A time without Tinder, smartphones, omnipresent Wi-Fi, and synced Spotify seems unimaginable to some. The truth is, many millennials (specifically Generation Z) have never been exposed to the world of DSL, VCR, floppy disks, and mixtape cassettes.
SiriusXM host Eric Alper took Twitter Tuesday with a simple question: “Without revealing your actual age, what something you remember that if you told a younger person they wouldn’t understand?”
Without revealing your actual age, what something you remember that if you told a younger person they wouldn't understand?
— Eric Alper 🎧 (@ThatEricAlper) December 28, 2016
Nuanced responses are coming in, with a range of users recalling their own childhood and youth featuring exclusive verbiage that many kids today probably cannot comprehend.
Pull tab soda cans. Black and white TV. A naive sense that Republicans cared about democracy. https://t.co/P2VBW7QOSs
— Moltz (@Moltz) December 28, 2016
https://twitter.com/edjeff/status/814161898744770560
https://twitter.com/leducviolet/status/814145891124715524
https://twitter.com/edjeff/status/814161480656584704
words like "nazi" and "white supremacist" are meant to be insults https://t.co/i20825ap6m
— tweets aren’t loading right now. (@filth_waste) December 28, 2016
Kids these days could never understand the teenage struggle we had with porn
— Bret Buzz (@ImTellinTim) December 28, 2016
Here's one: Figuring out you might not be straight bc you heard lesbian porn on 1 of those channels
— Jen the secretbutterfly (@secretbutterfly) December 28, 2016
The utterly terrifying illustrations in 'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark' https://t.co/8RKUxCsQ38
— this place is hell (@OkayWordsByJoel) December 28, 2016
Hit 'Record' at the right moment to get the perfect last song off the radio for Side 1 of the mixtape you're making https://t.co/8RKUxCsQ38
— this place is hell (@OkayWordsByJoel) December 28, 2016
And going to clubs and dancing *to guitars* (Specifically, the Smiths.) @ThatEricAlper
— Anthea Pitt (@antheap) December 28, 2016
Waiting 3 months for the latest edition of NME to arrive (imported via sea mail).
— Anthea Pitt (@antheap) December 28, 2016
.@ThatEricAlper you had to memorize EVERY SINGLE phone number to your friends' homes
— Gary King (@grking) December 28, 2016
Placing a phone call via an operator; party line telephones; my grandad having the only phone on the street (10c a call).
— Anthea Pitt (@antheap) December 28, 2016
You have to push down the play and record buttons together
— Eoghan Sweeney (@buileshuibhne) December 28, 2016
https://twitter.com/emilybwebb/status/814042646633033728
Don't worry, I've got plenty of battery left on my phone, I charged it last Tuesday
— Chris Creegan (@ChrisCreegan) December 28, 2016
If you told friend you'd meet somewhere at 12p you HAD to be there on time, otherwise you'd miss them w/ no way to contact
— Dennis Crowley 🇺🇸 // now on Threads @dens (@dens) December 28, 2016
https://twitter.com/HarrietRGreen/status/814075469326942208
.@ThatEricAlper when this…..was actually this. pic.twitter.com/W7AIewBsDU
— Gary King (@grking) December 28, 2016
Hitting the black-and -white TV on the side and top to get the picture to stop rolling.
— Larry Altman (@LarryAltman) December 28, 2016
The map is in the glove compartment.
— Jeff Mayes (@midnightdog) December 28, 2016
MiniDiscs are the future
— Chris Creegan (@ChrisCreegan) December 28, 2016
If it's not working, take it out and blow on it
— Chris Creegan (@ChrisCreegan) December 28, 2016
The meme has also made its way to Reddit, and the responses there have been even better.
But nothing beats the hilarious reality of needing a phone line to surf the web.
Stop using the internet, I need to use the phone
— Chris Creegan (@ChrisCreegan) December 28, 2016
Add your memories to the thread via Alper’s Twitter here.