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
