Ordering pizza used to require a phone. But it wasn’t as simple as picking it up and talking to someone.

It also required the phone number of the pizza place and a working knowledge of what the place actually offered. Then, when you called, you often had to ask for the specials and order blind. And even the most helpful teenager on the other end isn’t a mindreader.

And let’s not forget how we needed cash on hand to pay the delivery driver.

Ordering now usually includes a website. Which is often treated like an obstacle to many who remember the pre-web days. But think about all of those obstacles we navigated before. Phone books, newspapers, weekly fliers, take home menus—not to mention the number of times your green pepper showed up as pepperoni.

Nostalgia for a “simpler” time is genuine. But it wasn’t actually less complicated. It was differently complicated. You just knew what you needed. And now you have to learn what you need.

Missing the “old ways” isn’t simply a function of experience or desire for a less complicated time. It’s yearning for a different adaptation that demands more human contact.

The thing is, we don’t need to look for human contact by ordering a pizza. But we can also work to make ordering pizza more human.