You're probably familiar with Ask Reddit, where people can ask pretty much anything. But for especially odd/specific questions, there's No Stupid Questions, aka the weird younger sibling of Ask Reddit.
Recently, u/_mayora13_ took to r/NoStupidQuestions to ask, "Teenagers before the internet: What did you do in your room during your spare time? What activities did you do (by activities, I mean hobbies or things to pass time)? Were you more easily bored?"
Besides making everyone born in the 1900s* feel EXTREMELY old, it's a pretty valid question, which is why over 9,000 Redditors weighed in to wax poetic about their bygone childlike whimsy. Here are some of the best responses:
1. "Waiting for the radio to play your favorite songs so you could record them took a big chunk of time."
2. "Mostly video games, but my best friend and I did spend one summer making a claymation version of Pulp Fiction using characters from Gumby. That was a fun one."
3. "I spent so many hours 'editing' homemade videos by using two VCRs and the pause buttons."
4. "I read a lot, watched movies, and talked on the phone for HOURS at a time. Often, I was out at the mall with friends, or hanging out at their houses, going to arcades, etc. I was never bored — even when I was at home alone in my room. Boredom just wasn’t a thing when I had a good book."
5. "Talking on the phone! Clicking over to the other line when call waiting beeped. Getting in trouble when your aunt was trying to call your mom, and it was obvious both lines were busy, or you just never answered the call waiting. She definitely told on you."
6. "We had this whole system of doing a 6-way phone call at night, and we’d all know to start it at three minutes after the hour. You’d pick up the phone and dial an automated line, so that when the call comes in, the phone wouldn't ring the entire household."
7. "Being a latchkey kid gave me so much time with my parents' records. If it weren't for that time alone with Sam Cooke, I'd be clapping on the first beat like a neanderthal."
8. "I walked all over the neighborhood and would just show up at friends' houses (pre-common cellphone usage) to say 'hi' and do something silly like jump on their trampoline together for 10 minutes, then leave for the next part of my walk."
9. "I wrote in my journal, decorated my walls, did homework, read magazines, played around with makeup, and tried on outfit ideas for school."
10. "Older millennials were the first to really grow up with internet, but it wasn't like it is now — using the internet was a privilege. Unless you had two lines, you only could be online until someone had to use the phone. Most homes only had one computer because they were expensive. For social media, I remember BlackPlanet and MySpace being a big deal, but it didn't take up time like social media does now."
11. "We honestly didn’t hang out in our rooms that much. We played football in the street and rode our bikes and rollerblades around with neighborhood kids. My family didn’t have a video game console, but sometimes, we’d go play Mario Kart at friends’ houses if the weather was bad. If we hung out in our rooms, we’d play things like Crazy Bones, Pogs, or Pokémon cards."
12. "I have a hope chest full of bad poetry from when I was a teenager. I don't know what to do with it! I'm genuinely afraid of anyone finding that shit after I die — and frankly, I don't trust the dump."
13. "Lie about where the Victoria’s Secret catalog is."
14. "I grew up in the LA suburbs, so we could hike the trails in the San Gabriel Mountains and go to the beach on the same day. As my friends and I got older, we’d drive around all night and go eat breakfast in the middle of nowhere. We’d go to punk shows in Hollywood, skateboard, and drink our parents' leftover beer from parties. It was a mixture of wholesome and hell-raising. We never got in serious trouble, but we also didn’t get caught."
15. "I taught myself to juggle one time."
16. "The biggest difference I can remember was having to watch TV shows at specific times. Before VCRs, if you wanted to watch Seinfeld, you tuned in on Thursday night. Fuck, I skipped going out on my birthday one year to watch the season premiere of Lost."
17. "I played The Sims and RollerCoaster Tycoon like it was my job."
18. "Hanging around outside with my best friend was pretty much what I did every day, and it was bliss. Yes, there were times when I was incredibly bored out of my mind, but it never lasted."
19. "Sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll...without the sex and drugs. But definitely lots of rock 'n' roll. Also, riding bikes, camping, and summer jobs. I only saw my room when I was sleeping or it was raining outside."
20. "I played with action figures a lot later than socially acceptable, but I’m 39 now and miss it."
21. "I loved painting my nails in a bunch of different colors. Also, trying and failing to use various products to straighten my hair in a time before ghd® hair products."
22. "Obsessively rearrange my bedroom furniture and reorganize my belongings. Yes, I genuinely enjoyed it."
23. "You know how you binge-read the entire Harry Potter book series? In the 1980s, we read books like that all the time."
24. "As a 41-year-old who grew up pre-internet, I’ve never been so bored as I am now. Between the internet, social media, streaming services, and every other source of instant gratification, my attention span is shot."
H/T r/NoStupidQuestions
Some replies have been edited for length and clarity.