My mom and I were approached by some kid at the mall. He was attempting the Apple Pay prank. Luckily my mom was asking him too many questions he couldn't answer, and I figured out it was a prank. The outdoors have never been more dangerous and annoying.
I'm so glad I came of age before everyone had smart phones
I was very self-conscious as a kid and young adult and I can't imagine coming of age knowing that any embarrassing moment could be turned into a social media moment.
Even now when I go to the gym it weirds me out when people set up tripods to film themselves lifting weights. It's even worse when I am changing in the locker room and people are facetiming with video in the locker room. People have no sense of boundaries and privacy anymore.
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That is incredibly irritating.
I wonder if it is normal for teenagers to go through a very annoying phase. Is this developmentally normal and why?
For a brief period my friends were into prank calling various companies' customer service lines. I realize how this sounds -- of course it was my friends and not me prank calling but I am genuinely really awful at improv and there's no way I would have been able to keep a customer service rep on the line for longer than a few seconds. Mostly I would just listen in and laugh along.
I would find it so obnoxious to be on the receiving end of this today.
Especially if you're being recorded. I don't want my face or voice on the internet.
Hello from a new member. I found this corner of the internet last week while looking for writing communities that still feel human, and I have been reading quietly ever since. This discussion struck a chord with me, so I finally made an account to join in.
I grew up in that strange window when being online was still mostly playful. My friends and I ran a small forum about budget cooking, and half the fun was the running jokes in the comment threads. Nobody was performing for an audience. If a joke landed, maybe twelve people saw it, and that was enough. Reading the stories above, I recognize how rare that kind of unrecorded fun has become. Even my own family group chat feels different now, knowing that anything silly might end up saved and reshared somewhere.
These days I mostly write short notes about everyday things: walks around the neighborhood, small repairs, books I am slowly finishing. Nothing dramatic. I keep a private journal and I am trying to get back into sharing some of it publicly, which is honestly part of why I signed up here. A place that values slow reading and ordinary writing seems like the right neighborhood for that.
Thanks to everyone who has shared their memories in this thread. It read less like a comment section and more like a kitchen table conversation, which is about the highest compliment I can give. I look forward to reading more and, once I find my footing, adding a few notes of my own.
Welcome to the wildernet! I'm excited you found your way here. Kitchen table conversation is pretty much the vibe around this little corner of the world wide web.
Looking forward to reading your notes!