People Are Sharing Their Childhood Experiences That Would Leave Young People Today Scratching Their Heads

If you're over 30, then you know there are a ton of things that instantly age us when we say them out loud to younger people. For example, saying you remember celebrating birthdays at Discovery Zone will probably get you a big "what's that?" response from a young person today.

Kids playing
Michael L Abramson / Getty Images

Recently, Reddit user mark30322 was curious about those moments when they asked: "Without saying your age, name something you remember from your childhood that younger people would just not understand."

"Without saying your age, name something you remember from your childhood that younger people would just not understand."
mark30322 / Via reddit.com

Well, hundreds of people replied with things from their childhood that don't make any sense today. Here are the top and best comments:

1."Hours spent with your finger hovering over the 'record' button to record your favorite song off the radio onto cassette. Also hoping the DJ shuts up so he doesn’t ruin it."

Cassette tapes next to a boombox

booluigi1971

"Memories and so many mixtapes. 🥰"

Pensta13

Thicha Studio / Getty Images/iStockphoto

2."Test pattern on the TV, right after the national anthem at midnight."

A test screen

Raerae1360

“We now conclude our broadcast day.”

ThisEffinGuy75

Csa-printstock / Getty Images

3."Being able to free roam for miles away from home after school without your parents having a clue where you are."

A kid riding a bike

thatpaulschofield

"Be home before the first streetlight comes on!"

FlutterbyFlower

Shanina / Getty Images/iStockphoto

4."Germany was two countries."

A map showing old Germany

PrimordialPoet

"Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia existed."

squirrellytoday

Cesar Okada / Getty Images/iStockphoto

5."Having to fine-tune the TV antenna after you selected the channel."

An antenna TV

working_class_tired

"Rabbit ears on the TV set. Standing in weird positions by the TV to get the right signal to see and hear your shows clearly."

molsmama

Grassetto / Getty Images/iStockphoto

6."Dialing the phone to call for local time and temperatures."

A woman on a house phone

mikeynerd

"Ha! And calling the library to get some obscure fact."

tidder-emanresu

Artmood Visualz / Getty Images/iStockphoto

7."You Can't Do That on Television."

Kids covered in slime

desrevermi

"LOL, I wasn't allowed to watch that because, 'If it's not allowed on TV, then it's probably inappropriate.' Pretty sure my parents just thought it was juvenile."

ISwearIUsedToBeSmart

Carleton Productions / courtesy Everett Collection

8."The Archies records on the Sugar Crisp cereal box."

"Free Record"

radiotsar

"I remember those cardboard 45s."

TrekRelic1701

ebay.com

9."Six to eight weeks for delivery."

A man delivering a package

The_Shallot_Knight

"And cash on delivery?! Why do you trust me???"

colnross

Klh49 / Getty Images

10."A pencil can rewind music."

A pencil in a cassette tape

lonely-day

"A pencil was also used to repair music."

churchill7s

Oksana Shufrych / Getty Images

11."Calling the movie theater to get showtimes."

"Call 444-FILM"

pygmeedancer

"HELLO! And welcome to MovieFone!"

K-Dub59

FT Depot / Via youtube.com

12."Cracker Jacks! When I was little, there were amazing prizes in the boxes. Once I got a tiny plastic elephant that you snapped together from the parts. It had a wheel on the bottom and a mahout riding on its back, and when you rolled it along, the mahout went up and down. Later they dropped the prizes in favor of stupid stickers, and now they just include a piece of paper with a link to a lame online game."

A Cracker Jack box

BSB8728

"Had Cracker Jacks on Friday...very disappointing. 😕😔"

jboriqua

ebay.com

13."Going to the corner store by yourself at age 6 to buy cigarettes for your parents."

A parent with their kid at a pharmacy

Ok-Elk-6087

"My mom used to write me a note."

PleasantJules

H. Armstrong Roberts / Getty Images

14."We had a TV made of wood."

Kids in front of the TV

Scrumpy-Steve

"And it was a black and white picture."

Beneficial_Being_721

H. Armstrong Roberts / Getty Images

15."Rotary telephones."

Someone using a rotary telephone

RestaurantValuable61

"And people with those terrible numbers that had a lot of nines and zeros! The excruciating time spent waiting for the rotary phone after a zero was dialed. Aaargh!"

random321abc

Harold M. Lambert / Getty Images

16."Saturday morning cartoons."

Cartoons

931634

"The ONLY reason to get up early on a Saturday. If we were lucky, we had from 7 a.m. to 1p.m. of uninterrupted cartoons and shows."

Piotr-Rasputin

Hanna-barbera / ©Hanna-Barbera/Courtesy Everett Collection

17."Fotomats. Having to drive up to pick up photos from our vacation."

A Fotomat

This_IsNot_ALoveSong

"And paying a surcharge for express photo service. One hour!!! The technology!!! But seriously, I loved getting photos developed."

drinkmaxcoffee

Thomas Mcgovern / Getty Images

18."Sticking your finger in the coin return of pay phones and vending machines to see if anybody left some change."

A payphone

mikebattaglia_com

"And only finding a wad of chewed gum."

timmm21

Neal Mcneil / Getty Images/iStockphoto

19."It was f'ing game-changing when my parents brought home a typewriter that had correction tape."

A typewriter

ISwearIUsedToBeSmart

"Electronic typewriters. 😎"

rottingpigcarcass

wengseng oa / Via youtube.com

20."Paying for something ONCE and keeping it forever."

A washing machine

El_Has

"Quality items!!!"

random321abc

Randy Hansen/ Facebook / Via Facebook: photo

21."I remember my parents had a 'VHS rewinder,' it was a machine thats only purpose was to rewind VHS tapes. That's how we binge-watched back in the day. Popped a movie out of the VCR; after it was done, it went into the rewinder. While the new tape went into the VCR."

A VHS rewinder

EatSteel63

“Please be kind, rewind”

FieldOfScreamQueens

ebay.com

22."Programming the VCR. The number of times I missed the beginning or end of Dawson's Creek (which aired on Friday nights in New Zealand) is horror young people will never have to endure."

Someone putting a VHS into the VCR

IsThisAUserName86

"And reprogramming everything if the power failed."

M1lud

Axeiz77 / Getty Images/iStockphoto

23.And lastly, "Get off the phone, I need to use the computer!"

"Dialing progress"

Neiot

"Dear god, I can hear the dial-up sound."

Ok-Supermarket-1414

tenor.com

You can read the full thread of responses on Reddit.

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.