Millennial's Key Detail of Life 'Back in the Day' To Shock Gen Z Goes Viral

Newsweek

15-05-2025

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
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A man has gone viral for sharing a common childhood memory every millennial has that Gen Z would "never" be able to do.
AJ Ramson, 32, a comedy screenwriter from Long Island, New York, shared a video to his TikTok account @aj.ramson on May 1, where he responded to a simple question: "What's one thing millennials did back in the day that today's generation would think was crazy?"
His answer was immediate—that, as children, "we would call our friends' house phones. And their parents would pick up, and we would have to ask for permission to talk to our friend."
Ramson told Newsweek: "I immediately thought of calling my friends' house phones because I always dreaded talking to my friends' parents when they picked up. Sometimes, a parent would be polite and say 'hi how are you?', which was a nightmare. I always hoped for a silent passing of the phone!
"I was never good at talking to adults and I'm not sure I'm any better now, but I would always soldier on and call anyway because I had critical time-sensitive information to share."
Ramson finished the short video by declaring he thinks that "if kids today had to do this, they would have a mental breakdown." He added to Newsweek: "I thought that, if I hated talking to my friends' parents, I bet Gen Z would hate it even more. I remember making a video on Gen Z's 'menu anxiety'—where some Gen Zers are too afraid to order at restaurant."
AJ Ramson shares his childhood memory that today's generation would not be capable of.
AJ Ramson shares his childhood memory that today's generation would not be capable of.
TikTok @aj.ramson
Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, are between 29 and 44 years of age, whereas the youngest of Gen Z are 13, and the oldest 28—so, while some of the older generation may well remember having to call a landline to talk to their childhood friends, it would be unfathomable to the younger side.
Cellphones, followed by smartphones, became increasingly popular throughout the 1990s and 2000s, and house phones are now redundant in many households.
By 2023, 76 percent of adults and 87 percent of children lived in homes without landlines, according to a report from the National Center for Health Statistics.
TikTok users responded in a big way to Ramson's video, awarding it more than 222,000 likes and viewing the clip close to 2 million times.
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And commenters recalled their own childhood memories that would be unthinkable to the younger generations, as one wrote: "Calling your parent's job and talking to the secretary to ask to speak to your parent!"
"Pausing a song every 10 seconds to write down the lyrics," another added, as a third remembered: "Waiting for someone to get off the house phone to use the internet."
And one commenter said that the things they used to do as a kid already seems wild to them now, adding: "For me, the idea of walking 20 [minutes] to my friend's house to knock on the door and see if they are home and want to do something sounds insane now."
Ramson said he believes the video had such a big response "because it unlocked nostalgic memories in millennials that we haven't thought about in a long time. I saw a lot of people tagging their friends and sharing funny memories, which was nice to see."
He added: "It's always nice to see a stream of 5,000 comments reminding me I'm not nearly as young as I thought!"
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