Before cellphones, texting and digital technology in general, there was a quaint thing called a "phone booth." Conveniently installed on most roads and streets in many cities, both urban and rural, these relics from the past provided a connection to our loved ones, our friends and more.

Phone booths also served many other purposes, not the least of which was a place for Clark Kent to conveniently change into Superman; a place where one could take shelter from an unexpected storm, and a place that one could go to just get away from that irritating person that one just didn't want to see.

With the advent of mobile technology, the decline of the phone booth and the stationary pay phone was to be expected; sadly the phone booth's presence in society is missed in a much hurried time when all calls seem to be made on the go, and perhaps worse - without privacy.

Those of us who went to elementary school in another time remember the rite of passage that cursive signified.

The lined paper.

The strangely-shaped letters.

The repetitious copying and practicing of said letters until we got it right. The transition from a pencil to a pen, when our teacher thought that we were ready, and that we had mastered to some degree, the ability to write script.

Kids today text, type on laptops and FaceTime. They don't know what they're missing.

Living in the Past is an email newsletter that recalls all things Generation X, the good, the bad and the ugly! Oh - and the hilarious as well. Some installments are free, some are for paid subscribers only. Interested? Sign up here: http://livinginthepast.substack.com

EDITOR’S NOTE: Long before this site, I had a little blog where I posted for 11 years. It was the genesis of Living in the Past on Substack. For many years, I lived in the past over at Multiple Mayhem Mamma. From a Parenting lens, I looked at the "then and now” and even hosted a podcast by the same name: Parenting Then and Now. Every so often I’ll post some of these classics from early days. Enjoy!

Every Gen-Xer who watched TV knows the words to the limited script:

Boy 1: “What’s this stuff?”

Boy 2: “Some cereal. It’’s supposed to be good for you.”

Boy 1: “Are you gonna try it?

Boy 2: “I’m not gonna try it. YOU try it!”

Boy 1: “I’m not gonna try it.”

[enter lightbulb moment/stroke of genius here]

Boy 2: “I know! Let’s get Mikey!”

Boy 1: “He won’t eat it. He hates everything.”

Camera pans to Mikey, who has been given the unwanted bowl of cereal.

Mikey, completely unawares, starts eating and doesn’t stop.

Boy 1: “He likes it!! Hey Mikey!!”

Cue voiceover with a call to action about how Life Cereal is good or you, etc.

Never again could four words in simple succession immediately become the catch-phrase of the era.

You can read the full post here: He Likes It! Hey Mikey!

This hardline regarding one’s life choices - as important as the choice of a career or life partner, and as insignificant as what was on the menu for brunch (quiche if you had a double-x chromosome) - was one that was not to be crossed. You were on one side or the other. Quiche or steak. Choose your side.

When we look at pictures and videos of people in the past - say the 50s, 60s and 70s - don't you find that they look a lot older than people of the same age now? Why is that? What are the reasons that a 15-year-old in 1972 looks so much older than a teen of the same age today? What the heck is going on?

When did it become safe to fly over the Bermuda Triangle again? For a full decade, fear and hysteria about “The Devil’s Triangle” as it was also known, was at a fever pitch. Then the 1970s ended and the fear of this particular longitude and latitude seemed to end as well. The question is, why?

There was a time in the 1970s when you couldn’t live life without the possibility of a naked person gracing your line of sight. Often, it was funny. Other times it wasn’t. Either way, it was always absurd.

There was a time that no plans were made until the TV Guide was reviewed and consulted. Remember?