Jason Mustian
I was born in the early ’80s, which means I had boomer parents, a rotary phone in the kitchen, and a front-row seat to the strange magic of pre-internet life.
We had patience because we had no choice. Entertainment came in physical form, communication required landlines, and if you wanted to know something, you either went to the library or just… didn’t.
There’s a whole chunk of life from that era that Gen Z will never touch—not because it was better or worse, but because it’s gone. Some of it we miss, some of it we’re glad to leave behind, but all of it made those decades what they were.
1. Waiting All Week for a TV Episode
If you missed it, you missed it. No DVR, no streaming, no YouTube recap. The only hope was catching it months later during a rerun. The anticipation made even average shows feel like events—especially Thursday nights with Must See TV or Friday’s TGIF lineup (Full House, Family Matters, Step by Step).
Cliffhangers were brutal: who shot Mr. Burns? Would Ross and Rachel finally get together? Research on delayed gratification shows that waiting can make experiences feel more rewarding, but good luck explaining that to anyone raised on full-season Netflix drops.
Back then, you actually had to remember the plot from week to week—and if you wanted to talk about it, you had to wait until Monday at school. There was no Twitter thread to argue in, just a cafeteria full of amateur TV critics.
2. Memorizing Phone Numbers (or Looking Them Up in a Phone Book)
Before smartphones stored your entire contact list, you were the contact list. You memorized every important number—your best friend’s house, your grandma’s landline, even your crush’s digits from the school directory.
If you didn’t know it, you looked it up in the actual phone book, a brick of paper that doubled as a booster seat in a pinch. White Pages for people, Yellow Pages for businesses. You’d run a finger down tiny columns of names until you found the one you needed.
Calling someone meant dialing the whole number on a rotary or push-button phone, so you’d better be sure before starting. Mess up a single digit and you had to begin again from scratch.
Gen Z will never know the quiet pride of rattling off a number from memory—or the pain of realizing you had it wrong after 10 rings.
3. Recording Songs Off the Radio
It wasn’t piracy—it was an art form. You’d hover over the cassette deck, finger on the “record” button, waiting for your favorite song to come on. DJs had an annoying habit of talking over the intro, but that was part of the charm.
Mixtapes made this way had personality. You’d have Smells Like Teen Spirit fade awkwardly into a commercial for a car dealership, then Waterfalls with a snippet of the weather report at the end.
Creating one took hours, and gifting it to someone was basically a declaration of love. Sure, Spotify playlists are convenient, but they don’t come with the thrill of catching a song live, perfectly timed, without any ads. That was victory.
4. Renting Movies from a Physical Store
Friday night at Blockbuster was an event. You’d wander aisles with your friends or family, scanning VHS covers for something everyone could agree on. Popular new releases were often gone, leaving you to either pick an old favorite or take a gamble on something weird.
There was no scrolling endlessly through options. You physically committed to the choice—then prayed the tape wasn’t mangled from someone else’s VCR. Late fees loomed like a financial death sentence if you forgot to return it.
The whole process was tactile: the smell of plastic cases, the feel of the rewind button, the nervous excitement of getting the last copy of Jurassic Park. Movie night had stakes back then.
5. Developing Photos Without Knowing the Results
You’d drop off a roll of film and wait days to see what you’d actually captured. Maybe it was a perfect shot of your friends at the mall, maybe it was your thumb covering half the frame.
The reveal was part of the fun. You’d flip through glossy prints at the counter, laughing at blurry shots and regretting every time you didn’t use the flash. There was no deleting the bad ones—they were forever in the stack.
Disposable cameras at parties meant the evidence of the night lived in mystery until someone developed it. Half the pictures were probably crooked, but those imperfect, real-life moments beat any overly curated Instagram grid.
6. Making Plans Without Constant Check-Ins
If you told someone, “Meet me at the food court at 3,” you actually had to be there at 3. No texts to say “running late” or “where are you?”—just the mutual understanding that if one person bailed, the other was stranded.
You learned to be on time, pay attention, and sometimes just… wait. Maybe you killed time playing Street Fighter II at the arcade or browsing Sam Goody.
The lack of instant updates made meeting up feel more like an adventure. There was an element of trust and follow-through you don’t get when every plan can be re-negotiated by text in real time.
7. Listening to a CD Start to Finish
No skipping straight to the hits—you bought an album and listened to the whole thing, even the filler tracks. You’d memorize the liner notes, learn the lyrics, and maybe even find a deep cut you liked better than the singles.
Albums were experiences. Jagged Little Pill, Nevermind, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill—you didn’t just listen, you lived in them. You might even let the CD play into a hidden track at the end (shoutout to Dookie fans).
Now, streaming lets you cherry-pick songs, which is great for variety but kills the magic of growing to love the less obvious ones. There’s something satisfying about knowing every beat of an album because you didn’t have the option to skip it.
8. Getting Actual Handwritten Letters
Pen pals, chain letters, love notes passed in class—they were physical proof someone thought about you. The handwriting, doodles, and even the choice of stationery made them personal.
You’d read them over and over, sometimes folding them into elaborate shapes to hide in a binder. Waiting for a reply took days or weeks, but that made it feel more meaningful when it arrived.
Today, messages are instant, disposable, and endlessly editable. Back then, if you spelled something wrong, you either crossed it out or started over. That imperfect permanence is what made them feel real.
9. Experiencing Concerts Without Phones Everywhere
When you went to a show, you were at the show—not filming the whole thing for social media. You sang along, made eye contact with strangers, and maybe even left with ringing ears.
Sure, you might bring a disposable camera, but that was for a couple of grainy photos, not the entire setlist. The focus was on the music, the crowd, and the moment—not on getting the perfect clip for Instagram.
You also couldn’t just look up the setlist beforehand. Every encore was a surprise, and every guitar solo felt like it was being played just for you.
Gen Z might never know the frustration of a rewound VHS getting eaten by the VCR or the joy of catching your favorite song perfectly on tape—but they have their own cultural touchstones we’ll never get. Every generation trades one set of experiences for another.
Still, for those of us who grew up in the ’80s and ’90s, these moments are more than just nostalgia—they’re proof that you can build a rich life without instant access to everything. And sometimes, the waiting, wandering, and wondering made it all the more fun.