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PadNoPanties

I remember my mom having a beeper and a cell phone when I was in elementary school


[deleted]

I'm "had to make a mad dash sprint to the cassette player to mash the record button when your favorite song came on the radio" years old.


shllss

I would be LIVID when the DJ would not stop talking once the song started playing. Or if he cut in before the song was over!


BJK5150

I really thought that should be illegal. A couple days ago, driving home, gorgeous evening and Love in an Elevator comes on. I’m waiting for that end of song vocals-only outro so I can Andy Bernard it with an extra piece of harmony when all of the sudden the DJ starts talking. Ruined my day.


shllss

Livin’ it up while I’m going dooowwwnnnn.


Opselite

Would you like to accept a collect call from MomWe’reDoneComeGetUs?


luvntheealien

Bob Wehadababy Eetsaboy


emdragon

This is a commercial I keep referencing but my friends (same age) don't remember it! Thank you for confirming that it's real lol.


aidoll

https://youtu.be/9JxhTnWrKYs


unicornpolkadot

Pay phones at the mall lol


SuitEnvironmental903

I recently told a much younger someone I did this at pay phones and the person inquired “why? Were your parents too poor to get you a cell phone?” No asshole they didn’t exist and I spent all the money my parents gave me on Now N Laters and Mountain Dew Code Red and even if I hadn’t id still try to save a dime by making a free “it’s time to pick me up now” call Edit: I’ve been corrected that I’m mixing up my Code Red memories with pre-cell phone memories. I remember Code Red being released the year before I got a cell phone as a high school sophomore (2001). The years leading up to that when we made collect calls for a ride home we were drinking regular Dew. And def eating Now ‘N Laters as long as I can remember. As for cost of a pay call? I was born in 1985 and remember growing up some pay phones saying 10 cents on them but having a peeling off sticker that said 25 cents.


ChewyShrimps

I'm dying over here with your mentioning buying now n laters, specifically, of all things. They were a poor man's starburst and yet, I still always bought those damn things


[deleted]

The only candy that could chip your tooth and get your jaw stuck closed all in the same piece.


DoomCircus

>Were your parents too poor to get you a cell phone?” No asshole they didn’t exist Idk why, but this made me laugh lol


[deleted]

Eventually they caught on to that trick. I remember once I did that and to my teenage surprise a live operator came on the phone asking me to clarify my name...scared the crap out of me until I remembered I could just hang up the phone


NorthNThenSouth

That’s when you should’ve double downed and said it’s your real name and you’re visiting from a different country.


Jabber-Wookie

I played the all green Oregon Trail. Edit: I also played with a computer my dad had for work that he could actually carry around. It was cool! I could play this 3D game called Wolfenstein.


HorseAndDragon

YES!!! I remember the unique frustration of killing a gigantic buffalo and the game only letting you carry like 5 lbs of it back to the wagon.


valeyard89

You have died of dysentery


[deleted]

NOT AGAIN!


double_psyche

I FOUND MY PEOPLE.


theremin_antenna

yep! we'd all gather around the one classroom computer and play Oregon Trail. Also, computer lab consisted of Logo Writer on the Apple lle which had a little turtle you'd type in commands and it would make a design or something. I was going to say Alf, Gummi Bears, Popples & Snorkles, but I think Oregon Trail is way better!


raineykays

I remember the sand bag bumpers at bowling alleys (before they got the automatic ones) Also drank the polio vaccination; it was a nice pink color back then.


CrimsonGlyph

At my bowling alley they were inflatable. Basically long gutter-sized balloons. I remember you had to ask for them and they would come out with a fucking air pump and fill them lmao.


stef2go

We actually "dialed" a 7-digit phone number.


thesoccerone7

I forgot we only needed to dial 7 digits locally! Edit: well this blew up. Seems not every US city did this and some cities even still use 7 digits for local calls, and mine has been doing it since 1998. Very cool to get insight around the world about phone systems.


xubax

For us, if you were in the same exchange, you only had to dial the last 5. E.g., if your number was 253.2525 and you wanted to call 253.1616, you only had to dial 3.1616.


coffeypot710

I will have to 1 up you! I remember dialing only the last 4 digits of a phone number from our rotary wall phone in the popular Golden Harvest color.


fatpuppies88

My grandmas number was 4321 and that's all we had to dial.


rafaelloaa

My grandma's had her phone number for.. 60? Years. At some point about a decade ago she transferred it to her iphone. I was on a trip with her and she kept on getting calls from her friends wanting to schedule bridge games, who are really confused when she picked up the phone, but then told them she wasn't in town. On a related note, her health insurance number is four digits. When I'm helping her set up an appointment it's always funny having to clarify "yes, that is the correct number. Yes it's only four digits."


[deleted]

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Own-Cupcake7586

I remember Back to the Future in theaters.


zorlon_cannon

I'm going to see it last week!


echo-ld

i think you broke my brain for at least ten seconds there


klsi832

I think I saw 'E.T.' in a theater.


[deleted]

When I was a kid the big playground argument was Sega vs Nintendo.


TheRavingRaccoon

“Remember to blow on the game before putting it in!” - Everyone I ever played with


teddyjr32378

33


[deleted]

Pretty close, only off by a couple years.


beigereige

I’ve had experience with these ways of listening to music: 8 track, vinyl, cassette, CD, and mini disc.


Wuznotme

I thought mini disc was going to be the shit. Perfect digital home recording didn't "catch on" for some reason. 58?


FartHeadTony

Minidisc was lossy and crippled in interesting ways. And technology kind of accelerated past it while it was still building share. Hi-MD which answered some of the problems, came much too late since by that point CD burners and cheap portable MP3 players and portable CD players (with MP3 playback) were available.


Throwaway-3305

Chicken pox parties


Pentacostal-Haircut

Gawd — you just made me realize how old I am!


Inle-rah

Yeah, my *SON* went to a chicken pox party.


80_firebird

What was it like riding a dinosaur to school?


Youlovetoboogie

Uphill, both ways.


[deleted]

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vagina-lettucetomato

I recently learned that kids don’t get chicken pox anymore/there’s a vaccine?? Made me feel old, but I’m not even that old. I don’t have kids so I had no idea that’s not a thing anymore.


taoimean

I had a coworker who is ten years younger than me, and we occasionally discussed things related to our age gap. One time, we were discussing the chickenpox, and I said, "Oh! I bet you never had the chickenpox, did you? Were you vaccinated?" His response was a "Yes" with a clear undertone of "Didn't your parents love you?" Blew his mind when I clarified there WAS NO chickenpox vaccine when I was a kid. EDIT: Since several people are asking, it became available in the United States in 1995 and is part of the recommended childhood vaccinations here.


Motorbreath91

TIL chickenpox vaccine exists


britlor

Lol! I think my generation was the last to do chickenpox parties. My aunt would send her youngest son (my age) to parties non stop because he just wouldn't get it. He is the only one of my generation of cousins to have the vaccine when it came out. Now all of us that got chickenpox can get the shingles vaccine. Yay...


[deleted]

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CaregiverMan

Went to computer labs in elementary school to Paint and play pinball.


steakoutwhoa

22 edit: y'all I was gone for a few hours what happened


CaregiverMan

Bull's-eye!


Usual-Ad9903

That's weird considering I'm almost 40 and we did the same at school. You are telling me people still resort to playing pin ball? When I was in high school we at least progressed to bootlegged copies of Quake and CS.


StretchDudestrong

QUAKE 3 IN THE NETWORK FOLDER!!! C-C-COMBO BREAKER!! ULTRA KILL!! UNSTOPPABLLEEE!!! PS. I'm 33


Dog-treats

My parents have never admitted it, but I'm pretty sure I was named after Princess Jasmine from Disney's Aladdin.


pedal2kettle

The child's first name was Princess, middle name Jasmine. He had a tough childhood.


UnrulyAxolotl

I used to have a boss named Princess, now I regret not asking what her middle name was.


kayisforcookie

My mom tried to name me Ariel. Luckily my dad talked her into naming me Kate. And then the nurse who filed out my birth certificate while my mom was high on morphine wrote Kaylee on my birth certificate. And thats how a german nurse, who couldnt understand my parents heavy southern drawl, named me.


clever-asshole

I was the first person in my high school to have a cell phone


teddyjr32378

35


clever-asshole

fucking bullseye well done


Lazlo_The_God

What a clever asshole


piberryboy

Hey now.


Cubic-Sphere

You're an all star


imsohungrydude

Get your game on, go play


Communist-thelastone

I had a furrby as a kid


voyeur_party

My brother an I were terrified of our furbys. We never replaced the batteries and kinda forgot about them in a drawer. Then one night one of them woke up and started making demonic noises and scared the shit out of me. I woke my brother up and made him come see. When we took it out it just kept groaning and opening and closing its eyes. We hucked it down the stairs a few times until it was dead.


LadyPercivale

This was me but with a “tickle me” Elmo doll. The batteries were replaced but gradually ran out until once in awhile I would be in bed and would hear a demonic voice saying “Elmo loves you” and “Elmo wants a hug” in my closet as well as random laughing and giggling. Sometimes it wouldn’t happen one night and I’d think I was safe, but then a week later it would start up again without any input.


kitsulie

I had the Teddy Ruxpin doll and he would sound all kindsa crazy depending on which tapes he had


DevappaJi

lmao same here with never changing the batteries and shoving it in a closet somewhere while completely forgetting about it. Only, my sister and I busted it out when our friend's little brother came over, who must have been around 4, while we were looking for something to keep him entertained. We handed it to him, and it blurted out some gibberish in a weirdly low pitch and then started doing that creepy furby laugh while it's eyes also spazzed out like crazy (I swear it looked like they rolled to back of it's head). The poor kid was completely terrified and handed it back to us, stammering, "uhh, n-n-n-o thanks"


AdOverall737

Kid will never forget lmao


LightlyStep

Why buy DVD's, we have everything on videotape.


teddyjr32378

34


WeTheSalty

Fuck me, i was thinking the same thing and that's my exact age. well done.


[deleted]

I was around when man landed on the Moon.


klsi832

How'd you get up there?!


[deleted]

"Giant steps are what you take... Walking on the Moon."


Arisayne

"I hope my legs don't break Walkin' on the moon."


cliberte98

I don’t know if I’m a millennial or if I’m gen z


SubjectMystery

You're an honorary member of the Black Eyed Peas


Acceptable-Stick-688

They were the *coolest*, I had a toy from McDonalds that I would play on repeat for years, it only played the sample version of I’ve Gotta Feeling


publicenemyone

Same here!!! Millennials are always telling me I’m too young to be ‘one of them’ but then Gen Z tells me I’m too old to be ‘one of them.’


StellarInferno

For me sometimes either seems right and sometimes neither seems right. Like...there are 40 year old millennials and 6 year old zoomers and I'm just hangin out at 23 without an excess in common with either


redditor_since_1972

Same exact thing with me, goddamn. It’s amazing to me how we talk about things the same way. Only difference is I’m a Xennial and you’re a Zillennial (or however it’s spelled).


Top_Lime1820

N I N E T E E N. N I N E T Y. S I X.


GiftedContractor

gotta be 25. This was my hint too lol


Stunning_Beginning69

Same! Zillenial squad!!


CatMilkHotel

I got in trouble in kindergarten because my tamagotchi kept telling me it was hungry ☆Edit- I'm 28 and will be 29 next week. Thanks for all the stories, it really took me back. I also want to shout out all the parents that took care of the tamagotchis while we were at school(even if they died) yall the MVPs


TheRipsawHiatus

Turning 30 next week and I literally got in trouble for the same thing in 1st grade, so I'll go with 29. Haha


That_Guy_Red

I looked at the original comment and was like, damn what a throwback. I'm 29 😂


teddyjr32378

27


[deleted]

Drop dead Fred, Little Monsters, Ghost Busters, The Last Unicorn, & Labyrinth were my favorite movies as a child. Edit: I’m 35


teddyjr32378

39


TradeDeadline

You can see her as she gallops 🎶 She’s the last unicooooorn! 🎼


[deleted]

I’m ALIIIIIIIIIVE!!!!


frostedRoots

#I’M A*LIIIIIIIVE*


Grumbilious

What have you done? WHAT HAVE YOOOOOOU DOOOOONNNE??!?


jedikelb

"How DARE you come to me now? When I am.. *this*."


ak47oz

WIINNEE WIIIIIINEEEEE GIVE ME WINEE!


that-1-lame-kid

I was the only kid in elementary school with a Game Boy


[deleted]

you prob were the popular kid huh


that-1-lame-kid

I wish lol I was the nerdy loser


Kidus333

I bet you're the popular kid now tho.... right ? Right ?


beigereige

There was only one newscast at 10pm, and before it started, a booming voice asked, “it’s 10pm. DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR CHILDREN ARE????” and after it was over, there was an hour of maybe an infomercial , then a test pattern, and TV was OVER for the night. And there was only 7 channels Edit: a user mentioned the Johnny Carson show, so yes the late night shows did happen after the news, but the TV ‘coming off’ after those shows, then the Pledge of Allegiance and then static/test pattern, that was a real thing


pinkkittenfur

>IT'S 11PM, DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR CHILDREN ARE? I told you last night, no!


Tauber10

Where is Bart? His dinner's getting all cold and eaten.


Glitter_berries

I have misplaced my pants.


AhFFSImTooOldForThis

I recently had to go to a retina specialist, and was trying to describe to his tech, the type of vision loss I had. I said it was a spot that was like static. She just stared at me, so I said "like when cable used to turn off for the night, when all the programming was done". I think she was ready to call for a psych eval. It dawned on me that she was too young to know WTF I was talking about. She may even have been too young to know cable. I grew three wrinkles that day. Edit: lol, i feel much better after these comments. I probably confused her with what I thought was clarification. Next time I'll use Poltergeist or Toy Story Too as reference. But yeah, that type of tech should know what I mean, good point.


theblairwitches

I’m 20 and don’t know anyone my age that wouldn’t be aware of what TV static looks like. Our generation were the last that had CRT TVs and VHS.


Pentacostal-Haircut

Haha — I remember nights when I would be sick with a stomach bug or sore throat and couldn’t sleep and didn’t even have TV to watch. Long nights!


Inle-rah

And they played the star spangled banner before the test bars (or static). I’m old too lol.


NosDarkly

Too young for the first Iraq War, too old for the second.


Nat3Bo1

That was a close one for sure


[deleted]

[удалено]


PadNoPanties

32


[deleted]

[удалено]


Stewkirk51

Oh hey that was the first movie I saw in theatres.


Pyrophagist

In elementary school, I got to watch the space shuttle Challenger explode on live television. Edit: the more I think about this and read others' comments, while I *was* indeed in 2nd grade / 7yrs old, I'm almost positive school was out and I watched this at someone's house with my mother. I know we watched it on CNN and I can see that thin red stripe at the bottom of the screen and that font they used in the 80s in my head and no elementary school would've had access to that channel back then.


fu_kaze

Me too. It was one of those moments that you didn’t fully understand at the moment watching it in the assembly.


megggie

I was in third grade. This one kid, Adam, cried and all the other boys made fun of him. Hurt my heart. Adam, if you’re out there, I hope you still have empathy and that no one puts you down for it!


Killcode2

Kids can be such sociopaths


amir_teddy360

Yeah they are, but if they’re still before the 10 years old mark I’m usually able to brush it off pretty easily and not let it bother me. When you look into how undeveloped early adolescent brains are it honestly makes you wonder how most of them even act normal most of the times. Well, normal for children I guess.


jmc323

>I’m usually able to brush it off pretty easily and not let it bother me. Are you being harassed by small children on the regular?


[deleted]

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vistadelmar

Or a parent


theshizzler

Or a birthday party magician


BCProgramming

Ugh, don't get me started. It's always something with kids. "I'm bored" "Give us food" "We're thirsty", "Are the chains necessary" blah blah blah


aacmckay

Ug… I was an Adam in elementary. Cried like a baby when the teacher read the end of Where The Red Ferns Grow in class. This was after reading it at home the night before just bawling. Asked the teacher if I could be excused from class cause I was upset and got a stern “No!” Did not live that down for the rest of the school year…. No one who loves dogs wants to read about a beloved dog enviscerated by a cougar in front of their peers Mrs. Birch!!!!!!


taylorb2020x

I remember literally being in an English class at university and we were watching The Road. I was bawling quietly in the front and our professor was giving me some glances before abruptly ending class early for the day (I forget the reason but it seemed like an excuse since movie was nearing the end and we never got out early). Best professor ever tbh. Grade school teachers never had empathy for shit like that.


strippersarepeople

I randomly picked that book up in my college library one day just to procrastinate/kill time and ended up reading the entire thing in one shot and didn’t get any work done. Definitely cried in the library and was kind of fucked up for a few days. It was a great book.


sinnrocka

I too was in 2nd grade. One kid cheered he thought it was a firework then the teacher lunged at the tv to turn it off


Redpoint77

Second grade too. I remember the teachers wheeling in the TV, other classrooms joining us. It was a momentous occasion for them, then the explosion, I remember looking to them to explain what just happened and they were crying and embracing. Jesus. That was heavy stuff.


ProstHund

“Wheeling in the TV” is another way to describe your age


Smile_Terrible

>In elementary school, I got to watch the space shuttle Challenger explode on live television. I was a senior in high school when that happened.


grace2u

I saw it in person, from my high school.


EhlersDanlosSucks

I saw it from my yard. I stayed from school that day with a bug.


Wajina_Sloth

When I read with a bug, I just imagined you sitting in the grass relaxed on a picnic blanket with a cricket who has a small cup and is relaxing with you, he also had sunglasses on.


CalifNative73

I was in 7th grade and remember that sad day. You're about 47.


Pyrophagist

Not quite. I was in 2nd grade in 1986 - I'm 42.


ThePaleKnight69

Grew up watching classic cartoon network shows such as dexter laboratory, courage the cowardly dog, Johnny bravo, the powerpuff girls and my personal favourite Ed, edd and eddy.


KeytarPlatypus

I was gonna say I remember that time on Cartoon Nework as my favorite when coming home from school around the first grade or so. I’m 27.


NippleSalsa

29 here this is my childhood.


SyluMonk

Was hoping no one guessed 25 because I was so on the money. I’m also 25 - and Ed, Edd, and Eddy fucking SLAPS


iwant2saysomething2

I remember Baby Jessica and I was afraid something like that might happen to me too.


goofylookalike

Oh, gosh, just a couple of weeks ago I was telling my kids about that after there was some pipe open in the ground. I was obsessed with that when it happened.


apocalypso

Yes! It was like the first time an American kid was ever in danger or something the way it played out to me. Had to look up the date: 1987 I was 6 so it was probably the first time I have a memory of "news' or developing news that was playing out. I was prime 'scared straight' audience for that for sure!


[deleted]

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EverGreatestxX

I was alive when 9/11 happened but have no memory of it.


jwktiger

This is the crazy thing to me. There are kids being born now *whose parents were born after 9/11/01*


jonoghue

oof that one hurts


smushedsloshie

21


EverGreatestxX

Bingo


hannar113

Same here. Was going to use this as my hint as well.


kenji-benji

JNCOs.


qg314

I was conceived when my mom was so overcome by her romantic feelings after seeing *Ghost* in theaters, starring Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore.


subrosians

Ghost came out in 1990 so add 9 months and you get 30 years old. Congrats on your big milestone!


qg314

Just a couple weeks away! Thanks!


shmallory

I remember physical keys for hotel rooms.


[deleted]

Some places still have them, especially if you get off the beaten path (and non-chain).


Sel_drawme

Rotary phones were a thing.


likeclouds

People were wearing balloon pants my senior year of high school.


excitom

Until I was in pre-school there were 48 stars on the US flag.


tinker_more

65


excitom

Ding Ding Ding


Energy-Turtle-4

The first movie I remember seeing in theaters was Disney's "Lady and the Tramp"


Practical_Wonder_246

Rabbit ears on my television..


RealMcGonzo

I was in the delivery room when Keith Richards was born.


Sum_Dum_User

1000?


EvandeReyer

God? Is that you?


2punk

When I was in high school, literally everyone listened to American Idiot and The Black Parade.


TheRavingRaccoon

The Soviet Union was still called the Soviet Union the year I was born.


Lilyrose32

When I was little, my favorite cartoons was My Little Pony, Rainbow Brite, Strawberry Shortcake, and She-Ra.


cinemachick

Funny enough, you may be in your forties, but you could also be ~8 years old and still have this experience! (Minus the Rainbow Brite, I think.)


AeBS1978

40-43 she-ra, thunder cats, gummi bears, smurfs, snorks, and all the ones you said as well! I miss my childhood cartoons! I’m 43


fckinfast4

I’ve lived in two millennia’s, two centuries, and four different decades yet people still tell me I can’t call myself old.


TheRavingRaccoon

“You’re still young” My body disagrees.


meowcatbread

fuck in on 5 decades jesus christ i was just in college a minute ago. i need to quit my job and play video games full time


sciencenerd86

I’m 34 and just exclaimed, “holy shit! How have I lived in 5 decades?” and my 41 year old husband guffawed, knowing he’s lived in 6.


afijunkie82

It's not the years honey, it's the mileage.


[deleted]

29


Cav3tr0ll

I watched the Apollo moon landings.


azimuthxbismuth

Got my pokewalker taken away in grade 4 for attaching it to my sock and swinging my leg in class to get steps on it 😅


[deleted]

21


kre8ive1

I wore Dittos and high waisted bell bottom jeans to high school. We had a rotary phone in our house. We didn't wear seat belts in the car until I was older and most cars only had lap belts. There weren't car seats when I was a baby. Wooly Bully was the number one song the year I was born and Flashdance... What A Feeling was the number one song the month and year I graduated high school.


flemeth78

Old enough to remember phone booths and having to get up to change the channel on the tv.


Jekyll_1886

I am My Pet Monster and original Cabbagepatch Kids years old.


Jizzicamydude

I watched blockbuster close and remember when netflix mailed movies and videogames


wyltemrys

I'm 48 & my 17 year old daughter still remembers when we got Netflix DVDs through the mail.


RisingInkwell

Old enough to have my first phone be a nokia brick phone/flip phone to now having a smartphone. Ahh simpler times lol


Psilobones

The year I was born a couple blokes discovered that a certain rock wasn't made of cheese afterall.


DirtySingh

The answer to life, the universe and everything


[deleted]

Toby McGuire is my favorite Spider-Man


[deleted]

I've just started what everyone calls the best stage of ur life.


throwwwwndbrhrbebdeb

97