Time To Be Teleported To The Good Ol' Days With 22 Things Kids Today Will Never Understand

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Emma Saven
Jul 25, 2025 7:00 PM EDT

Madonna, Seinfeld, phone booths, making abominable mixtapes, your parents answering your crush's call before you do….

All the wonders that the kids of 2025 will never understand… and boy, do we pity them. (I am them!)

Those were simpler times when we actually had to sit face-to-face with the people around us and engage in that strange thing, I think it's called "a conversation," ahhh scary! We couldn't escape into our phones, we would have to remember phone numbers by heart and memorize road maps that don't even predict the traffic! Sounds exciting, doesn't it?

In honor of the good-ol'-days, we've curated 22 Gen X-coded elements of daily life that kids today would probably laugh at and ask: 'Hey, Dad, What's that box at the back of the TV?"

Will they ever understand the effect of Patrick Swayze, and the fact that no one EVER puts Baby in a corner… (cue sobs). All we can do is try to help with that!

 

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  • Please sit back and enjoy being transported to a time without sliding into someone's DMs or texting your friend who's sitting right next to you! 

    A time of ‘peace, love and freedom’, where our biggest problems would be making sure we never missed our 9 p.m. show, because babe, there is no rewind button…but today, there is one and we're about to press it! Let's go…

  • 01

    What’s something kids today will never understand?

    These Cut_3326 Going into a phone booth, especially when you're a kid just to jiggle the coin return in hopes of scoring a nickel or dime so you can buy some candy. My cousin Brenda beat me to a phone booth at the beach & got $1.15. She was the first rich person I ever knew. RIP Brenda.
    via These_Cut_3326
  • 02
    TheLastBaboon When you try to you try to play a song and for some reason it's just Bush or Clinton
    via TheLastBaboon
  • 03
    MachineOverall816 Spending hours curating the perfect mix CD ― carefully choosing the songs, getting the order just right, and writing the tracklist in Sharpie like it was a love letter. If someone made you a burned CD... that was real love.
    via MachineOverall816
  • 04
    Hidden_lust_OP That weird, magical era where you made plans, kept them, and just showed up — no texts, no tracking, no group chats. Just: "See you at 4" and somehow... everyone did.
    via Hidden_lust_
  • 05
    strawberrypockyx The desperation to get snacks from the kitchen quickly or going to the bathroom fast during a commercial break while watching an episode you waited all week for... bonus points if your sibling screams "it's back!!!!" when you're still out of the room and you have to run back lol
    via strawberrypockyx
  • 06
    Lytnin Needing to have a quarter (or a dime if you're THAT old) on you just in case you needed to call home with a payphone.
    via Lytnin
  • 07
    catinreverse Getting a new phone number every time you move.
    via catinreverse
  • 08
    somethingbrite actually knowing phone numbers. Like your parents number, the numbers of several friends... S t....I still know some of those numbers even today
    via somethingbrite
  • 09
    Tool_Time_Tim If you don't know how to do something or know an answer to a question, then you ask your friends/family. If they didn't know, you probably won't find out. And you were ok with that
    via Tool_Time_Tim
  • 10
    Zarko291 Tied to the wall phone and talking to someone you liked within earshot of your parents.
    via Zarko291
  • 11
    warricd28 Riding your bike home from school, picking up the house phone, and calling your mom at work to let her know you got home safe because you're all by yourself for the next few hours.
    via warricd28
  • 12
    StragglingShadow We used to have tv shows that lasted hundreds of episodes.
    via StragglingShadow
  • 13
    kieppie "Do you have a Nokia or Motorola charger?" "Which model?"
    via kieppie
  • 14
    HighlightNo4898 The satisfaction of slamming down the phone when hanging up on someone
    via HighlightNo4898
  • 15
    just_a_floor1991 That the same grown ups who taught them to "never believe everything you read on the internet" went on to believe everything they read on the internet.
    via just_a_floor1991
  • 16
    GoodFriday10 Calling in to your favorite radio station to request they play a song for that special someone.
    via GoodFriday10
  • 17
    FewRub8526 Being told "no"
    via FewRub8526
  • 18
    Prize-Possibility867 Tv signing off for the night.
    via Prize-Possibility867
  • 19
    ZealousidealStick402 Doing something and not telling anyone about it
    via ZealousidealStick402
  • 20
    Complete-Bite3019 Writing reports or papers by hand in the library.
    via Complete-Bite3019
  • 21
    ConferenceWest9212 Having no escape from awkward situations. A mutual friend just introduced you two and then left you alone? You used to have to try making small talk and find some common ground. Kids nowadays can just escape into their phones.
    via ConferenceWest9212
  • 22
    dayofthed d204 Playing video games in a group / in person. Online gaming has nothing on playing Nintendo 64 Goldeneye, some greasy cheap pizza and a 2L pepsi with buddies.
    via dayofthede*d204

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Tags

1990s outdoors freedom throwback geeky face to face older-now millennials nostalgia friends no-technology good old days plans telephone booth never-understand funny 1980s
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