Someone Asked “What Was Normal In 2002 But Not 2022?”, And People Listed 30 Examples
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!
This post may include affiliate links.
Thinking George W. Bush was the worst president ever.
I actually caught myself thinking Bush wasn't "so bad" after the Orange Reign Of Terror lol
Load More Replies...
I think we're in an era now in which we just hope the next president won't knowingly harm the country for his own interests. Mind you, the UK isn't better.
I hate to be this person. But Reagan was worse than trump. I know. I hate trump too. But Reagan was worse dude. If you're black a woman or have student loans. Then you're personally being hurt by things Reagan did & he's fucken dead.
And what was done to people with AIDS. He did nothing. And laughed at AIDS jokes at a public functions.
Load More Replies...
I can honestly say Cheney was the worst VP ever. Bush was just fodder for comedians. The real evil was the VP.
Dont forget Dan Quayle. Remember when people were afraid because he was 1 position away from being president? Potatoe.
Load More Replies...
I think he is the worst in living memory. Trump was an unmitigated disaster and a terrible excuse for a human being, much less a president. But he did not start two, unnecessary wars, without justification, a plan of what they wanted to achieve, or a strategy for an endgame. The effects of those wars the world will feel long after both Trump and Bush are dead.
There doesn't need to be a competition, they can both be horrible who's policies and appointments continue to wreck havoc across the country and world. Don't kid yourself into thinking those were the good ol' days or how you miss it when those seeds were being sowed even then.
I honestly never in a million years thought I would say the words "I miss Bush" but it became a common phrase of mine during the Trump admin.
Who knew? The downward gradient may still hold some ugly surprises. Meanwhile, Mitch McConnell is waiting in the wings.
Hmm well look. You have to weigh up the crimes. Invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan (and the relevant bodycount), vs Darth Traitor and his crimes. It depends on how you weight the value of lives. The Iraq/Afghanistan scenario has cost about a million muslim lives. Orange Hitler has "only" indirectly killed about a million americans through neglect of scientific evidence, rather than direct invasion/bombing. So... I dunno.
Thank you! Sometimes I feel like I’m living in this mad world where Bush is now popular and I’m thinking this man is a war criminal and should be held in The Hague. I’m no Trump fan, the guy is an fing idiot, but by no means did he do anything near as bad as the invasion of Iraq, killing over 1 million people. And I really feel for the people that had to live through Trump/Republican leadership when Covid 19 first started. So many unnecessary lives lost, absolutely heartbreaking
Load More Replies... Since there are still people who don't understand why Trump is considered the worst, let me clarify - because he normalized being an assh**e. He normalized being vile and disrespectful towards both friends and foes. He normalized treating democracy and its rules/laws like a nuisance. He normalized "alternative facts" (a.k.a. blatant lies). The damage from all this normalization may take DECADES to fix.
It’s not that people don’t understand. Maybe some people value human lives over people being an a*****e to your fellow man. One man invaded a country and killed a million brown people and lied to the world. One orange baboon spread fake news and encouraged fellow red necks to stop listening to the free press and obviously all sorts of other madness. But in my eyes he was no war criminal and no where near as bad as Bush. And you know what, people can have differences of opinion. But what’s not ok is for people like you to say that we must agree thatTrump is the worst. It’s people like you that spreads more hate and political divisions in the world. Grow up, not everyone has to agree with you
Load More Replies...
Someone asked me the other day who was worse I said the obvious and they were like but was he really ? And started talking about the war and other things bush did ! I wasn’t paying any attention back then I was young and didn’t care I guess ! I still think the obvious one is the worst !
We have the worst one right now. He makes Jimmy Carter looks like he knew what he was doing.
If you dont agree with this leftist rant site you will be put in bored panda jail or your comment will be hidden.
BUZZ! False dichotomy. One does not have to be "leftist" to dislike certain right-wing presidents.
Load More Replies...
Why don't you read up on some history of us presidents. You might find a lot worse. Make sure you look at accomplishments! We can all hate people based on their personality!
Well, it was correct at the time. But then, The Republicans said "Hold my beer"
I think the last president we had that was decent was Clinton. The blood on Bush and Obama's hands... Trump... enough said. And now... well... I honestly didn't think it could get worse and I was wrong.
Not!! See how good of a job you'd do back in September 2001 when that horrible day happened!!! The choices he had to make.
Sorry to be that person darling but september 11 2001, one the worst tragedy in recent (western) history, happened because the US armed the Mujahideen to fight against the soviet and then lost control of the beast they created. When you spend decades (i'm looking at you CIA) to promote chaos, dictatorship, torture and evil in middle east, south america and all around the world you get that kind of disaster. He was, as part that system, responsible in a way. May all those innocent souls, in the USA and abroad, rest in peace. Btw, i'm french, i know what i'm talking about, evil-colonial-country wise
Load More Replies... Personally my own opinion is that the amount of non stop anti trump comments is getting boring. We have been there and done that again and again and again and again. Will People will still post anti trump comments in 2032?
Anti-Trump comments are not some random thing that exists for its own sake. It's a response to all the nasty stuff he did, and the nasty stuff his cult-like followers are still doing nowadays.
Load More Replies...
I agree, Trump *is* deranged. So are his drooling, sycophantic followers.
Load More Replies...
you are not wrong, but you are not right. Trump was universally hated by most other countries
Load More Replies...
You're delusional if you actually believe that. Read a comprehensive history book by a legitimate publisher.
Load More Replies...
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.
Burning CDs, then writing the names of each song with the number track on the front of the CD
Back in time.I did the same. But I recorded it from radio station using a cassette.
A comedian making an edgy joke and not have their career nuked
Smoking cigarettes everywhere. Cars had ashtrays and restaurants had Smoking sections.
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.
Going to blockbuster and hanging out at the mall
I miss renting video games. Not going to pay full price for a game that once I beat it I'll never play again.
Floppy disks. I work at my school as a program they offer and I saw an old 2000 PC with a floppy disk.
These are diskettes. Floppy disks were much larger and actually floppy.
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.
Using payphones.
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/
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.
I still use my digital SLR camera. No matter how great a phone is, it can't beat the camera.
Criss Angel.
A single paycheck buying everything I needed.
"Everything I need"? I don'T think I ever had a paycheck that big...
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.
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.
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.
flip phones
I dunno about that ... Samsung's just dropped the latest version of its popular flip and fold phones...
Being in chat rooms with people of all ages, like MSN chatrooms. It's a good thing that it isn't a thing anymore.
Frosted tips for guys and streaky highlights for women.
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.
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
Ringback tones
oh man i wish this would have been bigger, i loved hearing a song when calling someone
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.
Note: this post originally had 38 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
A lot of these seem to miss the point. It's things that were acceptable not things where there have been advances in technology.
That’s what I was thinking. But then again, BP will change the headline 10 times anyway, as always...
Load More Replies...
I don’t remember much of 2002. My father died the year before (I was 12) so for some reason my brain erased most of those years……
One of the points on the list (ironically one of the ones not cut out on the short version) is just a list of the current post with Amanda Bynes attached at the end..lol
A lot of these seem to miss the point. It's things that were acceptable not things where there have been advances in technology.
That’s what I was thinking. But then again, BP will change the headline 10 times anyway, as always...
Load More Replies... I don’t remember much of 2002. My father died the year before (I was 12) so for some reason my brain erased most of those years……
One of the points on the list (ironically one of the ones not cut out on the short version) is just a list of the current post with Amanda Bynes attached at the end..lol
