...or "screening your phone calls" by waiting to see who was leaving a message on the answering machine and then deciding whether to answer or not. (2024)

Table of Contents
1. Getting up early to look at the paper to find out what the weather was going to be like... 2. ...or turning on The Weather Channel and hoping the local forecast was on. 3. Mail ordering things from catalogs and waiting weeks for them to come in the mail. 4. Watching an entire TV show of just movie trailers. 5. Having to watch E!'s The Gossip Show or read a weekly tabloid in order to be up to date on Hollywood gossip. 6. Calling the video store to make sure the copy of the movie you wanted to see was in stock. 7. Ordering CDs from commercials by phone. 8. Watching the TV Guide Channel just to see what was on — which meant if something caught your eye you also had to remember the channel number it was on. 9. Answering the phone and literally having NO idea who was calling... 10. ...or "screening your phone calls" by waiting to see who was leaving a message on the answering machine and then deciding whether to answer or not. 11. Sneaking a message in (instead of saying your name) when calling collect. 12. Having to look up movie times in the newspaper. 13. Calling an airline to actually book your flight. 14. Photocopying sections of magazines or books for resource purposes. 15. Having to look up phone numbers in the yellow pages. 16. Physically buying your tickets for concerts at a Ticketmaster located inside a music store. 17. Having to buy and carry around maps whenever you went on road trips. 18. Going to internet cafes. 19. Having to carry around cash to pay for EVERYTHING since, basically, debit cards were for just pulling cash out of the ATM.

* mail orders from the Delia's catalog and prays the item will be in stock *

by Brian GalindoBuzzFeed Staff

1. Getting up early to look at the paper to find out what the weather was going to be like...

...or "screening your phone calls" by waiting to see who was leaving a message on the answering machine and then deciding whether to answer or not. (3)

Ellica_s / Getty Images

2. ...or turning on The Weather Channel and hoping the local forecast was on.

...or "screening your phone calls" by waiting to see who was leaving a message on the answering machine and then deciding whether to answer or not. (4)

Via youtube.com

You didn't care what the hell the national forecast looked like!

3. Mail ordering things from catalogs and waiting weeks for them to come in the mail.

...or "screening your phone calls" by waiting to see who was leaving a message on the answering machine and then deciding whether to answer or not. (5)

https://www.bustle.com/articles/103795-an-ode-to-delias-catalog-the-7-emotional-stages-of-waiting-for-a-new-one

...or "screening your phone calls" by waiting to see who was leaving a message on the answering machine and then deciding whether to answer or not. (6)

https://www.bustle.com/articles/103795-an-ode-to-delias-catalog-the-7-emotional-stages-of-waiting-for-a-new-one

Or worse yet, getting a letter back saying your item was on backorder or out of stock.

4. Watching an entire TV show of just movie trailers.

...or "screening your phone calls" by waiting to see who was leaving a message on the answering machine and then deciding whether to answer or not. (7)

E! / Via youtube.com

And hoping they'd show one for a movie you were excited about.

5. Having to watch E!'s The Gossip Show or read a weekly tabloid in order to be up to date on Hollywood gossip.

...or "screening your phone calls" by waiting to see who was leaving a message on the answering machine and then deciding whether to answer or not. (8)

E!

...or "screening your phone calls" by waiting to see who was leaving a message on the answering machine and then deciding whether to answer or not. (9)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/National-Enquirer-January-30-1996-OJ-Confession-George-Clooney-/281354254272

Yup, you basically had to seek it out!

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6. Calling the video store to make sure the copy of the movie you wanted to see was in stock.

...or "screening your phone calls" by waiting to see who was leaving a message on the answering machine and then deciding whether to answer or not. (10)

David Friedman / Getty Image

Or you could just risk it by driving to the store and hoping for the best — at worst, you could always just look around for something else to watch.

7. Ordering CDs from commercials by phone.

...or "screening your phone calls" by waiting to see who was leaving a message on the answering machine and then deciding whether to answer or not. (11)

Via youtube.com

Or you could be even more old-school and order it via mail!

8. Watching the TV Guide Channel just to see what was on — which meant if something caught your eye you also had to remember the channel number it was on.

...or "screening your phone calls" by waiting to see who was leaving a message on the answering machine and then deciding whether to answer or not. (12)

Via youtube.com

But honesty there was no better feeling than turning on the TV Guide Channel and immediately catching the exact channel you were looking for.

9. Answering the phone and literally having NO idea who was calling...

...or "screening your phone calls" by waiting to see who was leaving a message on the answering machine and then deciding whether to answer or not. (13)

medium.com

Caller-ID existed, but was not standard. It required you to pay the telephone company extra for it and buy a separate device you connected to your phone in order to display the numbers.

10. ...or "screening your phone calls" by waiting to see who was leaving a message on the answering machine and then deciding whether to answer or not.

Getty Images

You basically lost like a few minutes just waiting for the damn answering machine to finally pick up.

11. Sneaking a message in (instead of saying your name) when calling collect.

...or "screening your phone calls" by waiting to see who was leaving a message on the answering machine and then deciding whether to answer or not. (15)

youtube.com

"DadComePickMeUpAtTheMall!"

12. Having to look up movie times in the newspaper.

...or "screening your phone calls" by waiting to see who was leaving a message on the answering machine and then deciding whether to answer or not. (16)

http://www.brianorndorf.com/2013/10/minnesota-movie-ads-june-1997.html

...or "screening your phone calls" by waiting to see who was leaving a message on the answering machine and then deciding whether to answer or not. (17)

http://www.brianorndorf.com/2013/10/minnesota-movie-ads-june-1997.html

Or calling the theatre. Which, TBH, was kind of pain since you had to wait till the automated answering machine gave out the listing for the movie you wanted to see.

13. Calling an airline to actually book your flight.

...or "screening your phone calls" by waiting to see who was leaving a message on the answering machine and then deciding whether to answer or not. (18)

jdunman.com

This was also the time when your family or friends could walk with you all the way to the boarding gate.

14. Photocopying sections of magazines or books for resource purposes.

...or "screening your phone calls" by waiting to see who was leaving a message on the answering machine and then deciding whether to answer or not. (20)

https://www.etsy.com/listing/481067687/6-volumes-of-comptoms-annual-year-book?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=encyclopedia%201992&ref=sr_gallery_16

A Nintendo magazine (you borrowed from your friends for the cheat codes) or an encyclopedia book you couldn't checkout from the library were always worth the 10 cent copies.

15. Having to look up phone numbers in the yellow pages.

...or "screening your phone calls" by waiting to see who was leaving a message on the answering machine and then deciding whether to answer or not. (21)

Stevelenzphoto / Getty Images

Nothing worse than not finding the listing because the copy you had was outdated.

16. Physically buying your tickets for concerts at a Ticketmaster located inside a music store.

...or "screening your phone calls" by waiting to see who was leaving a message on the answering machine and then deciding whether to answer or not. (22)

Mario Tama / Getty Images

You could also call, but there was a chance you wouldn't get through if it was a concert everyone wanted to go to.

17. Having to buy and carry around maps whenever you went on road trips.

...or "screening your phone calls" by waiting to see who was leaving a message on the answering machine and then deciding whether to answer or not. (24)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1997-Road-Map-COLUMBUS-Georgia-Fort-Benning-Muscogee-County-Phenix-City-Alabama-/272269339383

You usually had to pre-plan your route (highlighting the roads/highways you wanted to take) just so you didn't get lost.

18. Going to internet cafes.

...or "screening your phone calls" by waiting to see who was leaving a message on the answering machine and then deciding whether to answer or not. (25)

Mike Nelson / AFP / Getty Images

There was no free WiFi!!! Hell, there was no WiFi!

19. Having to carry around cash to pay for EVERYTHING since, basically, debit cards were for just pulling cash out of the ATM.

...or "screening your phone calls" by waiting to see who was leaving a message on the answering machine and then deciding whether to answer or not. (26)

Tmprtmpr / Getty Images

Sure, you probably carry around some cash with you regularly today. But, imagine going to Starbucks, the gas station, the movies, a bar, or McDonald's, and only being able to pay with cash (if you didn't want to put it on a credit card). You basically had to carry a lot cash on you AT ALL TIMES.

...or "screening your phone calls" by waiting to see who was leaving a message on the answering machine and then deciding whether to answer or not. (2024)
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