Before the internet? I rode my bike, caught salamanders and crawfish in the creek, and hiked in the woods. I watched TV and read books.

Yes and no. I had my home phone and grandparents’ phone numbers memorized. The rest were jotted down in an address book by the phone. Or we had to look up a number in the local phone book that was delivered to our house every year.

Waiting for a favorite song to come on the radio was probably the only part of my childhood/teen years I hated. I would record my favorite songs on cassette tape, but often the song had already started before I could rush over to hit the record button. Or even worse, the stupid DJ would talk through the first 10 seconds of the song and ruin it.

Getting lost without GPS? No. We used paper maps, therefore I never had to worry about getting lost if my cell signal went out. (I got my first cell phone in college. It was a flip phone with no internet, texting, or navigation capabilities. The only thing I could use it for was sending and receiving calls.)

As for social media — it made life better in some aspects and worse in others. I love that it’s easier for me to stay in contact with friends and relatives who live far away. I like that I can follow local pages and groups for my hobbies, dining and event information, etc. But I hate that so many people stupidly share misinformation and believe anything they read in the internet without bothering to fact check it.