19 Gen Z'ers Shared The Things From The Past That Have Ceased To Exist For Their Generation

Recently, older adults shared their nostalgic experiences that are basically non-existent nowadays. And while older generations are no strangers to sharing the things that were better "back in the day," as a Zillennial, it's true; some things just were better. Like the cost of a home, for instance:

Or even the fact that people used to have "diaper service," where a truck would come by to pick up dirty diapers and leave a bag of clean ones during the week:

Growing up in Michigan, I also heard about the "swimmobiles" in 1970s Detroit, which were literally pool trucks that would come by for kids to play in during the hot summers. It was kinda like the ice cream truck (but swimming!!!):

Anyway, I wanted to hear from other Gen Z'ers about the things their parents or older adults in their life grew up with that they wish they had, so I asked Gen Z'ers in the BuzzFeed Community to share all their thoughts. Here's what they had to say:

1."Being able to go outside and play for ages with other kids sounds amazing. Gen Z is/was under 24-hour surveillance by our parents, and it just sounds nice to be a kid and have fun."

2."Having so much freedom and not needing to be supervised sounds great. Plus cheaper houses."

3."Cheap concert tickets! The price of a front-row ticket back then is like a lawn seat now. And don’t get me started on the prices of merch."

4."Not recording everything at a concert, and a better variety of book and record stores."

5."Cost. Everything is expensive! You want to get just a few groceries for the house? Yea, that will be $100-$200. Dang, even for a regular-size candy bar, it's close to $4!"

6."Good music. I was born in '97 so there was still a pretty good amount of ACTUAL music coming out as I grew up, BUT a lot of music today feels so overproduced and just has no meaning anymore. A lot of it is just for shock factor/way too raunchy."

7."Having an excuse not to be available all the time. My entire life, people have always had phones and expect you to get back to them immediately. I imagine that if someone mailed you a letter back in the day, you would have a somewhat grace period before you had to respond. Now, with emails and texts, they know you get it instantly and expect you to reply instantly. Maybe I just want life to move at a slower pace."

8."I miss the craftsmanship of older houses. My family's houses built pre-2000 are of amazing quality, whereas my brother's new house is clearly shoddily built. My first apartment, which my roommates and I paid a collective $2,500+ in rent every month, was so poorly constructed. The walls, the paint, the cabinetry — it was all awful. My parents' home is coming up on 26 years standing and has needed no major work in the almost three decades it's been up. On the other hand, my brother and his wife lived in their newly built house for all of a month, and the kitchen sink fell into the cabinets."

9."I wish people danced more. In the olden days people danced a lot more I feel like. I love to dance and I think now people are too scared to dance because they are afraid they will get recorded."

Jena Ardell / Getty Images

—Anonymous

10."Freedom and free play. I'm in the midst of reading The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt. Listening to him compare (my) Gen Z childhood with that of all older generations (millennials included!) really has me wishing I had more independence. It also sucks because I'm 21 years old and have a hard time motivating myself to do much of anything, despite being responsible for the task completion. It seems like the old adage is true: screens really did rot our brains."

11."I wish I had grown up in a time when technology was less user-friendly, and the internet was less toxic. That way, there would be less brain-rot on the internet, such as Skibidi Toilet or common TikTok dances. If I could’ve grown up in the '80s and '90s, I wouldn't have these problems, and many more."

12."Cassette tapes. I would love searching for hours to find a good set."

13."Kind of a weird one, but I think the cars looked better back in the day! They were more colorful, rounded, and pleasing to the eye. I get that cars now are more aerodynamic, but we could still do fun colors right?"

14."Cars being more easily fixable instead of overengineered. And the engine being accessible instead of crammed in with a thousand computer parts and plastic 🙃."

—angrycoyote45

15."As an elder Gen-Z, I really enjoy certain trends from the '60s and 70s, and for me, the style always stands out. I would particularly love to see the '70s feathered hair come back and have a more frequent presence. I want to see what it would look like for us in our current decade."

16."Honestly, landlines. We had one when I was a kid so they're not that old, but I miss 'em. Especially if we could go back to rotary phones, they were so charming. And it'd be nice not to be reachable 24/7 (though let's be real, I would miss my phone lol)."

17."No internet. Old school phones. A planet that isn’t melting."

18."A sense of freaking safety. Oh, and parents running their kids, not kids running their parents."

And lastly:

19."I'm entering the teaching field, and I wish we could have less gun violence. I know violence has always existed and will continue to exist, but living in a world where little kids are routinely taught and practice how to survive a shooting is wild. I started doing these drills when I was a student, but I didn't fully realize how wrong the whole situation was until I began practicing the drills with my own students. I will do anything necessary to keep my students safe; I just feel so broken living in a world where these practices and mindsets are necessary."

What about you? If you're a Gen Z'er, what existed "back in the day" that you wish was still around? Or, what exists today that previous generations didn't have to worry about? Let me know in the comments or by using this form.