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The early 2000s was a magical time. Trapped between the old and the new, it was a short period of pure bliss and carefree experiences. Bright-eyed teens with low-rise jeans spent the afternoons listening to mix CDs full of the freshest hits on the radio. Kids whiled away the days watching MTV, learning Britney's dance routines, and playing Snake while waiting for a text on their Nokia 3310. The new millennium felt like entering the future, and, yes, flying cars and anti-gravity hoverboards were just around the corner.

The world moves quickly, and many things have obviously changed over the past 20 years. So to reminisce on the good old days, one Reddit user recently asked: "What was normal in 2002 but not 2022?" Fellow community members must have been feeling nostalgic as the thread immediately became a hit!

Get ready for a trip down memory lane because we at Bored Panda have gathered some of the best responses from the thread. We hope you can get a kick out of these amusing examples from the dark ages, aka the life you likely lived in 2002. Be sure to upvote the replies you find most relatable or that take you back in time, and then feel free to share your own recollections with us in the comments!

#1

Someone Asked "What Was Normal In 2002 But Not 2022?", And People Listed 30 Examples Thinking George W. Bush was the worst president ever.

ragnarkar , Wikipedia Report

#3

Someone Asked "What Was Normal In 2002 But Not 2022?", And People Listed 30 Examples Going out without a phone or any other kind of remote communication device. Imagine driving a back road without anyway to get a hold of someone if you break down.

devildunkard , https://www.pexels.com/photo/iphone-on-table-1156684/ Report

#4

Someone Asked "What Was Normal In 2002 But Not 2022?", And People Listed 30 Examples Burning CDs, then writing the names of each song with the number track on the front of the CD

floatingaway919 , cottonbro Report

#6

Someone Asked "What Was Normal In 2002 But Not 2022?", And People Listed 30 Examples A comedian making an edgy joke and not have their career nuked

ptapobane , Wikipedia Report

#7

Someone Asked "What Was Normal In 2002 But Not 2022?", And People Listed 30 Examples Smoking cigarettes everywhere. Cars had ashtrays and restaurants had Smoking sections.

ATXKLIPHURD , Masha Raymers Report

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#8

Someone Asked "What Was Normal In 2002 But Not 2022?", And People Listed 30 Examples Dial up internet access.

ChimpyChompies Report

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#9

Someone Asked "What Was Normal In 2002 But Not 2022?", And People Listed 30 Examples Spinning a tape cassette with a pen

redther , E M Report

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Caro Caro
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Pressing play and record one second too late and the cool song had already started and you had to sit by the radio and wait until they played it again :D

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#10

Someone Asked "What Was Normal In 2002 But Not 2022?", And People Listed 30 Examples Describing men as 'metrosexual' because they took care of themselves.

RougeEmber , Monstera Report

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DrBronxx
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The Big Bang Theory does not have many good qualities, but I thought Raj's explanation of what a metrosexual is to be the clearest to me. If it's actually wrong, please tell me. Anyway, what he said was "It means I like women, as well as their skincare products."

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#11

Someone Asked "What Was Normal In 2002 But Not 2022?", And People Listed 30 Examples Fat-shaming and body-shaming. I say this after watching all the compilations of America’s Next Top Model. Those judges have a special place in hell.

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#13

Someone Asked "What Was Normal In 2002 But Not 2022?", And People Listed 30 Examples Going to blockbuster and hanging out at the mall

PossibilitySimilar28 , Wikipedia Report

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Daniel Atkins
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I miss renting video games. Not going to pay full price for a game that once I beat it I'll never play again.

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#14

Someone Asked "What Was Normal In 2002 But Not 2022?", And People Listed 30 Examples Floppy disks. I work at my school as a program they offer and I saw an old 2000 PC with a floppy disk.

Rezokar_ , S J Report

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#15

Someone Asked "What Was Normal In 2002 But Not 2022?", And People Listed 30 Examples Home phones

Agamemnon66 , Caden Bern Report

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Squiff
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I still have a home phone. My kids call it the Nannyline as my mother is the only person who calls it.

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#16

Someone Asked "What Was Normal In 2002 But Not 2022?", And People Listed 30 Examples VHS tapes. I was 6 in 2002. They were at the end of their life, but most of what I watched up until then was on VHS.

FeelThePower999 , Jeremy Bezanger Report

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Robert T
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I remember having to watch TV live as VHS was not an affordable option. It made quite a difference to our lives in being able to record something to watch later or repeatedly.

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#17

Someone Asked "What Was Normal In 2002 But Not 2022?", And People Listed 30 Examples Using payphones.

Salt_Champion_8289 , cottonbro Report

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Robyn Denton
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Australia still has payphones, except that now you don't have to pay to use them. https://exchange.telstra.com.au/why-were-making-payphones-free-for-calls-around-australia/

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#18

Someone Asked "What Was Normal In 2002 But Not 2022?", And People Listed 30 Examples Limewire

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K4l1m3r0
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Remember that times when limewire could find everything you wanted, even with spelling mistakes.. weird thing was that every file was 1KB in size

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#19

Someone Asked "What Was Normal In 2002 But Not 2022?", And People Listed 30 Examples Going home with your digital camera so you could upload the photos from your day to your computer and email them to your friends or upload to Friendster.

NotHappyTilUNotHappy , Lukas Hartmann Report

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LillieMean
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I still use my digital SLR camera. No matter how great a phone is, it can't beat the camera.

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#21

Saying "that's gay" as an insult

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SCP-3998
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yea, hang out in any gaming community long enough and you'll hear it still being thrown around.

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#22

A single paycheck buying everything I needed.

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#23

Someone Asked "What Was Normal In 2002 But Not 2022?", And People Listed 30 Examples Napster. For all you young farts, it was the original (as far as I know) platform to download music and make mix CDs. Y’all probably don’t know what CDs are anymore either. Hey are big in 02.

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#24

Someone Asked "What Was Normal In 2002 But Not 2022?", And People Listed 30 Examples Making plans. Back then your ‘Yes’ meant 'Yes' and you better show up on time to not miss everyone. Now, people be lazy and just text you when they’ll show up, two hours later.

Bout2Drop , cottonbro Report

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Kirsten Kerkhof
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

People have always been flaky or punctual, that is nothing modern. The only thing I could think of is that in the past you had no way of letting others know so, if you cared, you turned up to make sure they didn't worry. Now it's easier to call and cancel last-minute. But my grandma was the flakiest person ever.

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#25

Someone Asked "What Was Normal In 2002 But Not 2022?", And People Listed 30 Examples flip phones

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Mixed Reality Portal
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I dunno about that ... Samsung's just dropped the latest version of its popular flip and fold phones...

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#26

Someone Asked "What Was Normal In 2002 But Not 2022?", And People Listed 30 Examples Being in chat rooms with people of all ages, like MSN chatrooms. It's a good thing that it isn't a thing anymore.

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#27

Someone Asked "What Was Normal In 2002 But Not 2022?", And People Listed 30 Examples Frosted tips for guys and streaky highlights for women.

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InvincibleRodent
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I still see streaky highlights every now and again- I'm a bit conflicted about them, because while I don't particularly like the look, they do make their wearers' heads remind me of little hard candies. You know, the ones with the swirls? And that's just nice.

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#28

Smoking indoors even around kids
Dial up Internet was still common
Not having a mobile
Wearing jeans under a dress
Buying CDs/DVDs
Telephones attached to the wall
Not using a car seat from 4yrs+
Glitter hair mascara
Leaving your kid in the car while you go into a shop
Cheque books and using cheques to pay for things
Swiping cards no pin required just a signature
2 door cars (nightmare to climb into the back)
Food had even more junk inside of it and it wasn't really frowned upon if you fed your family that c**p all day everyday

Spiritual-Couple-456 Report

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#29

Ringback tones

xxsoultonesxx Report

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nooneimportant
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

oh man i wish this would have been bigger, i loved hearing a song when calling someone

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#30

Someone Asked "What Was Normal In 2002 But Not 2022?", And People Listed 30 Examples Faux hawks — the mullet of the 2000s. But back then, they were called mohawks, which would not go down well today. I'm suddenly feeling like Grandpa Simpson. I guess Simpsons references too.

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Note: this post originally had 38 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.