Some were, some weren’t. We had the handy dandy little rewind machines behind the counter.
We always checked the movies that came back, had to. I can’t tell you how many times someone would bring back a personal tape of theirs. Or some just brought back an empty case, really? I could understand this when it was mixed in with a bunch, but to bring back a single case with nothing? 
Using the Dewey Decimal System. 
I worked at a Blockbuster here in the Chicago area. It wasn’t bad. I got first crack at new releases haha.
My best friend worked at a Fotomat, anyone remember these Foto Huts? It was a drive through kiosk that would develop your pics the next day, not days.
When she had to use the restroom, she had to lock up the hut, walk across the parking lot, and use the bathroom in a large store (can’t remember what was there).
I remember her! She is probably a grandmother now
Edit: just looked her up and she is 64. That test card ran from 1967-1998. Can you imagine a TV company sticking with the same thing for over 30 years now!?
It used to have a loud beeping noise as well if I remember correctly
Oh yes the noise!! It was horrible thinking about it now
Family arguments could go on for days, weeks, years even about the silliest things, like song lyrics or who the actor was in the movie. You couldn’t just google the answers so you just argued it out.
I was so excited when I got my own land line. I had to get off it for anyone to use the internet though because it was also the dial up internet line 
My boombox was one of my favorite thing. Recording songs off the radio and making mix tapes.
Remember mapquest?
Long time ago, in 2002, I went on a roadtrip with my wife, young kids, and my Mom. We drove from Seattle to Yosemite for a wedding.
I printed out directions from mapquest.
Everything seemed fine until we found our selves off the main freeway in a neighborhood. We kept following the directions and the road got narrow amd houses sparse. The paved road turned to gravel as it started climbing up a large mountain.
The gravel turned to dirt and the road narrowed to a single lane. After a few switchbacks, my Wife began to seriously doubt that we were on the right path. When 15 inch deep ruts appeared on the road, I conceited and backed all the way down to the bottom.
It was late, it was dark, and we were in the middle of nowhere, 1,000 miles from home. With no phone, no map, the only thing we could do was pick a direction and drive in hopes that we find a gas station or something. We ended driving about 30 miles before finding a gas station. I popped in and asked for directions. Our destination was about 70 miles down the same road and direction we were on!!
We ended up getting there an hour later. At the wedding, I was talking to one of the staff and regaled her about the misadventure that mapquest put us on. She laughed and said, I know that road. I looked at her and said, you do? She said yes, it comes out right there! And pointed to my left, where next to the the hotel was a single lane dirt road that went off into the mountains. She said that the road is a popular shortcut for locals, but requires a 4x4 to make it over. Our minivan wouldn’t have made it.
So close, mapquest, so close!
Had to use “Encarta” to look something up…
Also…
Let the land line phone ring twice then hang up, then once then hang up as a code to the other person that you were ready. If they answered the phone or would incur a charge.
And yeah. Those map quest directions printed off!
Im always a bit skeptical about online maps. Just cause a road exists, that doesn’t mean it should be recommended to everyone.
I babysat for the couple across the street , and he worked for the phone company. They got this new mod phone and I was so impressed!
With rotary phones you could slam the receiver down and hang up in someone’s face when you were mad. Can’t get violent like that with a cell phone. Not the same.
I used to record my CD’s onto blank cassette tapes so I could listen to them on the tape deck in my car. Did the same thing with vinyl records, too.
Making crank phone calls on your friends. No caller I.D. back then, and no *69. Can’t get away with that now!
Skateland!!!
Recording a movie off tv using the VCR - pausing for the commercials and pray you remembered to press record again.
Pen pals.
Paying the paper boy.
Soda in glass bottles.
Adjusting the tv antenna to get the best picture.
Playing with the cardboard box your neighbors put to the curb when they got a new fridge, for days.
“It’s 10pm. Do you know where your children are?”
The Mall.
Waterbeds.
My first car that had an 8 track player and cassette.
Using a typewriter for school papers.
Sending money in the mail to order things from magazines and hopefully it was as cool as you thought it would be.
