Every generation swears the kids these days have it too easy, and nothing proves that better than the infamous “Back in my day…” proclamation.
You’ve heard them all, grandparents talking about walking ten miles to school uphill, parents going poetic about cassette tapes, and uncles who swear society collapsed when something useless was invented.
It’s nostalgia mixed with just enough exaggeration to sound like folklore. Some are harmless, and some are just flat-out ridiculous. So in honor of this timeless tradition, we’ve rounded up fifteen eyebrow-raising “back in my day” gems. Read on, and be thankful things have changed.
1
“Back in my day, you had to imagine the special effects in movies.”
CGI for your brain.
2
“Back in my day, if you were a guy with long hair, people assumed you were gay.”
How do you even argue with logic that expired before the VHS did?
3
“Back in my day, we panicked if we accidentally opened the Internet on our phones.”
Because it cost roughly the same as a semester of college.
4
“Back in my day, you had to watch 45 reruns of the same show just to catch the one episode you missed.”
And heaven forbid you blink during the opening credits.
5
“Back in my day, we didn’t have all these queer weirdos.”
Sure, Todd. They were there. Society was just so toxic that people had to hide who they were for decades.
6
“Back in my day, you could buy Freddos and Space Invaders for 10p each.”
Now, you need a small loan just to buy a chocolate frog.
7
“Back in my day, if you told someone you’d meet them in a week at 7 p.m. at the cinema, that was basically a blood oath.”
Today? You’ll get a text 30 minutes before: “Sorry bro, can’t make it.”
8
“Back in my day, pirating a song meant waiting hours for it to play on the radio, then sprinting to record it on your tape deck.”
And you always caught the DJ yelling over the intro. Classic.
9
“Back in my day, I knew all my friends’ landline numbers by heart.”
Now I barely know my own phone number.
10
“Back in my day, my old man never told me he loved me.”
Dad, you also weren’t there for my birth, so let’s not get nostalgic here.
11
“Back in my day, if you were born after 2008, you were too dumb to use the internet.”
Meanwhile, toddlers now have YouTube channels.
12
“Back in my day, punishment meant we weren’t allowed to play outside.”
Today? Punishment is being told to go outside.
13
“Back in my day, you could crack a harmless joke without everyone piling on.”
Translation: “Back in my day, I didn’t get called out for being unfunny.”
14
“Back in my day, they gave us a good beating when we misbehaved. Didn’t damage me at all!”
Yes, it did. It turned you into someone who thinks hitting kids is a personality trait.
15
“Back in my day, by 30 you had a house, a garage, and a car.”
Now, at 30, if you order takeout twice in one weekend, you need a financial recovery plan.
