Every generation has their own unique traits and is marked by important global events. Millennials, for example, were once mocked for their love of avocado toast and buying $5 lattes instead of setting money aside for retirement or to invest in a home. (And can you blame them? Who doesn’t love brunch?) But there are plenty of other trends and experiences that millennials will remember for the rest of their lives; they just might be the only ones who do…
One curious Reddit user recently asked, “What will die with millennials?” And thousands of people shared their thoughts in the replies. From trips to Blockbuster to find the perfect Friday night film to burning mix CDs on the family computer for their high school crush, we’ve gathered a list of some of the most quintessential millennial experiences that might get you a blank stare if you mention them to Gen Zers.
Be sure to upvote the things you fondly remember or the things you think should die out with millennials, and let us know in the comments how you feel about the “snowflake generation”. (Just kidding, that term will hopefully die out with the baby boomers!) Keep reading to also find an interview with the woman who started this conversation in the first place. Then, if you’re interested in reading another Bored Panda article highlighting what it’s like to be a millennial today, look no further than right here.
#1
Time when internet was in the golden era.
More genuine content, no clickbait, no hidden agenda, no fake news and hate speech. It was a better and smaller community.
Image source: mardex_5, Brett Jordan
#2
Calling someone’s home and not knowing who would pick up, and as a result, having unexpected conversations
Image source: jq69swaws, Sam Loyd
#3
Listening to the radio all day waiting for your favorite song
Image source: poopstinkss, Alberto Bobbera
#4
Using your thumb and pinky to pretend you’re talking on the phone.
Gen Z uses their whole palm like a smart phone.
Image source: successadult
#5
Watching “whatever was on”. Everything is always on now, you don’t stumble into an interesting (or awful) show because it’s the only thing mildly interesting on tv.
Image source: ChefJeff7777777, Nicolas J Leclercq
#6
I really hope bullying in schools ends with us. I’ve noticed that kids are way more tolerant and accepting than we were. It’s not “cool” to make fun of other kids, it just makes you look like an a*****e. And conversely it IS cool to accept people who are different than you and find ways to help other students who need it. I hope that keeps being a thing.
Image source: imnogoodatthisorthat
#7
Memory of life without internet
Image source: RagingDinoZ, Annie Spratt
#8
I remember a time when long-distance communication was more expensive than local communication. These days, WhatsApp and Discord make it free. We also had family in another country and could go years without seeing their face, and now video calls are easy. Social media isn’t all bad
Image source: Falconflyer75
#9
Dubbing cassettes and burning your own mix on CD
Image source: pfc_Frank, Gritt Zheng
#10
Memory of having a ‘house phone’
Image source: friendg, Annie Spratt
#11
The hustle culture. Having 2 jobs to make ends meet or working and studying at the same time. We never asked for living wages or lower tuitions or free healthcare or better public transportation as hard as Gen Zers. I’m happy, Gen Z has realized this system is rigged for the rich and the corporations.
Image source: Effective-Pilot-5501
#12
Privacy. The kids today share everything they will even post someone else online. Millennials understand life before the internet and we see the internet as a tool. The younger generations see it as real as real life. They have no problem signing their rights away online and posting every aspect of their life for all to see.
Image source: Cool_Weather_7763, camilo jimenez
#13
Remembering someone’s phone number
Image source: Misttertee_27, Wesley Hilario
#14
Memories of watching movies on VCRs.
Image source: mrmonster459, Bruno Guerrero
#15
3.5 inch floppy discs
Image source: Traylor_Swift, Fredy Jacob
#16
Going to Blockbuster and trying to find a film to watch, or a one new and one old combo
Image source: UbbeKent, Brett Jordan
#17
For office workers, my hope is the traditional expectation of being in an office, at a desk, 9 AM to 5 PM five days a week. With our ability to be connected from almost everywhere, the whole idea of driving back and forth between an office to sit a desk for 8ish hours a day, just to drive back home at stare at one’s possessions seems very antiquated.
Pre-pandemic I commuted between a suburb and a major city 5 days a week, often spending between an hour to an hour and a half each way in my car. Now that I am set up with a remote office from home, I don’t think I can ever go back to that way of doing things.
Image source: finmoore3
#18
Please let it be man-buns.
Image source: CarlLingus
#19
Knowing what the save icon actually is…
Image source: Fancy-Trainer-4820
#20
Hopefully predatory student loans
Image source: colbat45, Kenny Eliason
#21
Playing multi-player video games with split screens in one room.
Image source: EngineerMinded, pbs.twimg.com
#22
AOL Dial Up.
Image source: Skystrong11, external-preview.redd.it
#23
Burials. Most people I hear from want to be cremated plus do you know how f*****g expensive dying is? Probably will have to pay rent on the plots by the time we all die too ffs
Image source: Keepcreepcreepin
#24
Playing video games without having to buy DLC to get the full experience.
Image source: Martimusmcfly2036, Alex Haney
#25
Not knowing the answer to something and saying, ‘I guess we’ll never know.’
Image source: gyn0saur
#26
I once tried to explain the my niece that phones used to be wired to walls. She’s ten (she was six at the time) cell phones are all she’s ever known.
Among the reasons she guessed as to why they were “tied” to walls: To stop people from stealing them.
Image source: N_Who, Alexander Andrews
#27
At this rate, an ecosystem that is inhabitable for humans, probably
Image source: Shadowcat1606
#28
Articles about how millennials ruin everything.
Image source: Kuzball
#29
Cable TV. It’s already on its way out.
Image source: keilhal
#30
Hopefully tiktok
Image source: circleofwillis1
#31
Being able to go into the cockpit mid-flight on a commercial aircraft is something people younger than me will not experience. I remember going in there, and not being able to see anything over the dashboard. I wondered how they could fly the plane if they couldn’t see in front of them. But I now realize that I was just little
Image source: ocelotrevs
#32
having kids or not as many kids… we just can’t afford it
Image source: thrivingandstriving
#33
Headphone jacks 😔
Image source: HmmThatWorked, en.wikipedia.org
#34
Hopefully virtue signalling one’s believed moral superiority by getting offended as much as possible on behalf of groups you are not associated with.
Image source: SKAAPSTEKER
#35
Physical copies of movies and games, it seems like…
Image source: GayFemboyOmniNerd
#36
How about all of those solid oak “entertainment center” cabinets, with fixed shelving spaced out to accommodate a 2 foot deep 4:3 aspect-ratio CRT television? No one’s going to want those. A larger 16:9 flatscreen isn’t going to fit in that square space, and a smaller one that does is going to look awkward and weird in it.
Same deal with all the china cabinets. Who is going to want all the old china cabinets the boomers have, or for that matter, all their expensive china? Millennials seem less likely to see the point of owning a bunch of dishware that only gets used about twice a year.
Image source: Taman_Should
#37
I think the “bootstrap” mentality. It’s already declining in millennials but there are still plenty on the front end of the generation that still believe in working themselves to death and grinding 24/7.
Most on the younger side of the generation see right through it and have taken a “job is just to support my lifestyle” perspective.
Our parents still think we need to go in with our resume and demand an interview. Our kids constantly show us kids that have made it on YouTube / tiktok/whatever. We’ve seen both sides of it and we’re just not real impressed.
Image source: Flame5135
#38
Apparently using a Haynes or a Chilton’s manual to work on your car. I hate using YouTube videos for car maintenance, but it looks like that’s all I have left.
Image source: RandomGovtEmployee
#39
Cursive.
Image source: Electromikey
#40
Getting along with people who have different political views as you have.
Image source: FalcoHatNieGeballert
#41
Strip malls. They’re ugly and unsustainable.
Image source: BrownAmericanDude, Kevin Dunlap
#42
Declaring your Harry Potter house to others in normal conversation
Image source: edurlester
#43
Hopefully their love of avocado toast. Then we get the economy back on track.
Image source: LipDizneez
#44
Please let it be people who wear Ugg boots in the snow. Goddamn, is that ever impractical.
Image source: misstuckermax
#45
Memory of 9/11
Image source: saxypatrickb, Aidan Bartos
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