Now, we here at BuzzFeed are no strangers to writing a post or two or ten thousand about the 1990s.
And to be clear, it's never to be like, "The '90s are better, and you kids today have it so bad." It's just that so many years removed it is, of course, nostalgic. Also, it was the last era where life existed without the internet, social media, and everyone having cellphones. Basically, it was a simpler time.
Well, earlier today, Reddit user Youcancallmesizzles asked the AskReddit community members that lived through the decade: "What do you miss about the '90s?"
The thread went viral, with thousands of replies. Here are some of the top-voted and best comments:
1. "We didn't live online yet. The internet was in its infancy and was a fun way to pass the time, but it hadn't consumed us. Business was still being done in brick and mortar stores; our social lives were offline, etc."
"There was almost nothing to be purchased online, other than the online bookstore called Amazon. Pretty cool because they had a bigger inventory than you could fit in a building. And so it began."
2. "Not being contactable 24/7. Peace of mind leaving school/work and not having to deal with their nonsense till tomorrow."
3. "Before we had mobile phones, my wife and I would plan to meet at a certain street corner at a certain time after work. We sometimes had to wait for the other person to show up, but we knew they would."
4. "Music, MTV, and listening to my huge five-disc CD changer boom box."
5. "Watching grunge music videos on MTV and Keebler chips."
6. "Really was a great time in music. The sheer diversity of what was popular was incredible. On the radio, you could hear 'Lithium' by Nirvana and then Chris Isaak’s 'Wicked Game' right after it."
7. "There was a period between the Cold War and the War on Terror when it seemed like there was hope for the world."
8. "Concerts weren't a sea of phones in the air. People are so concerned with people knowing they were at a concert via social media that they don't even pay attention or experience the show. It's so dumb. I hope the next gen rejects that stuff."
9. "Air travel. Holy shit, I miss '90s air travel."
"Did you know that before 9/11, it wasn't a massive pain in the ass to go fucking anywhere?!
Loved ones could walk you right to the gate. You could bring snacks, sandwiches, and drinks onto the plane with you. The prices at Hudson News were perfectly reasonable, because if they weren't, you could just walk out of the terminal and grab something.
You never had to take your shoes off for any motherfucking thing. In fact, it used to be rude to take your shoes off in the airport. That's completely 180'd.
I used to fly three or four times a year, and it was usually pretty easy. Now, I fly maybe once every five years, and I absolutely dread it."
10. "Going to the mall and hanging out with friends. Malls were awesome, and I hate that the strip mall style has taken over — especially up in Canada, where it gets to -40 in the winter. Back in the day you, could legitimately spend hours wandering the mall, indoors and warm."
"Now it is depressing. Maybe the big malls like Mall of America or West Edmonton Mall are still OK, but the ones in my city are shit."
11. "The privacy. I was just a kid/young teenager, but I only knew my best friends intimately. The rest of my class I didn't know or care to. Now it's like all your followers are in your bedroom/home when you post to social media."
12. "My Super Nintendo being cutting-edge technology."
13. "I miss how there was always some sort of one-off comedy or drama at the movie theater. Not everything was part of a series or franchise. There were dollar movie theaters. And even at the first-run theater, I could go in late afternoon/early evening and get the matinee price of $4."
14. "My childhood and the TV commercials. I never got to play with Sock’em Boppers, and Miss Cleo never got to tell me my fortune 🙁."
15. "Nineties cartoons were so much better than they are today. Kids these days are like little grown-ups; they don't have a childhood as we did back then."
16. "I honestly miss the internet from the '90s. I spent so many hours exploring, reading things, and every webpage felt like I was visiting someone's house — they were so personal, as design standards did not exist yet."
17. "Mixtapes/CDs."
"It was so much fun to make them, carefully trying to fit as much as you could in the limited amount of time that you had, but still making each song work with the next.
Getting one was just as thrilling, especially if you just put it on without looking at the track list (if whoever made it included one) and being surprised by each new song."
18. "Picking out a movie at Blockbuster."
And lastly...
19. "Honestly the thing I miss the most, and the thing that is so hard to explain to modern kids, is 'hanging out.' Before cellphones, people used to just go to each other's homes, or to some public space, and just spend time together."
"This continued well into the internet-era, but smartphones largely killed it. Early cellphones were very basic and functional, basically just like having a landline in your car/bag/pocket. You could call someone or receive a call, but what did you say? Most of the time it was just making plans to hang out in person. You weren't using the cellphone for long phone calls just to chat — those minutes were expensive."
You can read the full thread of responses on Reddit.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.