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Someone Asks Online “People Born Before 1990, What Trivial Skill Do You Possess That No One Uses Anymore?”, Receives 30 Replies
There are things that I can do perfectly. For example, I can rewind a tape by spinning it on a pencil. I was born in 1981 and this skill was incredibly important during my childhood and teen years. It's been almost a quarter of a century since I last listened to music on a tape, but I'm sure if I need to, I'll rewind it nearly perfectly.
Another thing is that it is unlikely that a tape will fall into my hands, so the skill that I possess almost flawlessly has long and confidently been moved into the category of useless and obsolete. As well as several dozen other similar habits and skills that netizens listed in this viral Reddit thread.
More info: Reddit
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Remembering phone numbers
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?
Everybody in my family calls my parents -- they have all the numbers written down.
Load More Replies...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 still remember my childhood phone number but keep forgetting mine and my parents' mobile numbers
Yeah I'll 100% admit that us younger people have trouble with remembering phone numbers. But I at least have a couple of basic ones down.
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 remember most of my old ones, but my husband and family are avatars on my Android. I couldn't tell you my Mom's phone number if my life depended on it.
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. :(
The amount of numbers I used to know... and now I only know the #s of my immediate family. Sometimes I'm not sure about my number at work (where I've been for over 3 years...)
My childhood phone number was PIGHOX8, but I still don't know either of my kids' mobile numbers without assistance. ;-)
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 can still remember our first phone number I was about 4 or 5 years old 41945.
It was easier back then. All you had to remember if making a long distance call was the area code then the town 3 digit number. All you had to do was remember the last 4 digits. Or if making a local call remember the first 3 digit town number, was the same for the whole town and all you had to remember the last four digits. Not like today with cell phones where you might have the same zip code for a certain area then have multiple three digits for a area then last four. I can still remember my parents phone number, they have had the same number for the last probably 50 plus yrs.
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.
Lol, I can't remember any new ones, but I remember all the old ones!
I know my phone number, and some of my family member's phone numbers but that's about it.
I know my phone number from when I lived in Scotland when I was 7... I'm 35 now! I remember the car registration of the family car when I was 10. I find it easy to remember strings of letters and numbers - not because if any neurodiversity, but because we HAD to memorise this stuff!
My mind is filled with so many numbers from30 years ago it's the reason I forget everything else
I'm 76 and I can still remember our telephone number from when I was about 6.
I can't remember any phone numbers not even my husband's damn shame.
To be fair, nowadays you have to remember multiple numbers for the same family - seems like everyone has their own number. Back in the day, (yes, I know, I know) you needed to remember only one number for anyone in the family.
Load More Replies...I cant remember family numbers anymore but I still remember my childhood number from 45 years ago, lol
I still remember all the old ones. I do know my parent's, my son's and my own. That's about it.
I know mine. I know the vet. The important ones. Still have to look up most of the others. On a phone book with real pages.
Man I used to have so many phone numbers memorized and now I can't remember any cellphone numbers except those of my deceased parents.
You still should try to learn three numbers for emergencies. 1. The emergency services 2. Whoever you want contacted in an emergency (spouse, parent etc) 3. Your own. The last one is not an emergency thing, but you do need it quite often and this is also helpful if you misplace your phone. If tiny me could hold onto the digits for close to 30 different households of friends and family, you can do 3. I believe in you
absolutely. When I was young we practiced my address and both of my parents' phone numbers as one thing. So I have yet to forget them and I know everything in case of emergencies
Load More Replies...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.
Indeed, almost each generation in recent history has a certain set of habits and skills that they have honed over the years, often associated with everyday things and devices natural for their time. And as soon as this or that object goes down in history, then the skills of using it become unclaimed, moving into the category of "weird habits".
To rewind a tape by spinning on a pencil <3
I write in cursive; does that count?
For example, do you know that at one time, about twenty years ago, there were even competitions in speed texting on push-button phones? Winners were determined, hefty prize money was paid, world records were set... and the competitions continue to be held, but now on the virtual keyboards of smartphones. And if you could blindly type a message while holding your phone in your pocket - and this was possible, back when just knowing the order of keystrokes is enough - then today this is nothing more than a funny fad. For example, to amuse your kids, if, while sorting through old things, you somehow find an old Nokia 3310...
I'm a straight burley man and I sew. It's just something that for whatever reason relaxes me and no one knows how to do it anymore. Hemming and tapering pants, altering dresses, jackets...etc..I oddly enjoy it.
I can win at trivial pursuit (the game) every time. I’m a wealth of useless information.
"The issue is the mechanism of learning and adaptation, which for most people still remains very high, no matter what anyone says," explains Vladimir Nemertsalov, a school principal and teacher from Ukraine, to whom Bored Panda reached out for a comment here. "Any skill, like the object associated with it, has its own life cycle. First, a certain device appears, then people try to adapt existing skills to it. Sometimes this goes well enough, but most often not."
"And then the culture of using a new device begins to acquire new habits. Someone comes up with hacks to improve it all, make it faster and more convenient to use. This is how skills are formed. And then, when the device 'walks off into the sunset', the ability to use it goes the same way. It's another matter that in the modern world it happens much faster. For example, the skill of riding was incredibly relevant for several millennia, but the ability to use a rotary phone has come to naught in about half a century. But such is the contemporary world, and such is progress," Vladimir says.
Using the Dewey decimal at library
The local libraries still use them here, but the database is on the computers.
Crash start a manual car by rolling down a hill in second gear with the ignition on, then popping the clutch - cars were not so reliable back in the day!
Edit: Push starting, also known as bump starting, roll starting, clutch starting, popping the clutch or crash starting, according to Wikipedia - we called it crash starting where I'm from, but lots of different names for it!
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!
Sometimes outdated skills develop into a kind of hobby or even a subculture - as happened, for example, with film photography or vinyl records. Regarding the latter, the level of sales, after three decades of oblivion, began to grow again around 2010, and has now returned to almost 1988 levels. Perhaps this will happen with tapes - and then I will again appear in all my splendor with the skill of rewinding one with a pencil. In the meantime, please feel free to scroll this selection to the very end and maybe add some more obsolete and weird-looking skills from the past... and I'll go practice. Where is my pencil, anyway?
Record to tape from the radio. Trying to make sure to not get the DJ/presenter talking s**t or an ad
I had a 3-in-1 that could record to audio cassette from TV. I still have the Dallas episode of Who Shot JR?
I can develop and process photographic film and enlarge prints in a darkroom.
I can write boobs on a calculator
Two that I didn't see listed already:
Can read a map without using GPS
Can build out a coaxial network for LAN parties
Using your shoulder to hold a telephone up to your ear while doing multiple other things at once. Now, the phones are so damned small I drop them.
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.
A few:
* How to drive a manual transmission.
* How to remember phone numbers in my head.
* How to untangle, manually wind and repair cassette tape.
* How to plan a cross country trip using nothing more than a Rand McNally Road Atlas and a highlighter.
* How to program in Basic.
* How many dimes to place on a record needle to prevent skipping.
* How to change my own oil, tire, belts, alternator, starter or transmission.
* On a Cathode Ray Tube TV how to: set vertical and horizontal controls, fine-tune the channel using the ring around the channel k**b and how to fashion a wire coat hanger into a VHF antenna.
Texting with 10 key. I still have it all memorized and could pick up a flip phone and send paragraphs if needed.
Driving a stick shift!
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 can be bored without watching a screen to cope
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.
Burning CDs
Ripping the sides off printer paper without ruining it.
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.
Born 1988, turn the channel to 3 if you want your Nintendo to work
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.
I haven’t used this in decades but I used to be able to dial people on a rotary phone by tapping the hang up switch.
Extensive knowledge of DOS commands
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
Stop the TV picture rolling by twiddling the knob on the back
I outright destroyed Super Mario Brothers in almost no time flat very recently on Nintendo Switch after not having played it for probably 30 years. I did it totally from memory on the just the second run through. I even hit the multiple 1-up glitch on world 3-1. My kids thought I was a god (for just a few minutes).
Me too ... I was able to get my kids over a difficult level. That is the only time I felt like a Cool Mom!
I still know how to set up a vcr to record a television program in advance.
Diagnosing connection problems by the sound the modem makes.
I know how to use a keypunch machine to write my COBOL code on a stack of 80-column paper cards, how to use a card reader to send my program to the mainframe, and how to hang out drinking coffee waiting for the batch to run.
In the UK. A lot of people of that age (I was born in the 90's) know how to wire a plug because British law didn't require appliances to have pre-wired plugs and we were expected to wire them ourselves. I believe it was taught in schools.
Now it's not a required skill anymore but if we need to know we can just Google it.
My family gets mad at me for using MS Paint instead of Photoshop
I can put an entire actual newspaper together from scratch right down to plating and printing. Also, my cursive is pretty good.
Using a typewriter
Strong background with MS-DOS with WWIV BBS software
Use an old rotary dial telephone
Frustration of loading paper on a dot matrix printer, and dealing with constant jams
Installing driver software for a new device, via 3.5" hard disk (before it became automated feature in windows)
Using an actual road map to find where you needed to go, and being able to fold it back into it's original configuration after opening
I can thread and watch 8mm film.
Not sure that watching a film is an old skill. Just point your head in the right direction and keep your eyes open.
Being able to get the sharpest reception for the TV channel you're watching by turning the giant dial on the top of the television that rotates the ginormous antenna on the roof.
Or using the dial on a radio to get better reception. Your station is 98.5, just turn the dial slightly to the right or left.. Or be able to tune to the stations between stations, which was an AM thing. Your local station is at 810 AM, just slightly turn that dial and you'll might pick up a station hundreds of miles away. Although that only worked in bad weather, as the radio waves would bounce off the clouds. Can't do that with digital tuners.
I could draw out nearly the entire original legend of Zelda map from memory. Or at least enough to get to every dungeon, heart, and item.
One of my most prized possessions is an orthographic projection map of Zork I, hand drawn by my brother.
I know what frequency to tune my AM radio to listen to the CONELRAD civil defense network.
I know how to use a hole punch to turn a 5.25" inch floppy disk into a flippy disk and use both sides.
I know deck to deck video editing
I trained in glassblowing as part of my Chemistry PhD. It was very useful to be able to fix broken ground-glass joints or make a custom reaction vessel. The class was dropped by the time I graduated as it was cheaper just to buy more glassware than operate a glassblowing workshop
I was buying an ironing board recently, and the person in line behind me was like, "Whoa. Does anybody still use those?" So, I guess I can claim knowing how to iron as my trivial skill.
Excellent skill. There's an art to it to keep already ironed parts from wrinkling as you progress.
Load More Replies...I can add, subtract, multiply & divide in my head. We weren't allowed to use calculators when I was in school.
I had a slide rule in high school and college because I couldn't afford one of the new calculators that were on the market. (The early ones were really expensive.) So I guess I could claim slide rule use as a skill, if I could remember how to do it.
Load More Replies...I was wondering if anyone was going to mention that. I know people that don't know how to write checks.
Load More Replies...I can sew(stitch) by hand, know how to properly fold a flag, and can wilderness camp(ie.,no running water, electricity, etc) my butt off!🐸
I remember how to comfortably go somewhere without carrying a phone with me, and I know how to wait until I'm ready to look at a text, even if it's a lot later than I received it
GREAT SKILL. Saw my friend replace a broken fan belt with a rope he spliced. It's been 50 years and I'm still in awe.
Load More Replies...I recall how to research and print psychology journal articles using microfilm. And I wrote the papers based on those articles on a computer with a black screen and orange type.
I can engage random strangers in conversation, no matter their age or background. And in many cases, no matter their attitude.
I am a huge fan of random compliments!!! Amazing the look on someone's face when they receive a VALID compliment from a stranger.
Load More Replies...Fix a broken part on something such as appliances instead of buying a complete new one. Remember going to a repair shop for a part or to get something fixed we didn't feel able to tackle ourself. Meeting the owner who was able to provide for his family but owning a repair shop!!!
I could delete a virus from a computer from a bad Limewire file before my parents got home .
I can change a typewriter ribbon. I can use a microfiche reader. I can strap a phone handset into a modem cradle. I can write in the Palm Pilot language. Fun tip: it works for almost all handwriting recognition software now. I can also format a document using special characters ala WordStar. These ALSO still work in a lot of software, like an underscore "_" before and after a word underlining it.
(¬_¬;) ...sigh ... Take your dang upvote, anyway.
Load More Replies...I can turn the tv channel button without a remote. I can drive anything anywhere anytime (back then you had to learn how to drive a stick or you walked or did it by hand). I can go anywhere without my phone. I can actually cook food from scratch (if you were hungry you had to learn to cook only restaurant was McDonald's). I can write in cursive or print. I remember you could go shopping and buy a whole complete outfit for $20 or less. I remember when you didn't have to wear seatbelts. My first car didn't even have seatbelts. I'm old but not that old. I was born during the hippy/Woodstock decade lol
I could study for an exam while casually reaching up, and without looking, click through the *dials* on the TV when my dad commanded the remote control (me) to do so.
Puttying windows, wiring lamps, repairing screens in screen doors, gapping the magneto in a lawn mower, gapping spark plugs, filling water in a car battery, installing DIP memory in computers, setting the dip switches in computers for amount of memory ot the IRQ settings. Programming in several types of basic, Pascal and assembly code, programming a web page in Notepad or Word, notching floppy discs to make them two sided, using a card catalog or microfilm/microfiche reader. Using a mimeograph machine, treading a movie projector, pathing pots and pans with a brazing rod.
Many of these are skills that are still taught today... The "I know cursive, I'm superior" mindset needs to go
I think we're mostly being nostalgic and/or marveling at how much change we've lived through.
Load More Replies...Thanks to my grandpa I can count change really fast, I can tune a tv, use a typewriter (thanks Nan), I can crochet, record a tape, remember phone numbers in my head and quote the phonetic alphabet :)
I got my degree in Economics, and even before that happened I consistently beat my brothers and sisters at Monopoly (guess I was a natural). Once played with my aunts and uncles, they were shocked that I eventually owned half of the board. I "lost" only once, when my brothers and sisters made a pact to never deal with me. By this time, I was married and worked with my wife and gave her very generous deals. She won. As one brother said "It's frustrating, we finally beat you, but you still won".
1993 baby here. I know how to do a lot of these. And driving a manual, or “stick shift” is more common than automatics in most countries? I think the title needs changing because if I can do it, guarantee that most 1993 babies know too.
I can run and repair anti-aircraft carbon arc searchlights from WW2. Fire up and operate Super Trouper long-throw spotlights. Build a stage. Rewire vehicles. Make adobe bricks > shelters. Milk a cow. Repair circuit cards to 15th+ level under stereo microscope. Exist without social media opinions.
Fr, some of the people seem to be so unhappy, they need to brag about doing regular stuff, claiming it's been 'forgotten' just so they can feel special and superior. I've met quite a few of these people and it was exhausting
Load More Replies...I can read a technical science journal article. In any language on any topic.
People still do most of these things on a regular basis. Playing trivia? or trivial pursuit or games? ALL the time. Being able to read a watch? ALL the time. Address an envelope? ALL the time.
I know! I'm not an adult, but most of these seem like baisc life skills everyone has!
Load More Replies...I trained in glassblowing as part of my Chemistry PhD. It was very useful to be able to fix broken ground-glass joints or make a custom reaction vessel. The class was dropped by the time I graduated as it was cheaper just to buy more glassware than operate a glassblowing workshop
I was buying an ironing board recently, and the person in line behind me was like, "Whoa. Does anybody still use those?" So, I guess I can claim knowing how to iron as my trivial skill.
Excellent skill. There's an art to it to keep already ironed parts from wrinkling as you progress.
Load More Replies...I can add, subtract, multiply & divide in my head. We weren't allowed to use calculators when I was in school.
I had a slide rule in high school and college because I couldn't afford one of the new calculators that were on the market. (The early ones were really expensive.) So I guess I could claim slide rule use as a skill, if I could remember how to do it.
Load More Replies...I was wondering if anyone was going to mention that. I know people that don't know how to write checks.
Load More Replies...I can sew(stitch) by hand, know how to properly fold a flag, and can wilderness camp(ie.,no running water, electricity, etc) my butt off!🐸
I remember how to comfortably go somewhere without carrying a phone with me, and I know how to wait until I'm ready to look at a text, even if it's a lot later than I received it
GREAT SKILL. Saw my friend replace a broken fan belt with a rope he spliced. It's been 50 years and I'm still in awe.
Load More Replies...I recall how to research and print psychology journal articles using microfilm. And I wrote the papers based on those articles on a computer with a black screen and orange type.
I can engage random strangers in conversation, no matter their age or background. And in many cases, no matter their attitude.
I am a huge fan of random compliments!!! Amazing the look on someone's face when they receive a VALID compliment from a stranger.
Load More Replies...Fix a broken part on something such as appliances instead of buying a complete new one. Remember going to a repair shop for a part or to get something fixed we didn't feel able to tackle ourself. Meeting the owner who was able to provide for his family but owning a repair shop!!!
I could delete a virus from a computer from a bad Limewire file before my parents got home .
I can change a typewriter ribbon. I can use a microfiche reader. I can strap a phone handset into a modem cradle. I can write in the Palm Pilot language. Fun tip: it works for almost all handwriting recognition software now. I can also format a document using special characters ala WordStar. These ALSO still work in a lot of software, like an underscore "_" before and after a word underlining it.
(¬_¬;) ...sigh ... Take your dang upvote, anyway.
Load More Replies...I can turn the tv channel button without a remote. I can drive anything anywhere anytime (back then you had to learn how to drive a stick or you walked or did it by hand). I can go anywhere without my phone. I can actually cook food from scratch (if you were hungry you had to learn to cook only restaurant was McDonald's). I can write in cursive or print. I remember you could go shopping and buy a whole complete outfit for $20 or less. I remember when you didn't have to wear seatbelts. My first car didn't even have seatbelts. I'm old but not that old. I was born during the hippy/Woodstock decade lol
I could study for an exam while casually reaching up, and without looking, click through the *dials* on the TV when my dad commanded the remote control (me) to do so.
Puttying windows, wiring lamps, repairing screens in screen doors, gapping the magneto in a lawn mower, gapping spark plugs, filling water in a car battery, installing DIP memory in computers, setting the dip switches in computers for amount of memory ot the IRQ settings. Programming in several types of basic, Pascal and assembly code, programming a web page in Notepad or Word, notching floppy discs to make them two sided, using a card catalog or microfilm/microfiche reader. Using a mimeograph machine, treading a movie projector, pathing pots and pans with a brazing rod.
Many of these are skills that are still taught today... The "I know cursive, I'm superior" mindset needs to go
I think we're mostly being nostalgic and/or marveling at how much change we've lived through.
Load More Replies...Thanks to my grandpa I can count change really fast, I can tune a tv, use a typewriter (thanks Nan), I can crochet, record a tape, remember phone numbers in my head and quote the phonetic alphabet :)
I got my degree in Economics, and even before that happened I consistently beat my brothers and sisters at Monopoly (guess I was a natural). Once played with my aunts and uncles, they were shocked that I eventually owned half of the board. I "lost" only once, when my brothers and sisters made a pact to never deal with me. By this time, I was married and worked with my wife and gave her very generous deals. She won. As one brother said "It's frustrating, we finally beat you, but you still won".
1993 baby here. I know how to do a lot of these. And driving a manual, or “stick shift” is more common than automatics in most countries? I think the title needs changing because if I can do it, guarantee that most 1993 babies know too.
I can run and repair anti-aircraft carbon arc searchlights from WW2. Fire up and operate Super Trouper long-throw spotlights. Build a stage. Rewire vehicles. Make adobe bricks > shelters. Milk a cow. Repair circuit cards to 15th+ level under stereo microscope. Exist without social media opinions.
Fr, some of the people seem to be so unhappy, they need to brag about doing regular stuff, claiming it's been 'forgotten' just so they can feel special and superior. I've met quite a few of these people and it was exhausting
Load More Replies...I can read a technical science journal article. In any language on any topic.
People still do most of these things on a regular basis. Playing trivia? or trivial pursuit or games? ALL the time. Being able to read a watch? ALL the time. Address an envelope? ALL the time.
I know! I'm not an adult, but most of these seem like baisc life skills everyone has!
Load More Replies...