For instance, recording songs on tape from the radio while yelling at the DJ to shut up during the intro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hey there, millennials<\/a>! Welcome to the \u201cHoly crapoly, I have real-life memories from 20 years ago!\u201d club. It\u2019s a strangely disorienting milestone to reach when you find yourself starting sentences with, \u201cWhen I was young\u2026\u201d or, \u201cBack in my day\u2026\u201d isn\u2019t it? Your Gen X elders<\/a> have been here for a while<\/a>, but even we have moments of incredulously calculating how the heck we\u2019ve arrived at this place. Time<\/a> is a tricky little jokester, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n To highlight how much has changed for middle-aged folks since we were young, a user on Reddit asked people born before 1990<\/a> what useless skills they possess<\/a> that nobody has a need for anymore. It\u2019s both a hilarious trip down memory lane<\/a> and a time capsule of life pre-Y2K<\/a>. (Do kids these days even know what Y2K was? Gracious.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re down for some good-old-days nostalgia, check out people\u2019s responses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI can cover a textbook with a brown paper bag.\u201d \u2013 sourwaterbug<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh goodness yes. And there was always that one girl in class who had the art of the brown paper bag book cover perfected. (They\u2019re probably Pinterest influencers now.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI can re-fold a map correctly.\u201d \u2013 JungleZac<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMan remember actually using maps\u2026I had an atlas with the road system in my car to navigate other states during road trips. Crazy.\u201d \u2013 jagua_haku<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n How did we ever figure out how to get anywhere before GPS<\/a> and Google Maps? (Two-inch thick road atlases in our car and stopping at gas stations to buy local maps while traveling, that\u2019s how. Positively primitive.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n For real, though, kids these days don\u2019t even know<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRemembering phone numbers.\u201d \u2013 greatmilliondog<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot only that, having to speak to your friend\u2019s parents for a few minutes when you call their house.\u201d <\/em>\u2013 Logical_Area_5552<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow to take a message when the person they want to talk to isn\u2019t there.\u201d \u2013 Amoori_A_Splooge<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n How about dialing on a rotary phone, using a pay phone and making (or taking) a collect call?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUsing your shoulder to hold a telephone up to your ear while doing multiple other things at once. Now, the phones are so damned small I drop them.\u201d \u2013 Regular_Sample_5197<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c100 ft phone cords \u201d \u2013 mrch1ck3nn<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI got in sooooo much trouble for stretching the phone cord into the bathroom for some privacy. Accidentally clotheslined Grandma She laughed about it but Mom was pissed!\u201d \u2013 AffectionateBite3827<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I don\u2019t think kids these days fully grasp how revolutionary Spotify and the like<\/a> are for those of us who spent hours in front of the radio with our cassette tape recorder queued up at just the right spot waiting for the song we wanted to record to come on. And they will never, ever know the frustration of the DJ yapping right up until the lyrics start.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMaking brown paper bag book covers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Maps on actual paper<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Memorizing phone numbers and answering the house phone<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Recording songs off the radio was an art form<\/h2>\n\n\n\n