I normally have little to no use for nostalgia. But at the same time I’m happy I grew up when I did. I think many of the struggles as well as things that gave me joy while growing up made me the man I am in 2020. I’m not saying growing up in the 1990s was better than growing up in the 2010s or 1950s or any other time period in history. One thing I don’t miss about the 20th century is the lack of youtube and easy access to information. I never want to return to that. Here is a list of things I enjoyed, probably too much from the 1980s and 1990s. I still enjoy them. And over the years I’ve added to this things that came out after I became an adult. Heck I’ve had the joy of being called both a “triggered snowflake” and an “apathetic slacker” on the same day (in reference to being from both the Millenial and Generation X eras). So here goes

Things I enjoyed too much about growing up in the 1980s and 1990s

Indiana Jones movies

R.L. Stine novels

Chose Your Own Adventure books

TV shows like Daria and X-Files

‘Made in Japan’ electronics that never broke down

The music of Metallica

Flannel shirts

Making fun of preppies wearing Abercrombie and Fitch

Patrick Swayze movies, especially Road House

Saturday morning cartoons

Candy cigarettes

Going to Pizza Hut when they still had all the arcade games and cool decorations

The music of Tupac

Fairuza Balk movies

MTV when it still had music videos

Nebraska Husker football when Tom Osborne was the coach

Watching Michael Jordan play basketball

When politicians lied mainly about sex and doing pot as teenagers

Listening to the stories of World War 2 vets and survivors of the Great Depression

The music of Marilyn Manson

When the parents actually had better ethics than their kids

Collecting baseball cards

Conspiracy theories not being widely believed

Johnny Bravo cartoons

Futurama cartoons

Westerns like Dances With Wolves and Tombstone

The music of Jon Bon Jovi

Cosmic Bowling nights

Rollerblades

When anti vaccines weren’t popular

Singing “Fire, Water, Burn” during fire drills in high school

Wondering if kids in the inner cities secretly liked the music of Garth Brooks

Ross Perot and his pie charts

Jodie Foster movies, especially Contact