Though we love the internet and all the technology the 21st century has to offer, many baby boomers can't help but smile as they think about growing up "back in the day." Here are the simplest joys that most kids nowadays probably will never understand.
1. Passing notes.
Back before everyone had cell phones, the thrill of covertly delivering a note to your BFF during class, without the teacher seeing, was just as exciting as reading the message inside. Oh, memories.
2. Doing book reports using actual books.
Before Wikipedia and whatnot, a research paper assignment meant being sentenced to the library for hours at a time. You'll never know the joy of having the internet until you've used a card catalog, lugged around volumes of encyclopedias and gotten more paper cuts than you can count.
3. Practicing your cursive.
Common Core standards no longer require cursive writing to be taught, meaning not all students will be required to undergo the rigors of forming perfectly curved letters on that special paper with the dotted lines.
4. Getting up to change the channel on the TV.
There was no such thing as "sit back, relax and enjoy the show." If you were the youngest sibling, you got stuck with channel-changing duty on the clunky analog TV. No remote control here ... just the dial on the TV itself.
5. Having no idea who the incoming call was from.
Screening calls was not an option long before caller ID became commonplace. Annoying salesman? Your talkative aunt Polly? Your crush? You'd just have to take a chance and pick up the phone.
6. Having no choice but to read paper maps.
Pointing out where you needed to get was one thing. Figuring out which of the seemingly countless roads on the map to take was another. Siri is nice, but memories were made on those family road trips where you inevitably got totally lost.
7. Worrying about getting film developed.
Besides having to lug around an actual camera (yeah, imagine that), getting your film developed was (and is) a lot like a box of chocolate. You never really know what you're going to get. Plus, you didn't have the luxury of all those Instagram filters.
8. Circling your wish list items in the Sears catalog for Santa.
No creating an online wish list. Nope. Instead, waiting for the annual Sears Christmas catalog in the mail was almost as exciting as Christmas morning itself, as kids would excitedly circle what they hoped to find under the tree.
9. Actually using the phonebook.
Before 411 and Google, people actually used the Yellow Pages and White Pages. If you don't know what we're talking about, it's that super thick book that's probably being used as a makeshift doorstop somewhere at your parents' house.
10. Using S&H Green Stamps.
Oh the joys of the Green Stamps! Back in the day, whether you shopped for gas, at a department store or for groceries, you didn't just get your change back. You also got some stamps back to collect for a chance to redeem them for a number of different "prizes."
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