8 everyday realities Gen Z will never understand about growing up Gen X

Every generation has its quirks, but if you grew up Gen X, you know our childhood was an entirely different world compared to today’s hyper-connected, screen-filled landscape.

When I think back, I’m amazed at how many everyday habits we had that would leave Gen Z scratching their heads.

Some of these habits shaped our resilience, others taught us patience, and a few just make me laugh at how far technology has taken us.

Let’s take a little trip down memory lane together.

1. Waiting by the phone for hours

Do you remember when making plans with a friend meant physically sitting by the phone until they called?

There was no “shoot me a text when you’re free.” If you weren’t home when they dialed, you simply missed them.

Sometimes you’d leave messages on answering machines, but that felt like sending a note into a void—you had no idea when they’d hear it.

This built patience, but it also made anticipation part of life. Today, Gen Z can’t imagine that level of uncertainty when every conversation happens instantly on a screen.

2. Recording songs off the radio

There was something magical about sitting with your cassette recorder, waiting for your favorite song to come on.

If the DJ didn’t talk over the intro, you considered it a personal victory.

The playlists weren’t curated by algorithms—they were a mystery.

And the resulting mixtapes weren’t just about music, they were emotional time capsules, stitched together with the patience and anticipation of the moment.

3. Knowing every friend’s phone number by heart

Before smartphones turned memory into a digital file, we carried our address books in our heads.

I can still recall my best friend’s number from 1989—but ask me for my neighbor’s number today, and I’ll probably be blank.

It taught us focus and recall in ways that modern conveniences have dulled.

Research from Harvard has shown that regularly challenging our memory and practicing recall helps build “cognitive reserve,” which strengthens long-term mental stamina and keeps the brain agile.

I sometimes wonder: Are we outsourcing too much of our brainpower now?

4. Watching Saturday morning cartoons like it was a ritual

Saturday mornings were sacred. You woke up early, poured yourself a giant bowl of cereal, and parked in front of the TV for hours of animated bliss.

No streaming. No pausing. No “I’ll watch it later.” You either caught the show when it aired or you missed it until reruns.

That kind of commitment made those moments feel special.

And honestly, sitting through commercials and timing bathroom breaks trained our attention spans in ways TikTok never could.

5. Passing handwritten notes in class

These weren’t just notes; they were lifelines. Scribbled secrets, folded into intricate shapes, and stealthily passed down the rows when the teacher wasn’t looking.

There was risk and thrill in every exchange—would you get caught? Would the wrong person open it?

Today’s group chats don’t carry that same adrenaline. And there’s something lost in not having those little artifacts tucked into shoeboxes as souvenirs of who we were becoming.

6. Riding bikes until the streetlights came on

We grew up in a world where your parents waved you out the door and didn’t expect you back until dinner.

That freedom taught us independence and trust in ourselves.

We learned to navigate neighborhoods, negotiate friendships in real time, and sometimes even handle scraped knees without adult supervision.

It was a kind of resilience training without anyone calling it that—just kids learning to figure things out on their own.

Today’s structured schedules and constant check-ins don’t leave quite the same room for that kind of everyday adventure.

7. Waiting weeks for film to be developed

Imagine snapping a photo and not knowing if it turned out for days—or even weeks. That was our normal.

Trips to the one-hour photo shop felt like opening a treasure chest. You never knew if you’d captured a memory perfectly or if someone’s eyes were closed in every shot.

That unpredictability built patience, but also a sense of wonder.

Today’s instant filters remove the suspense—but they also flatten the joy of surprise.

8. Finding information in encyclopedias

Looking something up wasn’t as easy as saying, “Hey Siri.” We had to dig through shelves of encyclopedias––often outdated, sometimes incomplete.

That process taught us persistence and discernment.

We had to read more than a quick blurb—we absorbed context, connections, and cross-references. For us, the search itself was part of the education.

Looking back, this one probably deserved a higher spot on the list. Anyway, encyclopedias gave us not just answers, but also a deeper appreciation for the effort behind knowledge.

Final thoughts

These habits may seem quaint—or even frustrating—to Gen Z.

But for those of us who grew up Gen X, they were part of a slower, more tactile world that shaped our patience, creativity, and independence.

Of course, every generation thinks theirs was the “real” childhood. What’s true is that each one comes with its own lessons.

Ours just happened to be carved out of cassette tapes, handwritten notes, and bike rides that stretched until dark.

One insight that struck me recently came from Rudá Iandê’s book Laughing in the Face of Chaos.

He writes, “When we let go of the need to be perfect, we free ourselves to live fully—embracing the mess, complexity, and richness of a life that’s delightfully real.”

That’s exactly what our Gen X childhood taught us—the beauty of imperfection, of doing things the hard way, and of savoring the chaos instead of rushing to smooth it out.

At the end of the day, it’s not about whether one generation had it “better.”

It’s about learning from the past while embracing the present—and holding on to the lessons that shaped us, even as the world keeps spinning faster.