Things about your childhood that would baffle younger people of today

[Happyinwonerland]

Picking up the phone to kick my brother off the internet when I wanted to tick him off.

 

[KittenLittle]

Oh yeah-going to school in Alabama for 12 years with no AC in any of the schools! We survived!

 

[design_mom]

We would sit on the floor in the back seat of the car and use the seat as a desk to color and play all the way to Florida.

We would do this too!

The “Magic Fingers” that cost a quarter and shook the hotel bed like an earthquake.

Haha! We took a cruise last summer (not DCL) and our cabin was very far to the back. My dad was askign if we could feel the vibration from the engines, and we could. I told him it wasn't all-together unpleasant through... it kind of felt like the "magic fingers" in an old hotel. My dad knew exactly what I meant and the kids looked at me like I had two heads.

 

[Sjm9911]

Walkmans, boom boxes, mono radio stations. At 11 or 12 pm the regular tv stations went off the air with an american flag and song. Black and white tv. Computer class was a box of cards with holes in them. No ac in the house either! Atari video games cost 80$ and the console had a b/w color button. 5 and dime stores. Video arcades . Airplane's had ashtrays in the armrest. Shoveling coal for heat ( i missed that one thankfully). But we did have to fill up the boiler with water daily( think a Christmas story). Im sure i can think up a ton more lol

 

[tvguy]

Information you found on the Internet could not be used in school papers because it wasn't a reliable source..............oh...........wait...........maybe that hasn't changed.

 

[Hook326]

Hearing a busy signal when you called someone. Using a paper map on a road trip and having to stop and ask for directions when you got lost.

 

[jo-jo]

45

Hearing a busy signal when you called someone. Using a paper map on a road trip and having to stop and ask for directions when you got lost.

My DH still refers to paper maps.

 

[TheFloatingBear]

From songs recorded off the radio!

I feel like once you could make them with CDs, it took some of the sport out of it!

 

[Princess Mulan]

I had to explain to my 23 year old son how to mail a letter. He still does not believe me.

 

[MomOfDisneyPrincess]

Heating large pots of snow on the stove to wash up in when the well froze over.

 

[leebee]

We used to go downtown for the entire afternoon on either Saturday or Sunday. My parents/grandparents would give buy sister and me each $1.05 (the nickel was for tax) and let us walk the mile into town. We each had enough money for a round of minigolf and an ice cream treat; I always got an ice cream soda and my sister always got a sundae. When we were done roaming around, we'd walk the mile back to our cottage. I bet we started doing this when my sister was 6 and I was 10. I know we weren't a whole lot older than that because my dad died when I was 13. ALSO they used to leave me home to babysit my siblings... I was probably 12, making my sibs 8, 3, and 2. My parents would go out for supper with friends and then to the VFW for drinks and dancing. They'd get home around 1am. I had a regular Friday night babysitting job for the people up the street when I was 12, also. They had 4 kids. I'd arrive at the end of supper, get the kids to bed, and stay until the parents got home, usually between 11pm and midnight. Nobody thought twice about this- and I was happy with the money!

Paper routes... walking around the area delivering papers every Thursday until well after dark (in the winter), and collecting payments. We'd knock on the door and yell, "Collecting!" and they'd pay us and take a receipt.

Pay toilets... 10cents to pee.

The whole phone thing: Rotary dial, party lines, ONE phone that was attached to the wall, calling information for numbers or using a phone book, waiting until late at night to make calls as it was cheaper then, collect calls, setting up "codes" so we wouldn't have to pay to make a long-distance call (if I got to college and placed a collect call from "first name"my mom wouldn't accept it because that meant I was back safely; if it was a call from "first name, middle name" there was a problem and she would accept the charges... which makes me laugh seeing the old ad about "this is "Bob Haddababyitsaboy" being played again, as that's exactly what we'd do!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Not having a computer at home (didn't have one until 5th or 6th grade)

Needing a disc to get the internet and being limited to how many hours was on the disc--my husband and I joke that his family was fancy because they have 2 phone lines so being on the internet didn't disrupt being able to get calls (another point)

Getting the information from physical encyclopedias though I remember using encarta some when we got a computer

 

[low-key]

When teachers swatted me or punished me, I hid it from my parents cause if they found out I would really get into trouble

 

[TheFloatingBear]

Having to make plans in advance to get together with your friends and then wondering if they would show or why they were late because there was no way to contact them.

Going to WDW when MK was the only park. Having to show your resort ID to use WDW transportation because only resort guests could use it without buying a separate transportation ticket (my sister dropped her card off a boat into Bay Lake and it was a big deal). No FP, no ADR, and using individual tickets for each ride.

Having a milkman bring dairy products to the house and leaving them on the front porch. We had an insulated box on the porch and they would even leave ice cream.

My dad watched tv lying on the floor next to it so he could change the channel. He probably invented channel surfing and it was annoying then too. TVs were in big wood cabinets and had big tubes inside that had to be replaced sometimes.

We would sit on the floor in the back seat of the car and use the seat as a desk to color and play all the way to Florida. I never got carsick sitting backwards. Staying in little mom and pop motels because there wasn’t much in the way of chain hotels on our route. Actual keys to open hotel room doors instead of cards or apps. The “Magic Fingers” that cost a quarter and shook the hotel bed like an earthquake. I was a picky eater and would eat spaghetti, grilled cheese, or hot roast beef sandwiches only. A lot of places had hot roast beef sandwiches.

I am sure my growing up years would seem like a Stone Age relic to kids growing up today.

I have tried to explain the whole plan-making thing to my kids several times and they just cannot seem to grasp it! I have told them about waiting endlessly on the corner waiting to meet up with them to walk to school and wondering what the heck they were doing (I was always early).

I also tried to explain sitting around the kitchen table eating dinner with my family and hearing the phone ring and hoping it was for me! It usually wasn't So simple but they don't really get it!

 

[rkstocke5609]

So many good answers so far, but mine has to be camping overnight outside a Department Store that sold concert tickets with a lawn chair and a sleeping bag in 30 degree weather. Before they handed out numbers and told you to come back at 6:00 AM. (One time we scored 10 first row & 10 third row for Tom Petty after 15 hours....)

Yeah, I know someone out there is asking what a Department Store is...

 

[kimblebee]

Having to run downstairs when my mother called me so that I could change the station on the tv for her so she didn't have to get up. Then she'd say, "While you're up, will you get me a Tab?"

Having to pick up the phone and drag it as close as possible to my bedroom, so I could slide the cord connecting the phone to the headpiece under the door so I could talk in "private" but I had to sit with my back pressed up against the door or it wouldn't reach. The "privacy booth" downstairs was the coat closet.

Making a mix tape off of the radio and having to time things perfectly to get the entire song!

There was nothing worse than a chatty DJ who talked over the whole intro to a song. I know it’s a legit thing, but it was so annoying.

Hearing a busy signal when you called someone. Using a paper map on a road trip and having to stop and ask for directions when you got lost.

My cell phone still has me hear a busy signal. What does yours do?

 

[jo-jo]

I remember when we first got a phone. Before then we went to the corner candy store to use the pay phone. I remember being so proud going to school telling my teacher we had a phone number.

I think of my sister, she was the church secretary from 16 years old until she died at 63. She used plain old typewriters to electric to IBM selectra (or something like that---- they had interchangeable balls so you could type with different fonts) to computers. And mimeograph sheets. And carbon paper.

How did we survive?

 

[Hook326]

My cell phone still has me hear a busy signal. What does yours do?

The majority of my phone calls are to other cell phones so I don’t get a busy signal, I get their voicemail if they’re on the other line. I can’t remember the last time I got a busy signal. Maybe you have more people in your life with landlines with no call waiting than I do? Businesses usually have multiple lines so no busy signals there either.

 

[Pink Partridge]

Picking up a six-pack of beer or cigarettes for adults. I remember when the rules changed at our local corner store and the adult had to "call ahead" in order for the child to pick up. My parents were very disgruntled about that

 

[sailorstitch]

My dad watched tv lying on the floor next to it so he could change the channel. He probably invented channel surfing and it was annoying then too. TVs were in big wood cabinets and had big tubes inside that had to be replaced sometimes.

My aunt still has and uses TWO of these TVs. I don't know what she's going to do when they die. She refuses to own any other style of TV. But her grandkids grew up with them.