Let's Get Nostalgic!

I was walking to my car last week with my keys in my hand, preparing to push the button to unlock the doors as I approached, when I started thinking about what life was like before car keys had buttons on them! Remember when you had to actually put the key in the door to unlock it????  *gasp*  That's crazy talk!

Then I got into the car and, because it was dark and foggy out, I could see that the headlights were on. The car had turned them on for me, and when I got out of the car, I knew it would turn them off! It hasn't been that many years since I've had a car with that technology, but I am now totally dependent upon it. When we get rental cars, I get confused when I remove the keys from the ignition and the car beeps at me. I'm supposed to turn a knob so the lights go off and the battery doesn't die? What???

So that got me thinking about other Remember when . . . items!


Remember when scrunchies were the coolest things ever? 

How would we have gotten through junior high without fabric and elastic to hold our super awesome hairstyles in place? (I'm being facetious, of course, because they didn't do all that great a job at holding your hair in place! It was slippery fabric, whoever thought that was going to be effective in the first place?) Normal ponytail holders would have done the job much more efficiently, but they weren't as much fun for the boys to steal and throw back and forth (in place of flirting, obviously). My friends and I (ahem, Becky) even made our own, because we were that super amazingly awesome ;)



Remember when cool computer/video games were orange and pixelated?

Pharaoh's Tomb

We used to spend HOURS playing these games that were so much fun, but looking back at them, wow. It's hard to believe we were that enthralled by such simple graphics. (Although J found this game in his archives for me, and when he tried to play he kept walking into the arrows and dying! Apparently, even though the graphics were simple, the gameplay must have taken some level of skill). You also have to remember that at this time, just having color on the screen was a big deal, so that might also have contributed to why we were so impressed ;)


Remember when Tivo/DVRs/Internet TV wasn't an option?

There really was a time when, if you wanted to watch a TV show, you arranged your schedule so that you'd be on the couch at the appointed time in order to watch it. OR, if you were technologically savvy, you programmed your VCR (remember those?) to tape it so you could watch it later. If you missed it, TOO BAD! You were screwed, no second chances! You couldn't go online to watch old episodes (the Internet? What was that?) And if you wanted to see two shows that were on at the same time, you switched back and forth during commercials and hoped you didn't miss anything else. And do you even remember commercials?? You couldn't fast-forward or skip them, you just had to sit there and watch them (or else you left the room to do the dishes or use the restroom, and then came running back when you heard the show come on). Watching TV was hard work!

Remember when you had to buy whole albums if you wanted to hear a song?

There was a day before iTunes, before Napster, and before mp3s, when if you wanted to hear a song, you had to buy the whole album! You would only know one song, but you paid for thirteen in order to get that one (so you really hoped that the other songs were at least halfway decent! One-hit wonders were the bane of our existence!) If buying the album wasn't an option, then you had to tape it off of the radio! I would leave a tape in my boombox, and when I heard a song that I liked come on, I'd race over and hit record. Consequently, I had a whole bunch of tapes with random songs that were usually missing the very beginning and included bits of dialogue or other songs at the tail end.



Remember when nobody had cell phones?

My first cell phone

This is probably the biggest one, because cell phones have entirely changed the way we now live our lives. I was alive for it, but I have trouble remembering a time when you couldn't call to say you were on your way somewhere, ask for directions when you missed a turn, or let someone know that you were going to be late. Particularly since I have to drive to clients' homes for a living, I rely heavily on my cell phone for all of those things. What on earth did therapists do before there were cell phones??? And what did people play games on while they waited for doctor or dentist appointments? How did people get through the day without being able to check their email? And how did people get in touch during business hours without being able to text? I swear, we used to live in the dark ages!



Remember Lite-Brites?

I don't remember them all that well either, though we did buy one at a garage sale when I was little. It was pretty fun until we poked holes in all the papers and then lost all the tiny pieces. So that didn't make a huge impact on my life, but when I asked J for suggestions, his first two were, "LITE-BRITES! They were AWESOME!" and "playing in the street". The former had better visual aids than the latter, so I went with that ;)




After Lite-Brites, the ideas J and I came up with got pretty lame (it's late, we're tired) so that's all we've got for now :) I'm sure I missed some good ones though, so help me out and let me know what you're feeling nostalgic for!