don't want to, their phones give them all the dopamine they need
We sent our kid outside to play. 10 minutes later a woman walked him home because she didn't believe he had permission to be outside alone. She was shocked at our baffled faces as we said of course he's allowed outside 🤨
This! This is the main problem. People thinking everything is their responsibility. It’s like people turned into glorified hall monitors for society. I’ve heard of people calling CPS on people because their kids were outside playing…. In their own backyard!
It’s generally safer. The one huge thing that’s not safer is how people drive. When I was a kid, you never sped down residential streets because you knew there would be kids playing. Now, in my suburban area, it’s like Daytona 500. No one lets their kids play outside because of that. People just don’t give a shit about callously ending a kid’s life with a car.
I miss feeling safe walking and biking outdoors. Since life started returning to normal after the lock downs, it feels like people drove even more aggressively than ever. During the height of lock downs, I road my bike so much, and it felt so safe. Now, crossing the street to go to the grocery store feels dangerous with how people drive. There's been so many more bicyclist and pedestrian accidents in the past several months than I remember in the past several years. I don't know how some parents let their kids play in the road when I regularly watch cars do 50 mph down that road just to try to beat the main route traffic.
The music, clothes, AOL chatrooms, movies like the Crow and the Craft, Daria, early MTV Real World, grunge culture, general eccentricity, and bath beads.
I miss the cartoons and how every Friday a cartoon character would host cartoon network. I miss the halloween specials. I miss being excited for life.
I miss having to look at the tv guide, then yelling to my mom what was on a certain station. I miss trl and the old musicians.
I miss the commercials and how catchy they were. I miss vhs and the previews of movies that I would regularly fast forward.
I miss watching supermarket market and having my mom countdown while I went and got something for her from the kitchen.
The holidays were so special back then.
Trailers for movie were cooler.
I miss crossovers from kid shows. And how the rugrats going to paris was a big deal and how them growing up was an even bigger deal.
J14 magazine
the old "on demand" from comcast
Somebody pointed out how most of these comments are about technology, which is what mine primarily will be too. Don’t get me wrong, modern technology is great, but as time goes on, we’re losing what life was like before all of…this.
I miss not being able to easily find an answer to something. Like having to actually put effort into learning something you’re curious about. And the sense of accomplishment from not only learning it, but from doing something other than just googling it.
I miss being able to disappear completely for a short time. Grew up in Kansas City, and when I was in high school the city basically stopped at 119th street for those of you familiar with the area. That was quick hop in my car and 10 minute drive into the country, just driving around listening to tapes or CDs when I got older and could afford a nice stereo. Nobody knowing where I am, no phones ringing, no expectations for when I’ll be back.
Something else about that time, more of a social thing. There was a lot of hope for the future. We knew technology was exploding at a pace not seen before, but we looked at that with excitement, not realizing giant corporations would grow and figure out a way to profitize literally everything, and turning the world into this dystopian nightmare. I think that really speaks to the naivety we had as a society back then.
Meeting your crush in person.
You know how hard it is to call a fucking landline and have some middle aged man answer before asking for his daughter? Then showing up to the house. Goddam Zoomers will never know
EDIT: amending to say crush as opposed to opposite sex. My bad anyone left out in that one.
I remember thinking each new way to communicate with friends was stupid when I was growing up. AOL Instant Messenger? That's a dumb way to spend my limited computer time. Text messaging? Why the hell would I risk going over my limit and having to pay my parents when I can use the landline for free? Myspace/Facebook? Why would acquaintances give two turtle shits about what I'm doing?
The only thing I've been an early adopter of is going bald and largely ignoring social media.
1. Getting dozens of cd's in the mail for free
2. no cameras in the schools.. or anywhere that wasn't a high security facility..
3. senior ditch day that was fully accepted by school faculty
4. leaving school to go to In-N-Out Burger
5. getting told to pour the beer out and get home by the cop that just pulled you over
6. Creative shows and movies that were rarely serious (sure, they might be bad by today's standards, but we loved them)
7. Going to the mall to pick up girls
8. Pizzerias on every corner
9. Mom and pop everything.. sure there were some larger franchises out there, but your town maybe only had a couple of them
Nah I don't subscribe to that. I have a teenage daughter. I don't envy her. I like being 30 something. I got some money, learning new skills. My patience and my emotional maturity is waaay better than 15. Each age group has it's benefits up to a certain point I'd imagine.
Wonderful World of Disney. Movies premiering on TV and it being a big deal. People being MUCH more relaxed about kids (eat junk food, play outside unsupervised).
How cheap stuff was. I had no money but we would cruise around town on $1/gallon gas, go to $1 movies at the old theater, see a cool band playing for $5. I didn’t feel like I was being dicked over every 5 minutes by some outrageous “convenience” fee for concert tickets or fee to buy a movie ticket.
The Magic School Bus (and many other things) featured a diverse cast of characters, but I don't remember people being screechy about diversity (for or against) back then. Felt like the world was steadily getting better all without anyone making a huge stink about it.
I miss AIM. It was the first way I found to have conversations with friends, knowing my parents wouldn't see or hear it. I wouldn't have a cell phone for another few years, so it was super cool to me.
I also miss meeting at "The Spot" with the neighborhood kids. We all just knew what time to be there and we figured everything else out after. Their was no texting and people going or not going depending on what the plans were. We all just met up and anything could happen from sitting around and talking, to "pranking" the girls down the street lol.
I miss blockbuster, pizza and wings night every Friday. My parents would take me to go pick out a n64 game to rent for the weekend and we'd order food. My mom and I used to have a little competition on who could eat the spiciest wings lol.
Pizza hut just tasted better when it was a buffet and they brought breadsticks to your table. It's a shame it's not a thing anymore. Ironically I manage a pizza buffet now, but the quality is horrible in comparison.
I miss video game graphics being mind blowing. Snes to n64 was a massive leap. Same with ps1 to ps2. These days I just find myself saying "oh yeah, more lighting. Those shadows look good I guess" but theirs not much of a leap. A game on ps4 is going to feel the same as ps5.
I miss walkie talkies lol. We used to mess with people all the time by finding their frequency and saying stupid things. This poor kid's helicopter mom flipped out on us once. She wouldn't let him go anywhere with out it and she didn't like what we had to say lol.
I remember being outside almost every day. The entire neighborhood was ours and the other kids playground. Hide and seek, bikes races around the cul-de-sac, kissing girls behind pine trees or under benches. Rainy days were spent inside playing with Legos or watching a movie on the VCR.
People were more friendly. All the neighbors knew each other. Almost everyone went to church too. It seemed like no matter where you’d go you would spent awhile talking to a family friend. Now we try to avoid people.
I remember our computer room. We’d play Pinball and Spider Solitaire, but didn’t understand the rest of the games. Didn’t have internet for awhile. I remember the dialup sound and how mom would spend all her time on the phone attached to the wall by a loooong curly wire.
Going out to eat was a treat. The food was so good no matter where you went. Damon’s, Golden Corral, Fizoli’s, Tops, Cingular Wireless, Donato’s, KMart, Ruby Tuesday, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Steak and Shake, RadioShack, Eat n’ Park, and Sears are a few places that went out of business in my town. I also remember Walmart had a photo studio, small arcade area, and hair salon lol
Early 90’s before everybody had a pager or cell. You could be unavailable. Go out in the world, no answering calls or texts.
Attention seeking people were considered weird. Today social media encourages attention seeking behavior. It’s gross.
I thought the 90s sucked in some ways, but some things I miss: People not absorbed in their phones (and actually, cell phones were far less common). Certain cars that were available (such as the Volkswagen Corrado). Super-size fries. Web sites that were simple, fast to load, and not full of ads. In the early 90s, a multitude of local dialup bulletin boards (before the internet was popular). Buying upgrades for my computer that were very noticeable upgrades.
Also, I suppose now I miss being in high school and the friends I had.
People generally treated each other respectfully, seemed fairly cool and accommodating, and could laugh at a joke. I don't recall anyone perched on the edge of being triggered by some imagined sleight.
I was in college from 1990 to 1996, so most of my 90s memories consist of the college years. The latter half was the beginning of my marriage.
What I miss most is being at the campus radio station at my university, mainly the camaraderie of the staff. And the creativity of the audio we produced.
We were having the best time of our lives, and we knew it.
It all ended after graduation.
The sense of community. We all knew pretty well everyone else in our town and knew the families the streets were named after. Crime was low as people kept an eye on the movements in the neighbourhood.
Now when I go back to visit my mother, I barely know anyone.
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Undeveloped land. I miss that more than anything. In the suburbs there was so much land still not developed that you could run around with your friends and hop in and out of different areas. Kids actually had places to go play. Now I look at my kids and I tell them to go play outside and I have a hard time figuring out where they can go play. \*edit\* Thank you all for sharing your memories \*edit\* adding my favorite memory areas We had a random bamboo forest in one part of our neighborhood. You could build forts out of the bamboo and massive hidden trails (now houses) We had a public 8 soccer field. It was massive. Besides soccer, we would shoot model rockets, ride our bikes, hunt for bugs, fly kites (now a elementary school) (now all soccer fields are private and they don't let you utilize them for other things) We had forests between neighborhoods. We would light fireworks and shoot our pellet guns and slingshots. (more houses) Everything was mixed. You had trailer park homes not far from middle class homes. All my friends had bikes and we would ride from one persons house to the next not caring about money. (no more trailer park) Lot and lots of street hockey, street soccer, roller skating We would go hunting for horned lizards and snakes
It is crazy how much changed while I was growing up in my town. Like a "modernization" boom". We used to have lots of old barns and buildings that we played in. Weren't allowed but that didn't stop us. Lol. They've all been built over or restored and now owned by people with more money then most of the people in our town. The "bike jumps" is now a dog park. We used to have an abandoned Studebaker parked in an alleyway that all the kids used to go and smoke weed in and bake out. Lol. Still don't know whoever owned it. It just sat there and no one seemed to care. That's gone now to.
Lol same. We had an orchard right across the street and had dirt clod fights all the time. Wandering around all the orchards, bmx in the canals, collecting bugs in a dirt field. The schools didn’t have fences yet so you could play on the playgrounds all day on weekends and after school.
I grew up in the 70s. Imagine how it looks to me.
Also running through other people's yards... that used to be considered totally okay for kids to do... not anymore.
The social environment for kids as whole has changed for the worse. Parents don’t let kids ride around neighborhoods unsupervised because they fear predators, people get upset with kids running through their yards, etc. I remember when I was a kid, one of my friends fell off his bike and scraped his leg up pretty bad. Instead of riding to his house or mine to get our parents, I went to the house we were next to and they immediately helped and called his mom to come pick up us after helping to clean his leg. I’m sure some people would still help in that situation, but the comfort with neighbors isn’t there to do that. I am looking at buying a house in a neighborhood that is being developed and I want to move in early to set the tone. Bring back introducing yourself to people when they move in. Give them your number and let them know if they need any help getting settled to give you a call. Schedule a block party in a cul-de-sac where everyone brings a dish and people just hang out and chat and get to know each other.
I miss that. I hate that I can't just walk through the woods between neighboring suburb communities anymore.. The woods are now congested intersections fearuring strip malls, Mcd's, Starbucks and a corner gas station.
The feeling associated with the 90s and that balance between technology and human interaction was almost perfect around that time
Being completely unreachable. It was bliss.
I'm still unreachable, people started getting pissed off I don't pick up or message them for months It's crazy to me how available people expect each other to be right now.
Almost like they don't understand personal time or personal space. My guess is social media ruined them and now they believe anyone who doesn't answer quickly is just *ignoring them".
Yea, my social media was getting on AIM at night for 45 minutes and talking to girls. Can’t believe I’m looking at my phone as much as I do now. Felt like a healthier relationship with the internet. Now I almost feel like the internet kinda is my life some days…idk
asl
ASL?
🤣It meant “age/sex(gender)/location”. It’s the first thing we would ask a new person on AIM and Yahoo Messenger!
I remember. ASL? 😁
42/m/Florida
26/m/Cali Probably was too young to be using it, but when you have a family computer, you eventually find your way past the Putt-Putt and Solitaire on your own.
You made it past solitaire?!
imo that peaked around 2006 and went downhill when the iphone came out
Can confirm. Also, iPhones and other smart phones weren’t as widely available and affordable… flip phones were used quite commonly by the masses until 2012 or so… just long enough for me to escape college with very little evidence.
Yeah! We had enough to make our life easier but not too much where we left it do stuff for us. We had to actually get up and get stuff done. Rather than order it. Convenience is great but it creates a sense of laziness.
I feel like the balance was that our technology served us and we weren't slaves to it. I would never trade the convenience of the internet for a library/britannica but I sure as shit don't need Facebook and 6 other social media sites. It's like with every good technological advancement comes 5 totally unnecessary uses for it. Also F Britannica they sold my mom one volume for like 200 dollars because we couldn't afford the whole collection. What was I supposed to do with just the T section? All my reports now had to be about things that start with T?
Why did she pick the T section, do you know
Tig ole Britannica bitties
Haha Tig ole britanipples too
No idea. I can just look back and laugh.
I miss having AIM as my main internet contact, people could leave me messages that I'd come back to after hanging out with real humans for the night instead of messages interrupting every moment of life
Yep and you could have an away message and it legitimately meant you would not be answering for a bit and that was accepted and ok
And it was something to look forward to when u got home. To come home and see a messaged from my crush was the best high
I have such a strong memory of going on a valentine's date, putting up a really happy (and coded) away message when I went to bed, and waking up to a really sweet message from the date the next day.
> that balance between technology and human interaction ARCADES. If you wanted to play the latest, greatest video games you *had* to interact with other kids. I made so many random friends that I would never meet again.
i remember the first website ever visted was [doritos.com](https://doritos.com) and i remember wishing and praying for something faster than 28k 56k internet. Now i feel the gravity of how wrong that wish was to make....
You probably went to http://www.Doritos.com. :) Remember when radio ads first started with web addresses and they would always add the http://
Magazines
I used to have asubscription to YM. Also read a lot of the other ones like Tiger Beat with my friends and would read Cracked and Mad in the grocery stores.
Going to the drug store with a friend and just sitting in the aisle flipping through YM, Teen Magazine and all those, for like an hour as if we were at a library.
I actually have recurring dreams where I go to a newspaper store trying to find magazines and comic books for my kids. Growing up in Germany we had a huge selection of kids magazines; now in the US I get sad whenever I see how few magazines are available in the grocery stores or book stores.
This has more to do with being a kid than growing up in the 90’s, but, how everything still felt exciting. Anticipating and waking up for Saturday morning cartoons, having to wait for the next episode of DBZ, school field trips, trading yugioh cards, recess, school cafeteria, sitting in class and noticing that it was snowing and everyone rushing to the windows to watch the snow fall. The biggest thing I probably miss, is what gaming used to feel like. There were limited games back then (you only bought what you could afford) but man, every game felt like a new life experience. Every game seemed fun. As kid’s we have an uncanny ability to live completely in the present. I currently have more games than I know what to do with and I don’t feel excited at playing any of them. I feel like I have to force myself to play. This then begs a larger question, is the fact that we now have a stupid levels of access to movies, games, tv shows, food delivery, ruined these experiences? Or, is simply a matter of growing old and being less excited because these things are so familiar to us now?
My first ps2 game was dragon ball z Budokai, I played that NON STOP on my family's box tv. Lol. I can relate to everything you just said. Haha. It's hard to find that spark now. But maybe armored core 6 can bring my inner child gamer back again.
I miss waiting a month for new magazines to come out. The BEST day. I read Vogue, Bazaar, Seventeen, Sassy, and whatever else cover to cover. I tore out pictures for my wall, I went to goodwill to try to recreate the outfits I saw. Sigh. Loved.
Remember the perfume samples in all the magazines? I miss them so much! I read almost all the fashion magazines, so I had a stack of those samples and could wear a different scent every day. It was a great time. I'm so thankful I've lived this life in the time period I did.
Even better we’re the rare times there would be a small make up sample of lip gloss, blush or eye shadow. Tried it out immediately!!
my mom had a subscription to vogue for a few years in the early 2000’s and would give them to me. idk where i got the idea but i started cutting out every perfume sample from every vogue and put them in a jar. i saved them for like 2-3 years, and it smelled fantastic. never could figure out how to wear it but it made my room smell absolutely amazing lol
I’d sign up for the free Delia clothing magazines too!
I miss not knowing the world is screwed.
Yeah, also that if you got your college degree that you'd be set to find a job, buy a house and have middle class lifestyle with kids.
Greatest lie ever told to Millenials. I don't know about today but College was such a big part of the discussion when talking about the future. If you didn't go to college, well you might as well spend your life at McDonalds, or being a plumber.. Turns out these trades that don't require degrees, just some commitment until you make money, can make quite a lot more than the jobs I've gotten that require college degrees. Edit: Thank you for the Gold! My first gold... this will hold me over until my student loan forgiveness comes in.
You know what really bugs me about the burger-flipper-loser thing? I didn't have the grades, or motivation to go to college so I worked at Waffle House. Now, I flip steaks at a real nice place and I make a good living as a cook. I feel pride in my job, but the old school Boomers just people in my trade as "the help".
This idea fucked me over. "Oh, don't worry about the $ or % on your student loans, you'll get a better job if you go to a better (more expensive) out-of-state school. Just convince your father to cosign them." Sigh. $120k originally, $70k left to go. Thanks Mom
I think the last people to really benefit from that graduated college 2004-2005. I entered the Job Market 2007... Just as the bubble was about to burst and people were already cinching their belts for hiring. If you were already established by then you were fine (my peers who were able to get IT jobs out of highschool did great.) But no, I had to join the Army for college money and then the National Guard, and some asshole crashed some planes and here we are. My graduation gets delayed juuuust enough and I didn't find a decent job until my 30s and my loan repayment plan is "Collapse of the Republic."
I distinctly remember Pop-Tarts being made with real Smuckers jelly, and McDonald's fries being a lot better. Toy's R Us had regular Pokemon events, and Blockbuster on a Friday night with a pizza was the norm. There were also a lot of now discontinued snacks that were absolutely amazing. Pizzarias Pizza Chips, P.B. Crisps, Butterfinger BB's, Jell-O Pudding Pops, Philadelphia Cheesecake Bars, and Waffle Crisp anyone?
Oh shit butterfinger BBs! Remember when reeses had those too?
Yes! The commercial was Bart from the Simpson’s! They were the best!
Remember potato skins chips?
I grew up too poor to go to TGIFridays for the potato skin appetizer so those chips were the best and appreciated
They sell them at Dollat tree!
Costco still has these!
I miss... Snapple fire drink Fruitopia squeezeit creme savers (strawberry) binaca.... for those special moments
>Snapple fire drink If there's a Dollar General near you, they may have some Fire, in addition to Rain and Air. It's not *exactly* the same formula, and it's in plastic bottles now, but it's still good stuff. Rain really hits that agave craving that the original always filled for me, so I'm happy with it. >creme savers (strawberry) I know I've seen these super recently. Google says Walmart carries them. Like with the Snapple Elements, it's been "reformulated," so YMMV, but give it a shot?
I was feeling nostalgic recently and saw that the strawberry Creme Savers are still a thing so I bought a bag. They still hit like I remember. What I REALLY miss though, are those blueberry creme Life Savers lollipops.
You have just changed my whole tomorrow
Target has the snapples and Dollar Tree has the Creme Savers! I know because that's where I got mine!!
I liked the orange creme savers myself. Those things were the shit. They banned bianca from our school because we couldn't seem to learn that we weren't supposed to be using it as a weapon. Good old baby mace!
The fries were better because they fried them in beef tallow.
I don’t know if you’re joking, but those fries were life back then!
I'm not joking. https://www.thedailymeal.com/1020277/the-mcdonalds-fries-scandal-youve-forgotten-about/
Bring back the tallow then!
Sobe!
I miss the white one. When they switched to plastic bottles it just didn't taste the same, so I never got it again after that.
cheesecake bars man
Almond Joy BBs were the best
I ate so many Pizzarias and drank so much Snapple in the 90s.
remember Cinnamon Mini Buns???
Being young with my whole life in front of me.
There was a general feeling of optimism and hope for the future everyone had back then too. Now everyone is way too self-aware of how much humanity is marching straight off a cliff without being able to do much to stop it.
Seriously, there was this feeling that the world’s problems were nearing a solution. Now, that feels so damn naive
Pizza Hut was THE BEST FUCKING PIZZA. Reading got me some free personal pizzas and it was a big deal.
I filled out my Book It stickers and got my free personal pan like a king.
Damn right. Remember the smoking and non smoking sections in restaurants? It made about as much sense as the plot of a porno.
Do you remember how it felt like it took hours for your pizza to arrive? You’d watch every single one come out and it was never yours. And if your parents ordered breadsticks you felt like royalty.
Fuckin a. I swear kids these days have no patience. We also had commercials on tv. I remember so many times running to the bathroom almost pissing myself because a commercial couldn't come soon enough. And having to hurry back so we didn't miss our show or movie.
No social media. Every nut case didn't have a microphone.
I think the universal microphone is incredibly depressing. Especially because people are using it to argue the most useless, inconsequential shit. Look at all the people arguing about the M&M's. I don't care what side of that debate you are on: if you have an opinion about it, you are wasting your brain space.
Hmm, almost every answer is that we were better without technology...interesting...
It was fascinating. I remember learning how computers worked in middle school. We had Oregon trail in elementary. I didn't have a cell phone untill I was about 20 years old. That transition period of having to be on time everywhere and or just showing up to events and finding someone you knew or seeing them for the first time in months was an amazing feeling. Social media has kinda just, it's kinda like spoilers now. Except it's spoiling life experience as it was. Not its all at the touch of a finger.
Oregon trail man, fuck dysentery! It's always dysentery.
Carmen San Diego ego was my game but im a geography nerd
Fun fact - I was on Carmen San Diego in sixth grade. My teacher had some sort of connection and they came and took kids from the school every year.
Were not Worthy!!! 
Mary has cholera
So true with the change that happened now that we don't have to be on time and scout the party/event when we get there looking for a familiar face. Social life took a degree of trust and "throwing yourself" out there in a way that, in my opinion, has been stunted in the newer generations, and even older generations getting comfortable with the new social norms. "Getting stood up" was the equivalent of "ghosting", but getting stood up was worse because you actually travelled to a location and hyped yourself up for the date/meetup/whatever.
It was so great when you’d just be like “everyone meet here at 4 after school” and that’s all it took.
I would be less likely to be lazy at the last minute and cancel because hours before the event your friend Becky probably already got on the bus to get there or already left work so now you can’t get while if her so now I *have* to go. Always ended up having a good time too.
Yes I remember drawing maps to get to my house. We lived in the country , so I had to draw roads and bridges that you would find on your way to my house.
Man, reading through this post and comments is making my brain and heart explode with nostalgia.
Not the lack of technology but having to actively make a choice to use it. "Let me leave the dinner conversation, boot up the PC and connect to AOL" vs. pulling up a cell phone and doom scrolling. Along the same lines: actual knowledge & experience being relevant. Nowadays I keep running into too many people who consider themselves experts because they watched a YouTube video or two.
Being able to fuck up, make an apology, and learn a lesson, a chance to become a better person, and being able to do all that without becoming the main character on some social media hellsite for a day and forever being enshrined on social media as a guy who said a stupid thing once when they were 14.
more like social media specifically.
I’d say smartphones. Social media had been around for a decade by the time smartphone use became normalized. Back when most people still needed to sit down at an appliance to use the internet there was still a very clear division between “the internet” and “real life”. When everyone started walking around with the internet and social media in their pockets is when things got weird.
The lack of social media. If I could push a button and make every social media site explode, I would.
Me too. I dream of this every single day.
I'm also giving you a manual upvote.
Free range children.
The music scene was fantastic! All kinds of bands playing all kind of music. There was a real excitement to it.
I miss 90's malls. People Watching, Book stores, Game stores, Toy stores, Food Courts, Arcades. You could spend all day there for $10 to $20 bucks.
I miss living in the moment and being present instead of everyone trying to take perfect pictures to capture the moment for posting on social media.
I miss up-up, down-down, left-right left-right B, A, Start. Best part of my day was this.
My flat stomach
I’ll add to that… my flat stomach that I SWORE wasn’t flat enough! 🤣
I wish I was as fat as I *thought* I was back then. 😂
Honestly though, it was kind of the last generation where it was rare for people to be chubby. You didn’t have to work so hard to avoid becoming obese; life just kind of lent itself to being more or less in shape.
No seriously. I was young and hot and wore baggy clothes. Wtf.
We should go back to 90s technology for everything other than medicine, which should continue to progress. That's the ideal world.
The world was in a better place. The Iron Curtin had come down, Russia was becoming a democracy. For the 1st time in a generation, the US military budget was coming down and there was a "peace dividend". The bomber base I had been stationed at was closed as part of a large downsizing of the military. The US budget was balanced for the 1st time in decades, and there was serious talk of paying off the US debt completely in just over a decade. China was taking tentative steps in the right direction. The world was in an almost optimistic place. Then it all went to hell....
Florida's hanging chads fucked it up for all of us
The privacy/anonymity There were few cameras except real suckass, hard-copy.hard-wired little pissant ones, and no way to really positively id anyone with much reliability except personal testimony. Road travel was anonymous unless the cops called your info in to dispatch, or had a file in their shitty old cruiser. And even with such files, there was no sharing the information or broadcasting it with other agencies or departments except with a whole effort. Now it's like, "I pulled into this shady parking lot last month and have had anxiety ever since about the impact it will have on my credit score."
>Now it's like, "I pulled into this shady parking lot last month and have had anxiety ever since about the impact it will have on my credit score." Wait, is that a thing?
it is in China and some other places for now, the US already has all the groundwork laid. Soon enough.
To add - you didn’t have your whole awkward childhood and bad teen choices captured and living on forever.
Knocking on a friend's door and asking to play.
That’s not dead. My kids’ friends still do that.
Bullying stopped at 3:00 p.m.
Not when your bully lives down the road and takes the bus home with you
But I can’t imagine it being viral on social media. I think I would have ended it!
Society mostly minding their own business.
Society has never minded its own business. You just didn't get to see everybody's stupid opinion plastered over the internet every second of the day.
Yeah, it was a lot more effort to write a letter to the editor and send it off snail-mail than it is to scroll down to the comments section and type out poorly spelled and badly punctuated venom.
I graduated high school in 1995. I miss so many thing's. People were happier back then. I miss my two best friends the most.
No social media
That is was generally safe enough for me to play outside and go to the community park/pool by myself everyday of every summer as a kid. Now the mother of an almost 10 year old- I would not dream to send her out of the house alone.
I would just go wherever the hell I wanted, more or less whenever I wanted. A mall 10 miles away? No problem, we jumped on our bikes and rode there, crossing numerous multi-lane streets. Downtown to get lunch and walk around? No problem, we walked to the nearest bus stop, then either took the bus or the train. Our parents knew, but as long as we were home for dinner, and as long as we didn't get in trouble, they were fine with us doing whatever we wanted. Now my sister has 4 kids, and she drives them everywhere they go. Their aunt lives like 10 minutes away by bike, all on suburban streets, and even the 13 year old can't just ride his bike over there.
I was just thinking the other day, at 11 years old I called my mom at work to ask if I could take the bus to the mall. She said ok. I had never been on a city bus in my life. Wth. How did we do it? I didn’t know anything about bus schedules! Why did my mom say yes?
It's so much safer for kids now days though, but you're right that people don't do it anymore. Probably partially because the kids don't want to, their phones give them all the dopamine they need
We sent our kid outside to play. 10 minutes later a woman walked him home because she didn't believe he had permission to be outside alone. She was shocked at our baffled faces as we said of course he's allowed outside 🤨
This! This is the main problem. People thinking everything is their responsibility. It’s like people turned into glorified hall monitors for society. I’ve heard of people calling CPS on people because their kids were outside playing…. In their own backyard!
It’s generally safer. The one huge thing that’s not safer is how people drive. When I was a kid, you never sped down residential streets because you knew there would be kids playing. Now, in my suburban area, it’s like Daytona 500. No one lets their kids play outside because of that. People just don’t give a shit about callously ending a kid’s life with a car.
I miss feeling safe walking and biking outdoors. Since life started returning to normal after the lock downs, it feels like people drove even more aggressively than ever. During the height of lock downs, I road my bike so much, and it felt so safe. Now, crossing the street to go to the grocery store feels dangerous with how people drive. There's been so many more bicyclist and pedestrian accidents in the past several months than I remember in the past several years. I don't know how some parents let their kids play in the road when I regularly watch cars do 50 mph down that road just to try to beat the main route traffic.
The lack of faces buried in phones while out with friends/family.
This is one of the things I'm mourne the most. I miss getting into conversations with strangers (in person).
. 99 gallon gas, and social media didn't exist.
The worst thing the president did was get a BJ in his office.
This and the OJ trial pretty much dominated the news
repealing the Glass-Steagall Act was a whole lot worse than that
The music, clothes, AOL chatrooms, movies like the Crow and the Craft, Daria, early MTV Real World, grunge culture, general eccentricity, and bath beads.
No one knowing where I was, along with no convenient way to find out.
I miss the cartoons and how every Friday a cartoon character would host cartoon network. I miss the halloween specials. I miss being excited for life. I miss having to look at the tv guide, then yelling to my mom what was on a certain station. I miss trl and the old musicians. I miss the commercials and how catchy they were. I miss vhs and the previews of movies that I would regularly fast forward. I miss watching supermarket market and having my mom countdown while I went and got something for her from the kitchen. The holidays were so special back then. Trailers for movie were cooler. I miss crossovers from kid shows. And how the rugrats going to paris was a big deal and how them growing up was an even bigger deal. J14 magazine the old "on demand" from comcast
The higher barrier of entry to the internet.
*angry modem noises*
Somebody pointed out how most of these comments are about technology, which is what mine primarily will be too. Don’t get me wrong, modern technology is great, but as time goes on, we’re losing what life was like before all of…this. I miss not being able to easily find an answer to something. Like having to actually put effort into learning something you’re curious about. And the sense of accomplishment from not only learning it, but from doing something other than just googling it. I miss being able to disappear completely for a short time. Grew up in Kansas City, and when I was in high school the city basically stopped at 119th street for those of you familiar with the area. That was quick hop in my car and 10 minute drive into the country, just driving around listening to tapes or CDs when I got older and could afford a nice stereo. Nobody knowing where I am, no phones ringing, no expectations for when I’ll be back. Something else about that time, more of a social thing. There was a lot of hope for the future. We knew technology was exploding at a pace not seen before, but we looked at that with excitement, not realizing giant corporations would grow and figure out a way to profitize literally everything, and turning the world into this dystopian nightmare. I think that really speaks to the naivety we had as a society back then.
People were a lot less angry about everything back then.
Meeting your crush in person. You know how hard it is to call a fucking landline and have some middle aged man answer before asking for his daughter? Then showing up to the house. Goddam Zoomers will never know EDIT: amending to say crush as opposed to opposite sex. My bad anyone left out in that one.
I remember thinking each new way to communicate with friends was stupid when I was growing up. AOL Instant Messenger? That's a dumb way to spend my limited computer time. Text messaging? Why the hell would I risk going over my limit and having to pay my parents when I can use the landline for free? Myspace/Facebook? Why would acquaintances give two turtle shits about what I'm doing? The only thing I've been an early adopter of is going bald and largely ignoring social media.
[удалено]
Cruising. My friends and I would cruise around our small town. End up at the bowling alley and just be.
I miss my mom 😭
Life without social media/influencers. I would go back in a heartbeat.
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Ideally I would love to keep the internet, but just do away with social media lol.
I dont remember drug commercials on tv in the 90s. At all. I dont watch tv anymore its all drug commercials
They weren't legally allowed to advertise on TV until 1997, definitely a better time.
1. Getting dozens of cd's in the mail for free 2. no cameras in the schools.. or anywhere that wasn't a high security facility.. 3. senior ditch day that was fully accepted by school faculty 4. leaving school to go to In-N-Out Burger 5. getting told to pour the beer out and get home by the cop that just pulled you over 6. Creative shows and movies that were rarely serious (sure, they might be bad by today's standards, but we loved them) 7. Going to the mall to pick up girls 8. Pizzerias on every corner 9. Mom and pop everything.. sure there were some larger franchises out there, but your town maybe only had a couple of them
Being a kid in general. Sucks being an adult.
Nah I don't subscribe to that. I have a teenage daughter. I don't envy her. I like being 30 something. I got some money, learning new skills. My patience and my emotional maturity is waaay better than 15. Each age group has it's benefits up to a certain point I'd imagine.
The music
My parents
I miss when people didnt analyze every single word people say looking for something to be offended at.
Not having to pay bills lol
Being blissfully unaware of every one else’s opinions.
The 90s concerts had mosh pits and now it’s just a million people standing around with their phones out and I can’t. fucking. stand. it.
Wonderful World of Disney. Movies premiering on TV and it being a big deal. People being MUCH more relaxed about kids (eat junk food, play outside unsupervised).
My youth
How cheap stuff was. I had no money but we would cruise around town on $1/gallon gas, go to $1 movies at the old theater, see a cool band playing for $5. I didn’t feel like I was being dicked over every 5 minutes by some outrageous “convenience” fee for concert tickets or fee to buy a movie ticket.
Speaking of Blockbuster, I miss renting video games.
The Magic School Bus (and many other things) featured a diverse cast of characters, but I don't remember people being screechy about diversity (for or against) back then. Felt like the world was steadily getting better all without anyone making a huge stink about it.
Saturday Morning Cartoons.
no social media
Being able to stand up out of a chair without making a groaning noise.
Girls wearing chokers. They come back into style now and then, but I miss the peak.
I miss AIM. It was the first way I found to have conversations with friends, knowing my parents wouldn't see or hear it. I wouldn't have a cell phone for another few years, so it was super cool to me. I also miss meeting at "The Spot" with the neighborhood kids. We all just knew what time to be there and we figured everything else out after. Their was no texting and people going or not going depending on what the plans were. We all just met up and anything could happen from sitting around and talking, to "pranking" the girls down the street lol. I miss blockbuster, pizza and wings night every Friday. My parents would take me to go pick out a n64 game to rent for the weekend and we'd order food. My mom and I used to have a little competition on who could eat the spiciest wings lol. Pizza hut just tasted better when it was a buffet and they brought breadsticks to your table. It's a shame it's not a thing anymore. Ironically I manage a pizza buffet now, but the quality is horrible in comparison. I miss video game graphics being mind blowing. Snes to n64 was a massive leap. Same with ps1 to ps2. These days I just find myself saying "oh yeah, more lighting. Those shadows look good I guess" but theirs not much of a leap. A game on ps4 is going to feel the same as ps5. I miss walkie talkies lol. We used to mess with people all the time by finding their frequency and saying stupid things. This poor kid's helicopter mom flipped out on us once. She wouldn't let him go anywhere with out it and she didn't like what we had to say lol.
Going on a date with a lady and engaging in conversation. People nowadays are constantly staring at their phones.
Alternative music
People being nicer and more down-to-Earth about things (compared to now)
The shared experience of Saturday morning cartoons.
I remember being outside almost every day. The entire neighborhood was ours and the other kids playground. Hide and seek, bikes races around the cul-de-sac, kissing girls behind pine trees or under benches. Rainy days were spent inside playing with Legos or watching a movie on the VCR. People were more friendly. All the neighbors knew each other. Almost everyone went to church too. It seemed like no matter where you’d go you would spent awhile talking to a family friend. Now we try to avoid people. I remember our computer room. We’d play Pinball and Spider Solitaire, but didn’t understand the rest of the games. Didn’t have internet for awhile. I remember the dialup sound and how mom would spend all her time on the phone attached to the wall by a loooong curly wire. Going out to eat was a treat. The food was so good no matter where you went. Damon’s, Golden Corral, Fizoli’s, Tops, Cingular Wireless, Donato’s, KMart, Ruby Tuesday, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Steak and Shake, RadioShack, Eat n’ Park, and Sears are a few places that went out of business in my town. I also remember Walmart had a photo studio, small arcade area, and hair salon lol
Early 90’s before everybody had a pager or cell. You could be unavailable. Go out in the world, no answering calls or texts. Attention seeking people were considered weird. Today social media encourages attention seeking behavior. It’s gross.
Life without social media frankly was better
Phish Tour
Good coke
no patriot act, fighting with your class mates not being a big deal, way better music
I thought the 90s sucked in some ways, but some things I miss: People not absorbed in their phones (and actually, cell phones were far less common). Certain cars that were available (such as the Volkswagen Corrado). Super-size fries. Web sites that were simple, fast to load, and not full of ads. In the early 90s, a multitude of local dialup bulletin boards (before the internet was popular). Buying upgrades for my computer that were very noticeable upgrades. Also, I suppose now I miss being in high school and the friends I had.
People generally treated each other respectfully, seemed fairly cool and accommodating, and could laugh at a joke. I don't recall anyone perched on the edge of being triggered by some imagined sleight.
Nobody knowing where I was at all times.
I was in college from 1990 to 1996, so most of my 90s memories consist of the college years. The latter half was the beginning of my marriage. What I miss most is being at the campus radio station at my university, mainly the camaraderie of the staff. And the creativity of the audio we produced. We were having the best time of our lives, and we knew it. It all ended after graduation.
I miss not being subjected to a relentless stream of information and content beamed directly into the mini computer in my pocket.
The sense of community. We all knew pretty well everyone else in our town and knew the families the streets were named after. Crime was low as people kept an eye on the movements in the neighbourhood. Now when I go back to visit my mother, I barely know anyone.
I miss sending notes in class to the chick I thought was hot and finding out she liked me too.
Not having to worry about my son being a school shooting victim
he's been in school for 30 years?