Angling A TV Antennae And Other Completely Useless Things ‘90s Kids Will Remember Forever

Do you remember your parents talking to you as a kid about how different things were for them growing up? We all know the cliché “when I was your age…” rants, full of hyperbole and tales of walking to school uphill both ways in the snow. Well, now that we’re probably close to the age our parents were when we were rolling our eyes at their annoying stories, it’s our turn to be grumpy old folks. And now, a viral Reddit thread of all the outdated skills we now have are making us feel really old.

In Reddit’s popular “Ask Reddit” community, u/motivetodayy posed the question: “People born before 1990, what trivial skill do you possess that no one uses anymore?” The thread went viral, and now with more than 7,000 comments, there are some harsh truths and hilarious mentions — here are a few of our favorites.

"I can cover a textbook with a brown paper bag," u/sourwaterbug said, which is a practice we had to do with our textbooks so we knew which one was ours in school — and to not damage the textbook rentals.

"I can re-fold a map correctly," u/JungleZac replied, which is hilarious — because not only were there, like, full on instructions to follow to get that map back down to palm-size, but so many of us would struggle to even use a paper map to get around today anyway, spoiled by GPS as we are. (Might be time to take up orienteering!)

"Remembering phone numbers," u/GreatMillionDog replied, and Logical_Area_5552 expanded on that, saying, "Not only that, having to speak to your friends’ parents for a few minutes when you call their house."

Another user, u/Linux4ever_LeoLinx4ever_Leo shared a truly impressive vintage skill: “Being able to get the sharpest reception for the TV channel you're watching by turning the giant dial on the top of the television that rotates the ginormous antenna on the roof.”

u/Regular_Sample_5197 also lamented the days when phones were bigger — and the skills that big phones led you to have. "Using your shoulder to hold a telephone up to your ear while doing multiple other things at once," they wrote. "Now, the phones are so damned small I drop them."

"Using the Dewey decimal at library," u/FunStorm6487 recalled. Do kids really not know how to use that?

"I can put an entire actual newspaper together from scratch right down to plating and printing,"u/crackedxnotxbrken shared, helping us remember the media days of yore. "Also, my cursive is pretty good."

u/SayenneDD remembers knowing how "To rewind a tape by spinning on a pencil., whereas u/Sodangshedonger "can keep score in bowling," and u/chloeoh24 can make "paper fortune tellers," a classic skill we used to pass the time before we had social media and cellphones. u/virgilreality kept it simple: “Two words: Rotary Dialing.”

As for the scariest skill? u/SequinSquirrel can "Crash start a manual car by rolling down a hill in second gear with the ignition on, then popping the clutch - cars were not so reliable back in the day!"

To read more outdated skills to make you feel old, check out the thread on Reddit.