OK. So kids may be up on all of the latest technology. But parents, if you’re looking for a way to school the kiddos, all you have to do is pull out a relic from the past. As evidenced when one mom filmed her son struggling to use a rotary phone.
Kimberly Phillips caught her son, Braylon, on camera, trying to use this old-school phone, and boy are we glad she did! Since posting the video to Facebook on Jan. 7, it’s been viewed 18 million times—likely giving everyone a good laugh.
According to CNN, the first push-button phones didn’t become popular until the early 1970s and, before that, different versions of the rotary phone had been around since the 1930s. So if you grew up in the ’60s, ’70s and even ’80s, you’re probably familiar with these rotary-style phones. Otherwise, it’s been smartphones since day one.
And clearly—when it comes to going backwards from a smartphone—the struggle is real:
The teen can be heard saying, “where’s the zero?” and “I messed up,” as he begins to get frustrated by the dialing method. Then he turns to his mom and says, “Y’all went through this struggle?”
It’s hard to believe, isn’t it?
Finally, at the end of the video, too frustrated to go on, he does what any of us would have done in that situation—reached for his cell phone to solve the problem! This is an “ask Siri” moment if ever there was one!
Many people who saw the video online commented with similar stories. One person wrote, “This reminds me of when my niece found a collection of LPs in her grandmother’s closet and was so excited to find ‘big, black CDs.'”
“Reminds me when my daughter asked me what ‘rewind’ meant,” another shared. Talk about a “senior” moment!
Moments like these are so relatable because, well, moms and dads—we’ve all been there.
