11 Things Gen X Had To Deal With That Gen Z Never Will
Gen X walked so Gen Z could fly.
michaelheim / Shutterstock Gen Z has already faced their fair share of world-altering changes during their still-young lives, leading to their deeply adaptable and resilient nature. Their youth may be defined by political upheaval and shifting social attitudes, but it’s the small, everyday changes that reveal how drastically different their world is from the one their Gen X parents grew up in, and there are countless things Gen X had to deal with that Gen Z never will.
While it’s easy to look at the past with nostalgia and declare that things were better back in the day, seeing the world with rose-colored glasses discounts the more frustrating parts of coming of age in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Gen Z’s chronically-online existence means they’ll never know how mundane the analog lifestyle really was.
Here are 11 things Gen X had to deal with that Gen Z never will
1. Memorizing phone numbers
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Memorizing phone numbers is something Gen X had to deal with that Gen Z never will. Gen X held infinite amounts of information in their heads, from how to beat the final level of Mortal Kombat to which mall made the best Orange Julius. Out of all the facts and figures they stored in their brains, phone numbers were the most important.
For Gen X, making phone calls was a full-contact sport. They pressed actual buttons with their fingers, holding the weirdly heavy receiver in between their shoulder and ear. They got tangled in the phone cord while they waited, like, forever, for it to ring. There was always the chance that a parent would pick up, which meant they were stuck making polite small talk when all they wanted was tell their friend about that thing their crush said in gym class.
Gen Z's phone calls are a streamlined operation. There’s no need to remember anyone’s number, since everything is stored in their phones for eternity. With the swipe of a finger, Gen Z can access all the information they could ever want, along with all the information they want nothing to do with.
2. Rewinding VHS tapes they rented
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Another thing Gen X had to deal with that Gen Z never will are the trials and tribulations of rewinding rented VHS tapes before returning them to the video store. Gen Z will never know the disappointment of popping a tape into the VCR, only to discover that the previous renter ignored the request to “Be kind, rewind.”
In fact, the entire embodied experience of renting a movie is something Gen Z will never know. Now, renting a movie means sitting on the couch and pressing buttons on the remote. For Gen X, it meant leaving their home, driving to a store, and wandering the aisles of Blockbuster, praying that the popular girls wouldn’t magically appear to tease them for watching a movie with their mom on a Saturday night.
Going to Blockbuster was a pivotal cultural experience for Gen X and the millennials who followed. The video-rental store first opened in 1985, and by 1988, there were over 400 stores in the U.S. In the early 90s, Blockbuster opened its 1000th store and made their way overseas to assert their media dominance on foreign soil. But in 2010, Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy, and by 2014, the last company-owned stores closed forever.
Streaming is much more accessible than renting a VHS tape from a store, and there’s no such thing as rewinding anymore. Instead, Gen Z can listen to their parents wax philosophical about life in the olden days and feel grateful for how quickly technology has advanced.
3. Getting up to change the channel
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Another thing Gen X had to deal with that Gen Z never will is getting up to change the TV channel. As latch-key kids, TV was a core part of Gen X’s childhood. TV was a babysitter, a surrogate parent, a best friend who was always there.
While the first wireless TV remote was developed in the 1950s thanks to Eugene F. McDonald, president of Zenith Electronics, who hated sitting through commercials and wanted to be able to mute the TV or switch to other channels, the first versions were unreliable and prohibitively expensive.
It wasn't until Gen Xers were kids in the 1980s that the devices known as "clickers" became more common household items, so most of them grew up having to actually pick themselves up off the couch or floor, walk themselves to the TV, and manually flip the dial or push buttons to change the volume or find something else to watch. And there was no such thing as skipping commercials. They had to watch every ad in full if they didn't want to miss a moment of their show.
Gen Z was practically born with a remote in their hands. And while Gen Z has streaming services to binge watch from, while Gen X had only a handful of channels to choose from. No wonder they're so tired.
4. Waiting for their nails to dry (and maybe messing them up anyway)
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Waiting for their nail polish to dry is something Gen X had to deal with that Gen Z never will. Part of being young is using fashion as an outward representation of identity, something that every generation does. Whether they were punks, post-punks, mallrats, metalheads, or skaters who listened to grunge, every Gen X subculture had their own style.
Gen Z style tends to echo what Gen X wore, but with some significant improvements, especially when it comes to their nails.
The traditional nail polish that Gen X used could take an hour or more to dry. Painting their nails was a truly time-consuming endeavor, and it’s not like they could scroll through social media while they waited. And if you made even one wrong move, you could completely destroy your work or the work you'd just paid for and have to start all over again or head back to the salon in shame to get it fixed.
In 2007, the first long-wear nail polish hit the market. Its claim to fame was air-drying in five minutes and lasting one to two weeks without chipping. Then in 2009, colored acrylics and UV gel polish entered the scene, followed by Shellac in 2010.
Now Gen Z doesn’t have to worry about getting impatient and smudging a nail. The innovation of gel polish has set them free from the ennui that accompanied every DIY manicure, which shows just how far we’ve come.
5. Getting a busy signal on the phone
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Getting a busy signal on the phone is something Gen X had to deal with that Gen Z never will. There was no disappointment quite like the kind that came from hearing that monotonous, atonal beep, meaning that whoever you called (or someone they shared the line with) was already on the phone with someone else.
The noise was an affront to any teenager who worked up the courage to call the cutie from chemistry class, only to have all their hope crushed in seconds flat. Busy signals were an exercise in mindfulness, before mindfulness was even a thing. The patience Gen X summoned when they got a busy signal was aspirational.
Sure, most people put the phone back in the cradle, only to pick it up a minute later and call again. They called over and over, whispering a quiet prayer for time and fate to move in their favor. When their call finally went through, the relief Gen X felt was almost tangible.
On the other side of the spectrum, Gen Z has been given both the gift and the curse of instant access. They can send rapid-fire texts until their thumbs freeze up, but they’ll never be able to use a busy signal as an excuse to not call someone back.
6. Finding change so they can use a pay phone
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Another thing Gen X had to deal with that Gen Z never will is finding loose change to use a pay phone. If, for whatever reason, Gen X had to get in touch with their parents while roaming the neighborhood like the free-range kids they were, they had to find a pay phone and make sure they had an adequate amount of coins to place their call.
Up until the mid '80s, calling someone local from a pay phone cost 10 cents and your call could only last a few minutes before you were prompted to add more. By the early '90s, making a local call went up to 25 cents. If you were really stuck, you could call collect, but you had to feel pretty confident the other person was going to be willing — and not angry — to accept the charges.
While there are still nearly 500,000 pay phones in the US and calls currently start at 50 cents a pop, most of Gen Z won’t ever have the full-body sensory experience of standing in a booth and getting totally grossed out by the wads of chewed-up gum stuck to the payphone. Gen Z can get in touch with anyone at any time.
Of course, the flip side of that interconnectedness is being perpetually reachable. That so many of Gen Z’s parents track their location stands in stark contrast to how Gen X existed, with their location untraceable until they went home.
7. Running out of tape on your answering machine
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The sheer aggravation of running out of tape on your answering machine is something Gen X had to deal with that Gen Z never will. In the 60s and 70s, answering machines had two cassette tapes, one for an outgoing message and another for recording an incoming message. By the 1980s, the outgoing message tape was replaced by digital memory, but the incoming message still relied on the use of a cassette tape.
When that tape ran out of space, Gen X either had to erase their old messages or find a blank tape, which presumably was buried at the bottom of a junk drawer, hidden among rubber bands, paper clips, and a random screwdriver.
At one point in time, answering machines were cutting-edge technology. Now, having an answering machine at all is a foreign concept to Gen Z. They don’t even have to leave a voicemail, since their name and the time they called show up on the other person's missed calls list no matter what.
Answering machines and their tapes have taken their place alongside fax machines and dial-up modems as things no one is likely to ever need again.
8. Waiting for photos to develop
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Something Gen X had to deal with that Gen Z never will is waiting for photos to develop. In the age of iPhones, Instagram, and instantaneous information, the well-established Gen X pastime of developing photos has become nothing more than a memory.
Dropping off photos to get them developed was a heady rush of emotions. There was the hopeful anticipation that the photos would be breathtaking and that every image captured would prove to be prize-worthy. Next came the restlessness, that sense of unease that your photos might get ruined in the developing process or that they’d be overexposed and unrecognizable.
Finally, there was the moment of truth, when Gen X opened the envelope to flip through their photos. The past rose up to greet them. They held their memories in their hands, thumbprints smudging the edges, smiling at everything they had seen and all that they had done.
9. Calling to find out the weather
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Another thing Gen X had to deal with that Gen Z never will is calling to find out the weather. Today, anyone with a smartphone has a weather app at their beck and call. But way back when, there was a weather hotline people called if they wanted to peek into the future and learn what the temperature would be later on in the day.
The weather hotline was an all-knowing robot, who shared its knowledge in a flat, unchanging voice. The best time to call the weather was in the winter, in the early morning, as snow fell. On those dreary mornings, calling the weather had the power to release Gen X from school with two magic words: snow day.
In retrospect, calling the weather seems unnecessary, given that thermostats existed and people could step onto the front porch and feel the air around them. But back then, calling the weather held promise, no matter how strange it was.
10. Recording songs from the radio
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Recording songs from the radio is something Gen X had to deal with that Gen Z never will. Gen X spent hours sitting in front of their stereos or boomboxes, their fingers hovering over the “record” button, ready to jam it down at the first notes of their favorite song. All they could hope was that the DJ didn’t talk over the opening lines or cut the song off before its true ending.
Gen X devoted precious time and energy to the art of making a mix tape. This analog activity was an expression of true care and affection, if only because recording songs off the radio was such a painstaking process.
Gen Z has playlists that go on forever, based on algorithms that can predict which song should come next, but there was something special about sharing a mixtape that can’t be captured by collaborating on Spotify.
11. Finding a ride without access to Uber
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Finding a ride without ride-apps like Uber and Lyft is something Gen X had to deal with that Gen Z never will. Gen X had to beg their parents to drive them wherever they wanted to go, presumably in a wood-paneled station wagon.
If their parents refused, Gen X moved on to their next best option: asking their siblings to go out of their way to give them a ride. After their sibling said no, Gen X could ask their friend's siblings to pick them up, which was usually an equally strong no. They were inevitably left to fend for themselves, so they rode their bike, caught a bus, or started walking.
With the invention of ride shares and the tech that supports them, Gen Z can get a ride whenever they want. They might just be going to school or soccer practice, but the freedom of movement they’re afforded holds unending promise.
Alexandra Blogier, MFA, is a staff writer who covers psychology, social issues, relationships, self-help topics, and human interest stories.