Kids nowadays have no idea of the struggles that we went through in the '90s. We did not have high-speed internet, 4G phones, and immediate access to information. We spent hours in libraries reading encyclopedias because we did not have Google. We had to use payphones when we were out to keep in touch with our families and friends. And, that is just a few of the struggles we went through. They have no idea how much easier their lives are now compared to ours back then.
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Blockbuster
Back in the day, we had this thing called Blockbuster Video. It was a store where we could rent movies on VHS. As kids, we looked forward to this every weekend.
Bootleg Music
Growing up, we did not have Spotify or Pandora. We either had to buy the cassette or we used blank cassettes to record our favorite songs right from the radio.
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Discman Woes
After cassettes, we had CDs. They were great because we could skip around and only listen to the songs we really liked, but sadly, our portable disk players were very touchy, making our CDs skip if we jarred the device too much.
Knowing the Lyrics
Cassettes almost always came with the lyrics to the songs printed inside the cover. Most CDs did as well, but every now and then we would get a CD that was full of band art instead of the lyrics, and we did not have Google or YouTube to help us figure out the words to our favorite songs.
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The Horror!
There was nothing worse than picking up a Friday night movie at Blockbuster only to sit down with your popcorn and realize that the previous person did not rewind it. It seemed to take forever to rewind those darn VHS tapes.
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Taking Turns
When the internet first came around, everyone was super excited. It is funny to think about it now, but back when the internet hit, you really could not do much besides sit in chat rooms all day. Unfortunately, the internet was dial-up, meaning that it shared your home phone line. You could not use both at the same time. Plus, if the phone rang while you were online, it would knock you off even if you did not answer the phone.
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Early Cell Phones
When cell phones first came out, they were huge. Many resembled the cordless phones we had in the house. When they finally made smaller versions of them, they were still very bulky and built tough. You could have driven a tank over them, and they would not have broken.
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No Privacy
Growing up, our phones had cords and in most cases were on the wall in the kitchen. If you wanted privacy during your phone call, you had to buy an extra long cord or you would be S.O.L.
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Fundraisers
Every kid in school had to participate in the school fundraisers. Most of us tried really hard to win a prize for a certain amount of items sold. The prizes were cheap pieces of crap, but we tried anyway and were heartbroken if we did not meet our goals.
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Taking Pictures
Back in our day, even after cell phones were invented, we had to use real cameras with real film in order to capture our life's memories. Then, we had to take them to the pharmacy or to a photo lab in order to see how they came out. We had to wait at least a week to see the final product.
