17 Things That Were Acceptable in the '90s But Aren't Okay Today

FYI: Pushing fully clothed people into pools is not funny anymore.

21 March, 2018
17 Things That Were Acceptable in the '90s But Aren't Okay Today

We love to get nostalgic about the '90s. It was a decade of simpler times, after all, when we weren't glued to our smartphones, and clothes that didn't quite fit were cool.

We were reminded of just how much things have changed when people took to Reddit to reminisce about what was cool back in the day. On a recent AskReddit thread that posed the question "What was socially acceptable in the '90s but not today?", users shared the things that they miss — and the things they don't really miss at all — about the decade. Read on for some of their most relatable responses, but beware: These comments will cause some ​serious ​nostalgia.

1. Not Confirming Plans

Reddit user LetMeStopURightThere remembers the days before those "I'm so sorry, I actually can't make it" texts, when people would make plans and simply show without any day-of confirmation.

2. Not Letting Someone Know If You're Going to Be Late

Similar to not confirming plans, is not letting someone know if you're going to be late. As Reddit user JeffMartinsMandolin writes, there was no way to let a friend know you were running behind once you had both left home in the early '90s.

3. Walking a Loved One to the Airport Gate

Commenter Reddit_is_my_power is right: Bidding someone farewell at the airport gate — without your own boarding pass — ​definitely ​wouldn't fly today.

4. Memorizing Contact Info.

In the '90s, you had to write down or memorize important phone numbers. Today? It's just kind of weird. "Now if you tell someone you memorized their number, it makes you look like you're obsessed with them," Reddit user esoteric_enigma writes.

5. Refusing to Keep Up With Technology

Commenter RealJacktheJack remembers when it was acceptable to say, "I don't ​do ​computers." Can you imagine if someone ​completely ​denounced technology today?!

6. Showing Up at Friends' Homes

Both papadapalis and bamboozled18 remember showing up at friends' homes unannounced to see if they wanted to hang out in the '90s. Today, most of us generally require setting up plans in advance.

7. Using CDs

Specifically, juiceboxheero reminisces about "Distributing Internet service on a compact disc.​" Oh, how fondly we look back on AOL's glory days...

8. Sporting Frosted Tips

Reddit user nlippe remembers this trendy bleached style of the '90s, while user Jinn_and_tonic calls out *NSYNC-era Justin Timberlake for his "bleached, ramen noodle hair." But frosted tips aren't the online trend trends commenters are glad we left in the '90s: NachoTacoYo recalls "pants that can unzip and become shorts," and funkmasterem remembers Puka shell necklaces.

9. Listening to the Dial Up Sound

Remember the sound your computer would make as you connected to the Internet? Reddit user ASmittenKitn recreates it almost perfectly with this comment: "Pshhhkkkkkkrrrr​kakingkakingkakingtsh​chchchchchchchcch​dingdingding​." Yeah, our Wi-Fi routers ​definitely ​don't make a noise like that — or any noise at all, really.

10. Pushing People Into Pools

In the early '90s, when a soaked-through cell phone wasn't a concern, pushing people into pools was a funny trick that commenter Levelagon looks back on fondly. "Now you do it, and you're likely to owe that person like $500," the user writes.

11. Having to Use the "Rewind" Function

Reddit user lippoper kept the '90s nostalgia short and sweet with this comment: "REWINDING anything." Thank ​goodness ​we don't have to rewind each episode of ​Orange is the New Black ​when we're binge-watching shows on Netflix...

12. Smoking in Restaurants

We're so glad smoking in restaurants, which ArtSchnurple reminds us was still allowed in the '90s, is now a thing of the past.

13. Recording Songs on Cassette Tapes

Reddit user marifomin remembers a time when you had to wait for your favorite song to come on the radio so you could record it with a cassette tape. What a time to be alive!

14. Fighting to Use the Internet or Phone

We all, like Reddit user doogie221, likely remember a time when we had to kick a family member off the Internet so we could make a phone call.

15. Paying with Personal Checks

When was the last time you saw someone pull out a personal checkbook to pay for his or her groceries? Reddit user Ils201 remembers this being common — and totally acceptable — in the '90s. Today, we're all about paying with plastic.

16. Calling People, in General

Several Reddit users, including 0hwhataworld, reminisced about a time when texting wasn't a thing and we, um, actually picked up our phones and called people.

17. Using a Physical Map

Sometimes it's hard to believe that people were able to get around without the help of a handy GPS system, but commenter BaracksCousin reminds us that physical road maps were a totally acceptable tool used for navigation in the '90s.

Via

Credit: Cosmopolitan
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