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.
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.
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.
Commenter Reddit_is_my_power is right: Bidding someone farewell at the airport gate — without your own boarding pass — definitely wouldn't fly today.
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.
Commenter RealJacktheJack remembers when it was acceptable to say, "I don't do computers." Can you imagine if someone completely denounced technology today?!
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.
Specifically, juiceboxheero reminisces about "Distributing Internet service on a compact disc." Oh, how fondly we look back on AOL's glory days...
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.
Remember the sound your computer would make as you connected to the Internet? Reddit user ASmittenKitn recreates it almost perfectly with this comment: "Pshhhkkkkkkrrrrkakingkakingkakingtshchchchchchchchcchdingdingding." Yeah, our Wi-Fi routers definitely don't make a noise like that — or any noise at all, really.
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.
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...
We're so glad smoking in restaurants, which ArtSchnurple reminds us was still allowed in the '90s, is now a thing of the past.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.