📝 Title: Growing Up Before Everything Was Online

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what life was like growing up in the 90s and 2000s.

It was a completely different world compared to today.

We didn't have smartphones in our pockets all day. If we wanted to talk to a friend, we'd call their house, knock on their door, or just go outside and see who was around.

📺 Saturday mornings meant waking up early to watch cartoons.

🎮 Playing video games meant sitting in front of the TV with friends or siblings.

📼 Going to Blockbuster and picking out a movie was an actual Friday-night activity.

💻 Getting on the family computer felt like an event. You'd hear the computer start up, wait for everything to load, and then connect to the Internet.

📞 Sometimes you'd have to wait for someone to get off the phone before you could even get online.

🛝 We'd play outside until the streetlights came on.

🛍️ We'd hang out at the mall without needing to post about it.

🎵 We'd listen to CDs, make mixtapes, download songs, and listen to the radio hoping our favorite song would come on.

And when we finally got online, we'd explore websites, talk to friends on AIM or MSN Messenger, play games, customize our profiles, and just see what was out there.

I think what I miss most isn't necessarily one specific thing.

It's the feeling.

Life seemed a little slower. There was more anticipation. You had to wait for things, and somehow that made them more exciting.

I'm really glad places like FriendRewind exist because it brings back a little bit of that feeling.

So I'm curious:

What is one thing from the 90s or 2000s that you wish you could experience again for just one day?