Things that were impossible when you were 5.

[mechana2015]

What things have you done today, that would have been impossible to do *at your current age* when you were 5?

*edited to avoid the obvious 'couldn't do x because I'm 5*

Rephrased: If you were suddenly transported back to the year when you were 5, *but were your current age* what have you done today that you suddenly wouldn't be able to do?

Try not to be repetitive, discussion and explanations for why you think something is impossible or what you think of other peoples comments would be awesome.

Starting off:

I was 5 in 1989, so I couldn't have accessed CAA and made this post, because neither CAA nor the internet as we know it existed.

[Atria35]

I paid a bill. When I was five, I didn't have a checking account, and most certainly would not have been able to fill out a check and send one in.

[Radical Dreamer]

I couldn't have worked a retail job, called/texted someone on a cellphone (because cellphones as we know them didn't exist yet), downloaded an episode of Doctor Who in 45 minutes' time, and couldn't have used the internet, period. XD

Oh also I was able to reach the kitchen sink without standing on my toes today. XD I've come so far since 1994. XD

Also I don't think I would've been able to drive anywhere, not only because driving across town as a 5 year old is illegal, but also because I probably wouldn't have been able to reach the pedals. XD

Socially speaking, I talked to a bunch of customers today. As a 5 year old, I was the shyest person ever, so the mere prospect of carrying a conversation with strangers would've paralyzed me. XDD

[mechana2015]

Hmm clarification seems needed because I wrote the original post wrong.

If you were the age you are NOW, but were in the year you were five, what would be impossible to do?

The car I just drove wasn't made, so it would be impossible to own or drive one. (First year they were made was 1998)

[Ante Bellum]

I wouldn't have to listen to my brother on Xbox Live.

[Atria35]

Ah! Better clarification. I would not have been able to watch a DVD. They didn't exist in '93.

[ClosetOtaku]

I was 5 in 1967. What couldn't I do? A lot. A whole lot.

No Internet. No DVDs or CDs. It was vinyl and videotape (in reel-to-reel tape, not cassette form).

No wikipedia. If you wanted to know something, you went to the local library and looked it up. If you were lucky, your parents owned an encyclopedia. It never got updated.

No TiVo or home recording devices. If you missed an episode of your favorite show, you had to wait six months until the reruns to see it again.

No cellular phones. No satellite phones. Walkie-talkies if you were close, HAM radio for greater distances. Ma Bell owned voice from coast to coast.

No personal computers. No minis or micros. It was mainframes and punch cards.

You didn't have TSA screeners or even metal detectors. You just wished your family goodbye at the airport gate and got on the plane.

No console games. No video games. Not even electronic arcade games. You had pinball and mechanical type racing games. You spent a lot of time entertaining yourself with your imagination, because there wasn't much else.

We got along just fine, of course, but I wouldn't want to go back to that time, either.

[Nanao]

Listened to podcasts on my iTouch, or played Twilight Princess on Wii. They weren't around yet ^____^

[Davidizer13]

I'm making this post from a house that didn't exist when I was 5, from a computer with no tangible connection to an Internet connection dozens of times faster than anything that existed commercially when I was 5.

[Okami]

Walking without excessive therapy.

[Darth_Kirby]

It would be impossible for me to play Halo. lol

[rocklobster]

Read a complex book like Les Miserables. (I was the first person to learn to read in my kindergarten, but I don't think I could comprehend a book like that)

[Atria35]

Read a complex book like Les Miserables. (I was the first person to learn to read in my kindergarten, but I don't think I could comprehend a book like that)

She meant, what you could do if you were still the age you were now but went back in time to the year you were 5. I thought the same thing that you did at first until she clarified!

[Winry]

I couldn't be a Harry Potter fan. Also couldn't have read the Night Angel series like I am right now because it didn't exist yet. I wouldn't be able to watch a Pixar full length movie.

[rocklobster]

Whoops. OK, I got one.
I couldn't watch reruns of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The original run hadn't started until 1987, six years after I finished kindergarten. Same goes for Thundercats.

[Yamamaya]

I couldn't watch any DVDs at all.

1997 was the first year DVD players were introduced in the U.S.(aka tested). I was five at the time. However, the first DVD players were way too expensive for my family to purchase.

[Psycho Molos]

I would be in PA and not OK...YAY!!!!!

Though saying that, I'd be cut off from any semblance of a big city from Oct to April due to snow especially since I couldn't drive anyway. No Internet then and no easy way to get music. Impossible for me to find anything new. Artists I appreciate now that weren't around then or were just about to come out: Europe, Selena, Nightwish, Def Leppard, Cannibal Corpse :-P

No Firefly but there was Star Trek TOS and Tom Baker era Dr Who

No barnes and noble I think

No DVD or cd or iTunes or cgi...

[rocklobster]

No Firefly but there was Star Trek TOS and Tom Baker era Dr Who

That would be the best time to be a Doctor Who fan. No one, IMHO, has played the character better than Tom Baker. Certainly not as long.

[Asuka Neko]

...I was five in 1999.

I can't think of much. There was no Paint Tool SAI? That would be bad.

[Sheenar]

I was 5 in 1990. 1990 was the year the Americans with Disabilities Act was sign into law by President Bush (H.W.)

I would not have been able to finish high school or attend college if I was my age back then --because the ADA didn't exist before 1990, and thus academic accommodations because of disability (504 in high school, ADA at university) didn't exist.

[ShiroiHikari]

I wouldn't be able to go to the awesome local Mexican restaurant because it didn't exist in 1988.

[FllMtl Novelist]

I flitted about DA. I'm pretty sure that wasn't around in '99. XD;

And I surfed some other areas of the Web on my laptop. Not entirely sure if either was around when I was five, but I am sure they wouldn't have been common/cheap enough for me to have them. XD

[Sapphire225]

When I was five (in 1997), I couldn't use itunes or DVDs or drive, because the former two didn't exist (although DVDs came alot sooner than itunes) and I was obviously too young for the latter. Also, I didn't have too much responsibilities until November, when my borther was born.

What else...I couldn't use laptops nor could I access Google, because it was launched in 1998.

[Mister]

i couldn't post on CAA as a 23 year old when i was 5 XD

i couldn't spell Antidissestablishmenterianism <-----actual word

i couldn't speak french, dutch, russian, and read Kanji when i was 5..... still can't XD

i couldn't Each 50 chicken nuggets from McDonalds in 12mins 26 milliseconds <----- actually did

[Furen]

i couldn't Each 50 chicken nuggets from McDonalds in 12mins 26 milliseconds <----- actually did

would be more impressed at 5, but that's amazing O.O

I couldn't have babysat kids at 5

[ShiroiHikari]

A lot of you guys are still answering the question incorrectly. XD

[Okami]

A lot of you guys are still answering the question incorrectly. XD

Looking back at my post, it could honestly go either way. Therapy wouldn't have been as available for me then as it was in my pre-teen/teen years, and as a five-year-old, I needed to wear orthotics and a leg brace for stabilization.

[armeck]

i couldn't get a good nights sleep... oh wait i still can't do that

[Furen]

i couldn't get a good nights sleep... oh wait i still can't do that

^^ agreed

[Winry]

I definitely couldn't watch Youtube videos when I was five... but then again I doubt anyone on this site could have.