The 'Not a Cell Phone in Sight' Meme Will Convince You That Life Is Better Now

Shutterstock
Shutterstock

It's easy to take the benefits of the modern world for granted. Sure, you used to play with a calculator for entertainment, whereas now you casually carry a computer around in your pocket. Still, sometimes you think about the time before, back when people had to at least pretend to listen to you instead of blatantly checking Instagram, and it sounds kind of nice.

But the internet is here to remind you that that's false nostalgia. The time before phones sucked, no matter how easy it is to romanticize. There were hardly any emojis, and people still had conversations instead of just repeating internet catchphrases back and forth.

The "not a cell phone in sight" meme is here to prove this. Just think, before cell phones you had to prove things through arguments and cited sources, but now you can just put a stock phrase on a picture. 

According to the invaluable website Know Your Meme, this all started on November 4, with the following image of the crucifixion and a caption by Twitter user @VersaceCrocs. The internet liked what it saw, and a dank meme was born.

These memes survey all of pre-phone history. 

And even include the Shrek universe. 

And the more recent past. 

They remind us that once meals were about community, not food pics. 

And that childhood was a purer experience. 

Concerts were about living in the moment, not showing off. 

No comment.

Who among us would not trade a cell phone for an ax-wielding toad?

Above all, people knew how to take responsibility. 

Anyway, get back to scrolling through Instagram.

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James Chrisman is a News Writer at Thrillist. Send news tips to news@thrillist.com and follow him on Twitter @james_chrisman2.