Ah, the '80s and '90s—a golden era when our biggest worry was which flavor of Pop-Tarts to stock up on and whether our cassette tapes would unspool in the Walkman. Remember the wild thrill of dialing into AOL and hearing that iconic “You’ve Got Mail” chime? Yeah, that’s what you call a roller coaster ride now. We didn’t have the luxury of streaming our favorite shows on demand. If you missed Melrose Place on a Tuesday night, you were forced to resort to the ancient ritual of “asking your friends what happened” and “suffering through their wild inaccuracies.” Can you imagine living like that now?
And let’s talk about the fashion choices that were as regrettable as that time we collectively agreed that “The Macarena” was a good idea. Remember when oversized flannel shirts were a sign of style? They looked fantastic with our wide-legged jeans—light years before TikTok turned into a live action version of The Hunger Games. Venturing outside meant fighting the elements while simultaneously ensuring our grunge look didn’t cramp our vibe. Not to mention, our world was filled with such intricate dangers: a stick in your eye from swinging your makeshift nunchucks, or the highly competitive art of skateboarding over to the local 7-Eleven without falling flat on your face.
Technology? Ha! We had it figured out! The pinnacle of high tech was using a TV remote that was longer than my arm, and that was only if you could pry it out of your dad’s grip during his never-ending reruns of The A-Team. Those were the days when “social media” meant chatting with friends while dodging the occasional overzealous parent helicoptering around, ready to ground you for life just for hanging out at the mall. And if you wanted to play video games, you faced a life or death decision between the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo. These days, kids will never know the sheer stress of waiting for your friend to return your game cartridge, or the horror of seeing the “blinking red light” of doom on your Nintendo console.
But now, here we are: adults dealing with a world where selfie filters can transform us into “perfectly imperfect” versions of ourselves, and streaming services are throwing content at us like confetti at a New Year’s party. Sure, we’re supposed to embrace these tech-savvy innovations, but let’s face it: there’s a part of us that longs for floppy disks and books made of tree pulp. Because nothing says nostalgia quite like the smell of a library book and the satisfaction of knowing you “racked your brain” through an entire college course without Google. So next time you reach for your smartphone, just remember—the struggle (and the thrill) was real, and maybe—just maybe—it wasn’t always better in the “good old days,” but it sure was fun.