Someone Asks Online “People Born Before 1990, What Trivial Skill Do You Possess That No One Uses Anymore?”, Receives 30 Replies

I used the comic section from the Sunday newspaper.

This should still be important. What you or your kids become separated and they have no battery power on their phone, so they have to find another phone, or their phone gets lost/stolen?

I still remember Jenny's phone number

I know my husband's cell number. Mainly because he has had the same number since he got his first cellphone back in the day. I have trouble remembering mine because it has changed a couple of times. And of course I remember the house phone numbers we had growing up.

I memorized by pattern, not number

I remember my phone number from 48 years ago - ouch!

I still do this...

In what I think was the equivalent of high school, it seemed I was the only one who could recall my own cell phone number if asked. Though to this day, I can only remember my cell phone number and my Mom's landline number - but not her cell phone, lol!

I can remember our house phone number from 40 years ago

I still remember my grandmother's phone # from back in the '50s. And the phone # I grew up with. I can't remember my own son's phone # now. :(

i still remember numbers from my childhood

I can remember long combinations of numbers :). I didn’t work for 12 years and didn’t forget my superannuation number

I remember my grandparent's phone number in Florida - they sold that house in 1986.

I'm 26 and I frequently used a landline to call two friends when I was 12. I still remember their phone numbers. I also remember my dad's phone number because it's been the same for my entire life and I also used to call him on a landline, and I remember my grandpa's phone number because I always listed him as my emergency contact when I still lived near him and I just ended up memorizing it eventually.

I remember that my parents used to have an address book where they would have a bunch of their contacts and their phone numbers written down. Its still a good idea to write down phone numbers on a piece of paper and keep it somewhere where you can find it. Might come in handy.

I know my phone number, and some of my family member's phone numbers but that's about it.

My mind is filled with so many numbers from30 years ago it's the reason I forget everything else

I still remember them. I can't always count on a cell phone.

I remember a few from years ago, and a few current ones.

I'm 76 and I can still remember our telephone number from when I was about 6.

Impressive

I used to possess this, but that skill is long gone.

I still remember all the old ones. I do know my parent's, my son's and my own. That's about it.

I can still do this.

I remember phone numbers of my grandma, parents and some close friends. I have them saved in my phone, of course, but I prefer to remember things like that, in case of losing my phone, dead battery etc. I also have a note with important numbers in my wallet.

As a teacher, PLEASE teach your kids important numbers. This is something they need to memorize for their own safety and convenience.

But at least they were only seven digits back then

When I see characters in a tv show pick up someone else's phone and dial a number from memory, I find it hard to believe.

This is still relevant i think

Be kind, rewind

I loved doing this in 4th grade lol

My daughters are 14 and 15 and they were both taught it as well

I made a teddy bear for my gf from a kit in the evenings whilst I was stuck in hotels for work. I overstuffed him a little and he was known as "muscly bear". :D

I got kicked out of trival pursuit matches in my friend group. My husband is a wealth of sports trivia. I'm more of a generalist.

And understand the meaning of "I have the 1" when the total is £9.01. ;-)

The local libraries still use them here, but the database is on the computers.

Address is needed if you send a physical letter/ card. Everyone still likes to get these!

Very bad idea in modern cars, as you can poison the catalytic convertor. I had to bump start my first car in the basement of the apartment building I lived in - had to get a neighbour to help who dumped the clutch whilst I pushed. I was very trusting of her, as she had to put the clutch straight back in again before we hit the wall at the far end!

I had a 3-in-1 that could record to audio cassette from TV. I still have the Dallas episode of Who Shot JR?

Long time since I did it, but we had a darkroom at school and I have developed my own B&W photos in there.

55378008

Reading a map and orientating yourself without GPS is essential if you move around in the wild. You need to be able to find your way even if the phone/gps gadget gives up.

Still have a landline and I find it useful. I have it for my apartment buzzer and in case of emergencies where we can't find our phone or the battery is dead. I have both a cordless and corded one.

Follow the folds

Try programming in Cobol

Oh god. I hate this. My mum has a phone that still uses it and it takes me ages to get back into doing when she asks me to update her contacts for her!

Still the most common type of car in the UK (approx 70%). Much better to learn on that and then get an automatic than the other way round.

I remember being so terribly bored back when I was a teen it made me lightheaded. There was nothing I wanted to do. The feeling was like an extreme cringed out feeling. Haven't felt it since I've been an adult. I don't think I get bored at all. There's always something to do.

Mix tapes

I can fold the edges into little paper stars... I may still have a box of them hiding in the back of a.closet somewhere, which I intended to string into Christmas tree garland. I suppose that has been a work-in-progress for 25-30 years now.

I dusted off my grey box Nintendo for my daughter when she was young. She thought I had magic powers, because I could get a cartridge to work by blowing in it and fidgeting with how it was seated.

Came in handy if someone had put a lock on the dial.

Anybody else remember having to manually assign blocks of memory to get MS-DOS games working? Fun times... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIMEM.SYS

BP missed this k n o b!