The teenage years are a time filled with drama, tears, and a desperate sense that nobody could possibly understand you, but they’re also hilarious to look back on. While we can gaze back on the past with fondness, at the time, things seemed to hold more importance. Here are 10 things we did as teenagers that we’ll never do again.
Nowadays, if we get the chance to hit the sack before midnight, we take it. No questions asked. You can always stream the show the next day online – and skip through the commercials – so why would you give up precious hours of Zs?
I’m sorry, staying up all night in the cold to go to a show with 10,000 screaming teenage girls all drooling over the same prepubescent heartthrob? No, thank you.
Why? Just, why? The mall is a war zone that draws you in and then inexplicably hides the exit so you can never leave again, all while overpowering your senses with flashy colors, top 40 pop rock, and the overwhelming scent of cinnamon buns. If there was a zombie apocalypse and the nearest mall was the only safe zone, I’d still have to think twice about it.
Tamagotchi? Check. Yo-yo? Double check. Chia pet shaped like Mr. T’s head? You know it. But now, we reserve our funds for more important trends – like clothing styles that won’t be fashionable in five minutes. Or happy hour.
I don’t know what age it happens at, but at some point, the phone becomes a necessary evil, not the golden ticket to the universe. I’m sure I spent more time chatting on the phone to friends between the ages of 13 and 17 than in the rest of my life combined. Now, when the phone rings, I run and hide. It’s probably my landlord looking for rent, anyway.
You just got your license! Now you’ll spend hours cruising around town with your friends, listening to the latest jams on the radio. Except once you hit your 20s and have to start paying for your own gas, driving is an activity reserved only for actual transportation purposes. Or you might just own a car for the extra storage space in the trunk and leave the thing in the garage anyway.
They’re the most embarrassing thing ever when you’re 15. Fast forward a decade and now you realize that they will take you out to dinner and give you your first real meal (that isn’t Ramen noodles or beans on toast) in weeks. And the weird things they do that used to be embarrassing are now just charming.
Whether you did it because you liked them, or just because you were trying to pad your university application, you were involved in ballet, basketball, tae kwon do, ceramics, and gymnastics. And that was just in the winter months. Once you age out of teenage years, if you manage to do anything beyond work, eat, and sleep, you’re a rock star.
There’s no way I’d try to pierce my own ear, or dye my hair blonde with lemon juice and salt. I’d be guaranteed to come out looking completely busted, when I could just drop a few extra dollars and have it done by a pro. But when your allowance has run dry at the age of 13, desperate measures must be taken.
Seriously, for hours on end. It’s definitely a better idea than the alternative if you’re 14 years old, but sheesh! That gets old, quick.