9 Phrases Every Gen-X Kid Casually Used That You Hardly Ever Hear Anymore
arthurgphotography | ShutterstockUntil we start aging, we continue to think that life as we know it will stay the same, until it doesn’t. One day you’re being asked, “Paper or plastic?” Next, there’s no more paper, and the all-important question is obsolete.
Okay, I get it; other generations know these sayings too. But most of them died as a result of the technology or social changes that happened during the time Gen-X went through their awesome coming-of-age years, and I lived and worked in grocery during the transition from paper to plastic bags, so I’ve got a firsthand account of this tragic downfall in society. Let’s look at this and a few other old-fangled things we never thought we’d stop hearing.
Here are the sayings every Gen-X kid casually used that you hardly ever hear anymore:
1. 'Paper or plastic?'
Who knew the plastic bag would be so innovative? It wasn’t and still isn’t. But it’s cheap. It’s thin, breaks, and is ruining the planet. We had a poster board in the Albertsons breakroom that had all sizes of paper bags glued to it with their costs written in black Sharpie. Every day as you microwaved your Lean Cuisine, you would be reminded that a large #25 paper bag was .06 and a small #4 was .02.
The numbers actually reflect the pounds of the bag, not hashtags. We learned this as part of our training so we wouldn’t double-bag for crabby Mrs. Smith every time she came into the store for her weekly supply of cat food. When plastic arrived, the financial Gods danced merrily for a plastic bag was only, wait for it, .01. Eventually, the paper bag was phased out, and landfills have never been happier.
2. 'Be kind, rewind'
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To not rewind your VHS tape before returning it to Blockbuster was a mortal sin. It not only cost you a nominal fee, but it also upset the next renter — almost as much as getting a badly tracked copy of Down & Out In Beverly Hills.
3. 'Cash or check?'
A few short years ago, I was at Kroger with my father, and he pulled out his checkbook. I gasped so loudly I almost choked. Poor guy, I told him we needed to reschool him because that checkbook was an antique. But alas, for many decades, writing a check at the store was the norm.
Money or no money, you could whip open that little oblong book and buy anything you wanted as long as you could provide a driver's license. The process made cashiering a nice, slow, and easy process because Phyllis would take her time not only to write the check, but to enter it into her register and do the math to get her current balance.
The hot check writers didn’t know what to do once Telecheck was invented. I think they’re all the ones convincing you to forward that Facebook post to 10 people so you get a check from Bill Gates.
4. 'Put it on layaway'
Don’t kill the messenger, but my mom always subliminally made me feel like layaway was for poor people. I think that’s because she didn’t want anyone to see her standing in line at the back of Kmart waiting to make a weekly $5 payment on that Barbie Townhouse she promised me.
If you’re too young to know what layaway is, you picked your items, gave 10% down, and left them at the store to be picked up after you made your pre-arranged weekly or bi-weekly payments — AKA paying for things when you actually had the money. If we’d only kept that system in place, we might be able to afford the $10-a-pound ground beef we’re facing today.
5. 'Call information/time & temperature'
1411 was the number for information. The number you’d call if you were too lazy to open the phone book and look for someone’s telephone number and address. Stalking 101 made easy.
Also, in our town, you could call 844 and any four numbers to get the First National Bank time and temperature update: “The time is 5:14, and the temperature is 84 degrees.” Once, after a storm, when you called in, it was a huge party line. Everyone in town was on the phone at the same time. As a junior high kid in 1982, this was the equivalent of a rave.
6. 'No shirt, no shoes, no service'
This sign adorned many, many businesses throughout the 1970s and 80s, especially convenience stores and restaurants. Truth be told, it should still exist. I don’t need to see your gnarly feet while running into a 7–11 to buy a Dr. Pepper and a scratch-off.
7. 'I got a busy signal'
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The busy signal was doom, pure and simple, especially if you were desperate to talk to your best friend about whose mom would take and whose would pick up at the roller rink. If you were really ballsy, you’d call the operator and ask them to break into the call to make sure there “wasn’t a problem” with the line. We were shifty yet concerned people. Then, call waiting was invented, and the future had officially arrived.
8. 'Roll the window down'
Only rich people had automatic windows or locks on their cars. The first time I saw automatic windows in a car, I was convinced I was associating with a Rockefeller. To roll the window down in your car took muscle and gumption.
God forbid you ended up driving into that quicksand we all feared, because you’d never break out. My grandmother would smoke in the car with the windows rolled up until my mom would scream at her, “Mom, your granddaughter can’t breathe!” Only then would she use all her might to give that windy handle one small turn to release the smoky tar from the vehicle.
9. 'Smoking or non-smoking?'
And speaking of smoking, nothing like being asked if you’d like to sit in the clear, clean air of a restaurant or in the dingy, smoky ashtray room in the back where the drapes were as yellow as your nicotine-stained fingers.
Separating rooms never really cut it as the smoke permeated throughout the whole building. Bad, but not as bad as the smoking section on an airplane. The non-smokers sat quietly in the front rows reading their Sky Mall magazines, while behind the smoky curtain separating the smoking section, it was an all-out Goodfellas-style cocktail party. Cigarettes and whiskey never tasted so good as they did at 30,000 feet.
Kristen Crisp is the founder of Not Even Wine With Dinner. A community/mission for those looking for peer support with sobriety, self-esteem, mental health, aging, and all the things that come with being human. She is also a frequent writer on Medium under the handle @notevenwinewithdinner.
