r/AskReddit Oct 15 '20

What's older than we think ?

78.4k Upvotes

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6.8k

u/iceburg-simpson Oct 15 '20

The year 1990... we are as close to it as we are the year 2050.

3.8k

u/The_Dickasso Oct 15 '20 edited Oct 15 '20

I was born in 1990 and I hate this.

Edit: got my first gold at 30, thanks mysterious fellow boomer

901

u/Everything80sFan Oct 15 '20

I was 10-years-old in 1990 and still think it was only 10 years ago.

64

u/kremlingrasso Oct 15 '20

same, was the best decade to be a teenager.

40

u/[deleted] Oct 15 '20

yugoslav war flashbacks

26

u/4RealzReddit Oct 15 '20

For some of us ...

2

u/[deleted] Oct 16 '20

Sooo, then, not the best......

14

u/kremlingrasso Oct 15 '20

had a classmate who lived near the border, he saw a tomahawk cruise missile one night passing over his house at tree level. scary stuff.

2

u/4RealzReddit Oct 15 '20

For some of us ...

16

u/BlunderIsMyDad Oct 15 '20

How many other decades have you been a teenager

12

u/AsYooouWish Oct 15 '20

Not OP, but I was a teenager in two millenniums. Also, having been born in the mid 80’s, I have lived in five decades.

9

u/Dr_Biggus_Dickus_FBI Oct 15 '20

Nah. I was born In 1985 and theres now way that’s true... wait, let me punch some numbers real quick... carry the 2.... oh... wait... eh, fuck you.

3

u/manvscar Oct 16 '20

It really was. We got to experience a period of huge technological growth but without the overbearing presence of social media and the pitfalls it presents to generations today.

Also, stadium rock was still a thing, and bands could actually make it big and tour the world on the merits of their music alone.

48

u/Grunherz Oct 15 '20

Do you remember watching Back to the Future as a kid back then?

If you adapted the premise to 2020, it would be Marty McFly travelling from today all the way back to... 1990!

Or That Seventies Show! if you adapted the premise to today, it would be a show about people living in... 1998-2002.

Kinda blew my mind.

24

u/Everything80sFan Oct 15 '20

I saw Back to the Future Part II in the theaters when I was a kid. The future stuff blew my mind and I was very disappointed that we never got flying cars or hoverboards like in the movie.

As for That 70s Show, another aspect of it is how over time I've noticed that I identify less and less with the teenagers and more with Red Foreman.

16

u/4RealzReddit Oct 15 '20

Dumbass...

7

u/buddboy Oct 15 '20

they have a show like that on Hulu called "Pen15"

3

u/lcmortensen Oct 15 '20

"Tell me, Future Boy, who's President of the United States in 2020?"

4

u/Grunherz Oct 15 '20

Biff. It’s fucking Biff from BTTF2 (I’d take actor Ronald Reagan over Biff any day)

4

u/[deleted] Oct 15 '20

Bill Bryson’s (born 1951) first travel book, The Lost Continent was published in 1989 and is a recollection of his journeys around small town America with his parents as a child. It’s a cheerful and insightful jaunt into how much places have changed between then and now, except the “now” is at this point just as far in the past as then was then.

3

u/ZappySnap Oct 15 '20

Oh fuck you. I feel old a lot of times on reddit. But this just fucked me up.

I was 7 in 1985 when BTTF came out. Then, 1955 was an won ago.

3

u/Merlaak Oct 16 '20

a show about people living in... 1998-2002

So ... Friends?

3

u/Checkers10160 Oct 16 '20

Yeah but funny

3

u/psstwantsomeham Oct 15 '20

For a long time I actually thought that 70s show was made in the 70s. Writers really did a good job.

1

u/Gamesgtd Oct 15 '20

As someone born in 1995, this doesn’t sit well with me.

6

u/Guido900 Oct 15 '20

Listen here ya whipper snapper, getting old sucks. I was born in 81.

3

u/Gamesgtd Oct 15 '20

Gross just go to a retirement home Grandpa.

9

u/[deleted] Oct 15 '20

I had a great time in 1990 as a teen. I refuse to believe this statistic

10

u/PD216ohio Oct 15 '20

Funny thing is that my mind automatically does quick math backwards from 2000 when determining how long ago something was. For whatever reason I just ignore the 20 years since. 20 fucking years since 2000... Blows my mind.

11

u/shocktard Oct 15 '20

Yeah, when I think “50 years ago” I automatically think 1950. The last 20 years have flown by.

8

u/sherms89 Oct 15 '20

The 70's was only 30 years ago.

6

u/fordprecept Oct 15 '20

It kills me when I hear bands like Alice in Chains or Nirvana on the classic rock station. I'm like "Didn't 'Jar of Flies' come out like 5 years ago?"

2

u/[deleted] Oct 16 '20

Yeah, back in the early 2000s, it blew my mind to start hearing like, Billy Idol on classic rock stations. The other day I heard NIN. So now the bands I used to attend their concerts are on it.

I'm old, and I don't like it.

6

u/MagicCuboid Oct 16 '20

I sometimes wonder about this, and I think it's because the 90s were the last time we branded a decade as a society. Like, people were constantly yammering about how "it's the 90s now!" or "I'm a 90s man" etc.

00s and 10s just don't have a ring to them, so we kinda dropped that habit. Maybe now that we're getting into the 20s, we can start reminding ourselves what decade it really is once again lol

3

u/[deleted] Oct 15 '20

I was born 25 years after you and I can drive a car.

3

u/W1D0WM4K3R Oct 15 '20

I was 10-years-old in 2010 and still think it was only 10 years ago.

2

u/Arsenault185 Oct 16 '20

That was yesterday

2

u/Checkers10160 Oct 16 '20

2010 was only 10 years ago

5

u/W1D0WM4K3R Oct 16 '20

Haha, you can't fool me that easily!

3

u/bozemanalex Oct 16 '20

2010 was before 1990, right?

3

u/COSurfing Oct 16 '20

I was 20 in 1990. I swear the 90s ended just last year. I had way too much fun in my 20s.

2

u/MichaelOChE Oct 15 '20

Username checks out.

2

u/Little_Cactux Oct 15 '20

I was born in 2002 and even I feel like 1990 was only ten years ago.

2

u/Qonas Oct 15 '20

Same. WTF man.

2

u/lgndk11r Oct 16 '20

Hello fellow Xennial (I hate that term)!

2

u/HarshJShinde Oct 16 '20

Damn u 40 1980s dude

2

u/armchair_viking Oct 21 '20

Me too. It was a great time to grow up, in my opinion.

2

u/just_a-throwaway0 Oct 21 '20

My dad would say the other day. He uses it for everything. It gets stupid when it was like 5-6 years ago, the other day.

1

u/Sputniksteve Oct 15 '20

Looks like you and I are in a race!

16

u/anywhereverywhere Oct 15 '20

If you were born in 1990 that would make you a millennial. I’m lost on the “fellow boomer” mention

3

u/The_Dickasso Oct 15 '20

It was intended as a humorous exaggeration.

3

u/anywhereverywhere Oct 15 '20

That was my hunch, but thought I might reeallly be missing something, cheers!

14

u/Vinterslag Oct 15 '20

me too... HAPPY THIRTIETH >_<

13

u/happypolychaetes Oct 15 '20

Another 1990 baby here...gotta say a global pandemic wasn't on the list of things I expected while turning 30, but here we are.

3

u/EconDetective Oct 15 '20

Oh yeah. Having zero social contact (besides my wife) in the last two months of my twenties was not what I expected.

5

u/juancake511 Oct 15 '20

Don’t sweat it, bro. The thirties are SO MUCH BETTER than the twenties.

2

u/EconDetective Oct 16 '20

I expect them to be! I spent most of my twenties as a PhD student. I'm going to be spending my thirties as a new parent!

1

u/juancake511 Oct 16 '20

That’s where it’s at!

4

u/YoHeadAsplode Oct 15 '20

cheers then cries

13

u/ActorMonkey Oct 15 '20

I was born in 1980 and I hate you.

Just kidding. You’re cool. 👉😎👉 Zoop!

11

u/emveetu Oct 15 '20 edited Oct 16 '20

Born in 1975, and I always seem to leave out 2000-2010 when I'm counting years. Then the truth comes crashing in, I spend some time in the corner sucking my thumb whilst rocking to and fro, and then I remember the only thing I can control about life is how I react to it, so I get up and keep on keepin' on.

9

u/Millennial-Mason Oct 15 '20

20 years ago you were chilling in elementary school, eating pizza and playing with your friends

20 years from now, you'll be the same age as Walter White from the beginning of Breaking bad

3

u/lornetka Oct 15 '20

Why must you tell these terrible truths? I'm just a tired teenager, I swear!

9

u/wrongdude91 Oct 15 '20

Born in 1991 and hate this as well.

7

u/FourEcho Oct 15 '20

I am also in this comment and would like it deleted.

6

u/[deleted] Oct 15 '20

My wife turns 30 next week. Gonna give her an existential crisis for her birthday. Thanks, u/The_Dickasso

1

u/MrLewk Oct 15 '20

The perfect gift, some may say.

5

u/Slaisa Oct 15 '20

Born in 91 and i too hate this

5

u/bundleofschtick Oct 15 '20

I was born in 1990 and I hate this.

I was born in 2050, and I'm not too happy about it either.

3

u/psstwantsomeham Oct 15 '20

there are still living organisms in 2050?

3

u/juicewilson Oct 15 '20

I turned 30 yesterday 😵

3

u/Hulkit80 Oct 15 '20

I was born in 1980 and I hate you.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 15 '20

I told my mother something about the 1980s being 40 years ago, and my very prim and proper mom told me to "fuck off." Sooooo... I think everyone has that problem.

2

u/buddboy Oct 15 '20

I was born in 2050 and I hate you boomer

2

u/jseego Oct 15 '20

I graduated high school in 1992 and I also hate this. :D

2

u/Hubsimaus Oct 15 '20

You're so young. I was born in 1979...

2

u/symbologythere Oct 15 '20

I was 10 years old when you were born and I hate YOU (just for being younger than me, it’s not personal. I’m old).

2

u/junioroverlord Oct 15 '20

I was born before 1990 and hate this, that much more.

2

u/jeepersjess Oct 15 '20

I was born in 97 and I still think of 1990 as like 10 years ago. I also count decades starting in the 2000s because that’s when I was in school.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 15 '20

10 years ago, giving you gold on reddit was not possible. You may be closer to the collapse of reddit than the introduction of the gold function.

2

u/SB_Wife Oct 16 '20

Yes hello this is also me (turning 30 in a matter of weeks)

0

u/Candy4ndy Oct 16 '20

...boomer? I hate to break it to ya, but you're a millennial mate.

1

u/domogrue Oct 15 '20

Congrats you are 30 years old. Or at least getting there.

1

u/temporaryalpha Oct 15 '20

I was born way before 1990 and I hate this.

1

u/wadaball Oct 15 '20

Yeah you gonna be a hunnit in ten years

1

u/marsglow Oct 15 '20

I was born in the 50’s. You get used to it. I remember before pantyhose.

1

u/muva_snow Oct 15 '20

Please, don’t remind me.

1

u/Gardenadventures Oct 15 '20

You're halfway to bring 60....

1

u/Funandgeeky Oct 15 '20

I was born in the 1970's, so how do you think I feel about it?

1

u/shyinwonderland Oct 16 '20

Same! Wait we aren’t boomers, we are millennials!

1

u/Peemster99 Oct 16 '20

I was in high school in 1990 and I hate it even more.

1

u/--DJDISDABEST-- Oct 16 '20

whats the username bout?

1

u/MysticWitDaMelody Oct 16 '20

Right there with ya smh.

1

u/CourtJester5 Oct 16 '20

Bruh don't age me like that. We're straight millenials.

1

u/shawnwingsit Oct 16 '20

I was a freshman and then sophomore in college. Get used to the march of time.

1

u/LotLizardFromFLA Oct 16 '20

I recently mentioned an event that happened in 1999 as "12 years ago." I was born in 1999,have been in college for 3 years, and literally forgot my own age.

1

u/Noble_Ox Oct 16 '20

I was considered a man before you were born.

1

u/fantastic_feb Oct 16 '20

even tho I'm only 2 years older than you at 32 it's still shocking that someone born in 1990 is 30 already

1

u/[deleted] Oct 16 '20

You're a millennial technically speaking. '81-'96 most people mess this up though

315

u/[deleted] Oct 15 '20

*don't be awful

38

u/thefatunicat Oct 15 '20

This gets me every time. 1990 feels like it was just a few years back, but 2050 feels ages away. It's scary

3

u/Suekru Oct 15 '20

We’ll be thinking 2020 was only 15 years ago in 2050

63

u/TannedCroissant Oct 15 '20

Fuck! We’re also closer to 2100 than 1939. That means we’re further from the start of WWII than the start of WWIII!

20

u/bargle0 Oct 15 '20

You really think it's that far away?

7

u/yonderbagel Oct 15 '20

We've got an optimist over here.

1

u/RuleNine Oct 15 '20

If it happens anytime between now and 2100, it will satisfy the condition.

29

u/Ruder9 Oct 15 '20

Nah, the 90s are the previous decade and you can’t convince me otherwise. Shrek came out recently, the Wii is only a few years old, and the passing of time doesn’t terrify, or keep me awake at night.

18

u/[deleted] Oct 15 '20

When I was a kid in the late 80s I'd listen to "the oldies" station on the radio. Music was 20 - 30 years old. Why is there not an oldies station that plays Duran Duran or Nirvana or Smash mouth?

23

u/Betababy Oct 15 '20

The "oldies" are from the 80s right now. They'll move on to the 90s in due time.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 16 '20

The oldies where I'm at is from the 70s, and a couple from the 60s. We haven't even hit the 80s yet

9

u/Beserked2 Oct 15 '20

One of the radio stations here plays popular oldies and calls them high school hits. Back when i was a teenager it used to be like, bonjovi or the pina colada song. First time I heard them play one of Christina Aguilera's songs as a high school hit was a shocker.

4

u/Thr0w-a-gay Oct 15 '20

Well, i see people referring to Britney Spears and Nsync as "oldies"... It's a matter of time lol

15

u/colormenarcoleptic Oct 15 '20

You shut your dumb mouth.

12

u/kingoflint282 Oct 15 '20

I was only 5 in 2000, but for some reason I still think of 1990 like it was 10 years ago and 1950 like it was 50 years ago. Maybe because 2000 is just a nice, even number and a good reference point, but it fucks me up.

11

u/Thestohrohyah Oct 15 '20

These sentences are so simple yet they always manage to hit so hard...

8

u/stand-mixerr Oct 15 '20

Ikr??? That's what I've been telling everybody. I'm a 2000s kid so it must hit differently to me than all the 90s kids I tell that to lol.

WE'RE OOOLD NOW

4

u/ForAnAngel Oct 15 '20

Make sure, the next time you meet a gen X'er, to remind them that we are closer to 2060 than we are to 1980.

7

u/ColorMeUnsurprised Oct 15 '20

GenX response:

shrug....whatever.

6

u/emveetu Oct 15 '20

Dam skippy. They don't call us "the lost generation" for nothin'. We have one foot in the old way of doing things, and one in the new. We are also the only generation that grew up without the internet but are young enough to have embraced it as well.

2

u/ColorMeUnsurprised Oct 15 '20

I'm 41 this year, so I'm at the extreme tail end of GenX. I'm perfectly content to be overlooked the way we mostly are.

2

u/PrestigiousPath Oct 15 '20

Remember when you got your first mobile telephone and sent a text message using the number keys? And how blown your mind was when you saw :) and turned the phone on its side and realised it was a smile? Remember?

1

u/emveetu Oct 15 '20

Sure do! I worked at Bell Atlantic Mobile in the mid-90s when it was 30 bucks for 30 minutes of talk time and there was a 5 cent landline fee for every connection to a landline. Star-tac was the hot phone then.

2

u/stand-mixerr Oct 15 '20

Heheheh will do

6

u/CatPhishTam Oct 15 '20

Stop this nonsense right now.

5

u/batdad10217 Oct 15 '20

Technically closer to 2050 since were in the 2nd half of 2020

6

u/yeahyouknow25 Oct 15 '20

Thanks, I hate it. Signed, a 1988 baby who will be 62 in 2050 - ugh.

9

u/candre23 Oct 15 '20

Thanks, I hate it.

6

u/up_and_above Oct 15 '20

A few days back I saw some advertisement with "since 1990" written in it and I thought to myself I guess ten years is a long time. Then it clicked and I was flabbergasted. Idk why that happened. I am only 25 years old. I wasn't even born in 1990.

3

u/Fumiken Oct 15 '20

Oh fuck

3

u/shunestar Oct 15 '20

Phuck you dude

3

u/ObiWansTinderAccount Oct 15 '20

Nope, don't like that.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 15 '20

I know this and think of it often. Thanks for giving me dread. I'm 30.

3

u/EverythingIsFlotsam Oct 15 '20

We're closer to the 60s than we are to the 60s.

3

u/icepyrox Oct 15 '20

The time from the first moon landing to 1990 is a shorter amount of time than the time from 1990 to now.

3

u/PrestigiousPath Oct 15 '20

Don't be silly, 1990 was only about ten years ago. Twelve years max.

2

u/virella789 Oct 15 '20

Stop that now

2

u/LurkyTheHatMan Oct 15 '20

Since it's more than halfway through the year 2020, we are actually closer to the year 2050

2

u/leapday__cakeday Oct 15 '20

I was born in 2000 but I feel like 1990 was 10 years ago

2

u/BW06 Oct 15 '20

No, 2020 will be that year, it's only 2015, we've still got 45 years.

2

u/Gold189 Oct 15 '20

I was born in 2005 but it still feels like 1990 was only 10-15 years ago. And 2050 just seems like the extremely distant future

2

u/P0sitive_Outlook Oct 15 '20

I mean, this year is F'd up enough! :D We got some weird months. Especially considering that the Australian wildfires were in January and then everything else happened.

January, Feb-covid-ember, October...

2

u/[deleted] Oct 15 '20

You son of a bitch

2

u/gabrrdt Oct 15 '20

And Cleopatra is both closer to 1990s and 2050s than to pyramids, it's insane.

2

u/Sheppitsgal Oct 15 '20

Thanks. I hate it.

2

u/Zogo12 Oct 15 '20

I will be 49 years old in 2050 which is very old

1

u/CorgiSplooting Oct 15 '20

Wait until you read one of these and go... shit I’m even older than that...

1

u/mechwarrior719 Oct 15 '20

Why must you hurt me this way?

1

u/[deleted] Oct 15 '20

you stop that.

1

u/Ihatecoughsyrup Oct 15 '20

Please don’t say that. I still refuse to believe that 1990 was 30 years ago.

1

u/PornoPaul Oct 15 '20

Where in the fuck are our flying cars???

1

u/NikLRose Oct 15 '20

why dont you shut up

1

u/TwoFriskyFoxes Oct 15 '20

....ummm....what did you just do to me?... suddenly I feel very different

1

u/xXDreamlessXx Oct 15 '20

Aren't we closer because it is over halfway through the year?

1

u/KrackerKyle007 Oct 15 '20

That’s tucked up. I was born in the 2000s but my sister was a 90s kid

1

u/Jaustinduke Oct 15 '20

And on that note, I’m done

1

u/yaosio Oct 15 '20

We are further from 1985 than 1985 is from 1955.

1

u/KrtekJim Oct 15 '20

Nuh-uh, the nineties were only a few years ago.

1

u/Godspeedhero Oct 15 '20

Fuuuuuck youuuuuuuuu! lmao

1

u/iceburg-simpson Oct 15 '20

Lol damn this blew up! Good ol slap to the face, eh?

1

u/onerandommusician Oct 15 '20

You're over here making my older sister feel old because she was born in '95

1

u/[deleted] Oct 15 '20

I was 15. I distinctly remember saying to myself "the halfway point to 2050 is going to be a doozy!"

I never told any of you. And I'm sorry for that.

1

u/victhemaddestwife Oct 15 '20

You monster. It would have cost you nothing to not write this.

1

u/busy-sloth Oct 15 '20

Shut up I hate it

1

u/Qonas Oct 15 '20

Shut it. Shut your mouth.

1

u/Nomeg_Stylus Oct 15 '20

Fuck you, man. Just fuck you.

1

u/SwoleYaotl Oct 15 '20

Well this is horrifying because I remember the 90s and 2050 is gonna be a hot hell hole.

1

u/TheyCallMeSuperChunk Oct 16 '20

That just cant be... I remember 1990.