I still recall the dark days of having to put my projects on crappy floppy discs and having to run to the library very early in the morning to print out my assignments in high school. Everything revolved around the library, and while I loved the place, I had to deal with a long line of people who had the same idea as me.
Those were the days, huh?
Thank heavens for Google Drive and better printers!
After Redditor MafaldaDover asked the online community, "What do you wish you had in high school that kids have today?" many weighed in with their own experiences.
Kids these days... they have no idea how good they have it!
"They have tons of tools..."
My son is in his high school's robotics team. They have tons of tools to build robots to compete, including a big machine that cuts sheets of metal based on what digital file you send it. I'd have loved to have had that. When I was in high school, the most advanced tool I had access to was a dot matrix printer. (I wowed my classmates with my complex report covers made with WordArt and highly pixelated graphics.)
"The idea that once you left the house..."
Probably cell phones. The ability to call or text an individual to find out where they are was a revolution but wasn't widespread until I was in college.
Used to have to call their parents house and hope they were there.
The idea that once you left the house you were just in a communication black hole until you returned or actively called someone from a pay phone is a big change from the modern day.
You had to make plans the day or morning before, and then if anything happened to derail those plans the whole thing was just a failure.
"Personally..."
Personally, having come from high school in the 90s when we did have internet but it was more of a novelty - Wikipedia.
Wikipedia is one of the greatest repositories of human knowledge and you can see the sources. It would have been amazing for it to have been built out to where it is now while I was in high school.
"I have so few..."
GiphyDigital photography. I have so few pictures of friends and good times we had during high school because no one carried around a camera and bothered to get film developed. Of the ones we did have, most are long gone with no negatives to get them reproduced.
"I had to carry around..."
MP3 players/Spotify and the like. I had to carry around my Discman on my long walk home from school, even with anti-skip it would still buffer every now and then. Don't get me started on batteries too. Nowadays it's so easy to listen to anything at any time, back then it wasn't.
"And it seemed to make..."
I'm in college as an older person at the moment, and honestly? I wish I had the social dynamics lol.
I was eating lunch and I heard two guys talking to each other and he was showing his friend something on his phone and he was like "Bro, she's beautiful I can totally see you guys together."
And it seemed to make the other guy really happy. I don't know if he was maybe feeling insecure about how he looks or whatever.. But you could tell it meant a bit to him.
It just seems less cliquey. Less "every man for themselves".
I'm sure there's plenty of assholes, obviously. But just generally kids seem really nice and smart these days.
"If my project file size was too big..."
A USB drive. If my project file size was too big, I had to carry like 5 floppy disks to school and spend entire home room and half of first period printing.
"When I was at school..."
Better building and facilities. When I was at school the place was falling apart and a couple of years after I left they knocked it down and rebuilt it with a state of the art media centre and technology and design department with 3D printers and Solidworks cad workstations.
"It sounds cheesy..."
So this isn't a tangible thing I wish I had, but I have a 14-year-old son and the one thing that I really admire about him and his entire friend group is that they are so open with their feelings with one another. It sounds cheesy, but it seems like kids in this current generation are much more okay with letting each other know they care. There's just an openness with them all that I find refreshing. It's something that I didn't experience in my sad-goth-staring-out-the-window late '90s high school days, and I really love it about all those kids.
"But the benefits..."
Nearly endless information at my fingertips.
There is so much information out there about how to be a better person and live a better life (how to videos, grooming tips, relationship advice, etc), safety and wellness like like learning that suicide or domestic abuse hotlines exist, communities for marginalized and minority people, and information that make us better understand the world around us.
Yeah, there is a dark side of false information, merchandising, unrealistic expectations ala Instagram influencers and porn, etc. But the benefits greatly outweigh those aspects.
I went to high school in the late 80s, BTW.
Redditor Sir_Baconstrips wanted to see who was willing to discuss actions made while randy, so they asked:
"What's the biggest mistake you've made because you were horny?"
I can't tell you mine, because my mom might read this. But Reddit was more than happy to share.
History Help
Hide Reaction GIF by florGiphy"I browsed porn and then I asked my mom how to delete the history."
Ramon80589
What was that?
"Probably my most embarrassing moment. Was on my work computer (family business so nothing locked) and it was a super slow day and I was alone. Anyways was doing a classic 3 min facebook check and scrolled down for a second and saw the news post about Adriana Chechik injuring her back in a foam pool. Figured top comments on that would be golden. Read one funny one that said 'her and her scene with [performer I can’t remember] is still goat.'"
"Never heard of said performer so I got curious and google her. Of course photos never do justice, had to see the performance ya know? So I clicked a random video, quick glance and thought 'meh' and was about to close the tab before I noticed my mouse twitch on the screen… What was that? No.. that wasn’t mouse error, that was someone… then within seconds I realized the accountant who taps in remotely to finish work came in at that exact moment that I had a browser open for less than 60 sec."
"The worst wart was I could have sworn I had all those remote services off, but she tried to tap in for over an hour and must of did something to wake splashtop (probably had it on some type of standby mode). She even called earlier but I saw a random number and was speaking with a client and ignored it."
"Anyways, decision time, do I call her and play it off as nothing or apologize? Naturally as a fearful 28 year old I play off as nothing. I call, no answer… then a few minutes later i get the call back and her words after exchanging 'hellos … are you finished with whatever you were doing…' still burns me."
Satmatzi
Years Later
"Let my (ex) boyfriend dry-hump me for an hour on a bench outside after summer school."
"The bad news: this bench behind our school was also beside a swimming pool. Where parents were taking their children for swim lessons. Eventually a staff member came out and yelled at us for being inappropriate."
"I still have shame flashbacks today, over 10 years later."
hannlouiseols
Size Issues
"I had a one night stand with a guy who was, in retrospect, seriously self-conscious about his penis size and kept going on about how if it was on the small size it was just because he has to have sex with it a few times and it would gradually get bigger until it was it’s 'true' size. I really didn’t care."
"But then to make himself feel better he turned it around and started talking about how big and wide my vagina was but kept reassuring me that it was ok because he liked the challenge. I wish I had snapped my legs shut and given him the boot right then and there."
bewarethes0ckm0nster
In San Diego
No Money Bangladeshi GIF by GifGariGiphy"Lost my entire tax refund and got my phone stolen at a strip club in San Diego."
BigFatPapaBear
Always check your pockets on the way out.
The Reward
Happy We Did It GIF by StoryfulGiphy"Hooked up with a girl at a party. Just kind of bored, drunk, and horny. Having to go to the doctor for a case of pubic lice was my reward for poor self-control."
No_External7289
Dedicated...
"I got my first serious gf in high school. She was two grades below me. So when I finished third year and moved 500 km south we was still a couple. I was so in love (and most of all horny) I commuted every. Single. Weekend. And I was poor. So I took the bus to the nearest station after school. Waited for the long distance bus for 4-5 hours."
"Went to a larger city to hitchhike my way there. I was there Friday night or Saturday morning. Locked ourselves in her bedroom and went at it until Sunday morning. I made my way down to school again and went to class straight from the bus Monday morning. This went on for almost a year…"
pelo_ensortijado
I'm Out
Chris Pratt Running GIF by Parks and RecreationGiphy"Was trying to get with a girl in college. We were texting and I asked her what she was up to, she said she was training for a marathon and going to the gym and asked if I wanted to come."
"I ended up running 9 miles before I tagged out. So now I know how far I'd go to have sex it's up to 9 miles."
euesquecimeunome
Lord the things people will do when slightly turned on.
Redditor Im_A_Freakin_Joke wanted to hear about the times people have sent photos to the family that left everyone SHOOK, so they asked:
"Redditors who accidental sent a family member a nude, what was the aftermath?"
I have done many things, but I never allow a snapshot.
Gross
Vacuuming Clean Up GIF by MashedGiphy"'You should clean your room before you take that.'"
Emergency_faceplant
What's What?!
"I meant to send it to someone on WhatsApp that I was dating at the time and didn’t realize I accidentally sent it to my brother, their names were next to each other in my chat list and I chose the wrong one. I frantically called my sister in law and told her what happened and begged her to go into his phone and delete the message with the photo."
"This is before WhatsApp added the functionality to delete your own messages. She was so sweet and understanding and deleted the message. I was so embarrassed. To this day she has kept my secret, this happened five years ago."
room_temp_butter
Bad Pics
"For context, my mom had some life-threatening medical issues when I was a kid, so there were a few month+ long periods where we rarely saw her. One night, I got a text from her that says 'send me a pic of u in bed."
"I thought she wanted a picture of me and my dog snuggling, as he slept with me and was the cutest sleeper. I usually sent her one every few days, even when she was home. It also doubled as her way to make sure I was following my bedtime."
"I was taking the picture, and I get a follow-up 'ignore that' text. At the same time, my dad opens my door so hard the hinges break. He says 'you get a text from mama?' I say yeah, and he says, 'it wasn't meant for you.' And leaves. I felt weird about it for days, even though it was years before I figured it out."
bleeding_inkheart
Leave it there...
"I happened to live across the street at the time and a dirty message meant for my now wife was sent to my mother! Luckily for me my mom is notorious for ignoring her phone so I sprinted across the street and said 'hey where is your phone' she told me it was on her desk so I calmly walked over unlocked it and deleted the message. In response to the look of confusion I told her 'deleted a message that was meant for now wife...' And left it at that."
Twandle_D-Vorago
AHHHH!!!! NO!
Awkward Episode 1 GIF by HeelsGiphy"One time my dad accidentally texted me 'sex if the Patriots win' and I still don’t believe I have recovered."
ayepeyday
Mom and dad have their own lives.
Disconnect
GIF by NETFLIXGiphy"I didn't accidentally send a nude, but my phone did auto upload ALL my pictures when I connected it to my mom's computer. I'm no longer allowed to connect hardware to my mom's computer."
teethalarm
Hey Sis...
"I gave my sister my old Iphone (I’m 25, she’s 22). She didn’t realize that her photos were uploading to my cloud and when I went to send a photo to a coworker, at work mind you, I see her pasty a**. I immediately text her and was like STOP TAKING PHOTOS. She called me and asked if I was okay and I told her what was happening. She responded with 'My a** look good though,' and I died laughing. Love my sis, but Christ."
PushingPepperoni
Shower Scene
"I didn’t sent a nude. I was in the shower, about age 15, and I heard the phone ring. My best friend had a habit of calling while I was showering. So, I bolted out naked as the day I was born to grab the phone before she hung up. I didn’t realize pretty much my entire dad’s side of the family was visiting my terminally ill mother."
"They saw it all. My aunt jokingly said, 'Well, dang, I didn’t know there was gonna be a show.' And someone said, 'we were just joking when we said you’d grow up to be a stripper.' I had to do a walk of shame back to the bathroom as well."
"It was laughed off and it hasn’t been brought up since."
TheSaltyMelon
Let me see...
"Sent a pic of my boobs to my mom. Managed to convince her I was trying to take a pic of what I thought was a lump but ended up dropping my phone and sent it while fumbling. Which has happened before. But then she made me show her where I thought the lump was so that was very awkward."
3milyBlazze
Recover Mode
delete black and white GIFGiphy"I once sent a pic to a GF in college when we were home for break… only I searched her contact by last name and accidentally sent it to her mom!"
"Thankfully it was late and she was able to sneak into her parents’ room and delete it before they saw."
BleekerTheBard
What have we learned?
At the very least, triple-check who you are sending it to one whichever app you use for that sort of thing.
