Trakk 09: Gen X Nostalgia: Giving Directions Using Blockbuster and Circuit City

My niece recently got her drivers license, which is an 'I'm Old' moment on it's own, and asked me how to get to the airport to pick me up, and without thinking, I said: "Oh, it's easy! You go past where the Blockbuster used to be, turn left at the old Circuit City, and it's right across from where that Borders bookstore was."

Dead silence.

Then she goes, "I have no idea what any of those places are."

Oh. OH. I just gave directions using three businesses that have been closed for over a decade. I literally navigated her through a graveyard of retail establishments that exist only in my memory.

This is when I realized I've become a living archaeological site. I'm someone who remembers the Before Times so clearly that they're still my primary reference points for everything. To me, that corner will always be "where the Blockbuster was" even though it's been a nail salon, a smoothie place, and now a phone repair shop.

I started thinking about all the landmarks I still use that make zero sense to anyone under 35:

• "Turn right where the pay phone used to be"
• "It's behind where the old Sears was"
• "You know, in that shopping center where the Radio Shack was"
• "Past where that big independent bookstore used to be"

My husband laughed when I told him this story because he does the same thing. We're like tour guides for a world that no longer exists, giving directions through the ghost towns of our memories.

But here's what I love about it: These weren't just businesses to us. They were part of our lives. I met friends at that Borders. I spent Friday nights wandering that Blockbuster trying to find the perfect movie. That Circuit City is where I bought my first DVD player and felt like I was living in the future.

We're not just getting older, we're becoming keepers of stories. Every "where that used to be" reference is actually us saying "I remember when this place was alive, when it mattered to people, when it was part of how we lived."

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