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God, sometimes I wonder if the neon and happiness of childhood was all in my head. Like, did things just seem happy-go-lucky because I was a kid, and they became the dull gray of a modern fast food joint because that is what growing up is? Or did we really just have an amazing childhood, and then got dropped into a pit of economic, social, and political hellscapes?
85 born here. Things were literally more bright, colorful and neon in the 90s. Now more muted and plain colors are the norm...look at pics of 90s McDonald's vs Today as a glaring example. This coupled w general nostalgia and the fact the 90s were a __very__ optimistic time not just for kids but society as a whole probably intensifies the feelings.
I was a young adult in the 1990s. I don't know if I was an exceptionally pessimistic person, but my childhood and teens through early 20s in the 70s through the 80s were characterized by a sense that there was no future. Suddenly, starting in about 1994 through 1999, there might have been one. So in my opinion, you are not wrong.
This, so hard.
This intro by Carly Simon summarizes that kind of hope from then that I can't seem to find now
https://youtu.be/TRXFJrz_imw?si=RTYRiroWchT9YT1P
That show was my jam too. There was a hope to that time, that is no where to be found now. That is what I miss the most from that era. The feeling of hope in things getting better.
My favorite thing to do to experience the past is go to my local cinemark. Probably hasn’t been updated since it was made and has an aura of that 90s tackiness I love so much. I go there more than the other place even though the seats suck.
Me too. The 80’s captured this as well but being a millennial I remember the 90’s quite well and I miss the tackiness, the kitschy atmosphere, the sleaze, whatever you want to call it the 90’s was definitely a vibe. Lol.
Born in 85, so the 90s were a staple to my childhood. I miss the days of not being plugged into the Internet at the snap of a finger. I feel like my brain wasn't made to process so much information, and so many people's perspectives, all at once.
For the past year I've tried to make an effort to unplug more and not check social media as often. But, I'm still guilty of the occasional doom scroll here and there.
I had deactivated my social media before. But always go back after a month or so. But this time I just deleted the apps off my phone. So if I want to go on I have to log in on the internet on my phone. And ugh it’s so hard that way. I barely go on anymore. And I actually don’t really want to. It’s been nice. It helps my mental health a lot.
The only thing I really miss about the past is the lack of responsibility and the unlimited access to hang out with friends.
Otherwise, being an adult is so much better.
It was the last full decade where you could just go fuck off. Now you can make a conscious decision to unplug and remove yourself from tech but in the 90s you could walk out your door with a house key and 11 dollars on you and have a whole ass day.
This. This is what I miss the most. I used to skip school, walk to the port, and check out the boats, wondering how it would be like to be a stowaway on one and where it would go. Sounds weird, huh? But fucking off was my dream.
Right, that's what I said in my comment, today you can *choose* to do that, but it's a decision that you have to consciously make, it's a choice to leave your tech behind as opposed to then when it was just life.
I still do this from time to time. not having the phone in case of emergency feels risky but fuck it. I never go so far that I couldn’t walk back home given an hour or two.
It's just such a strange feeling, and I agree with you completely, but it *feels risky* to not have these devices in our pocket. I'm absolutely right there with you and it's just so bizarre that 30 years ago, really 20 years ago even, that really did not exist at all.
I agree completely. I had a typical childhood and there are some things I miss like the lack of responsibility and seeming simplicity of everything. I also miss some people who are no longer here.
But, overall, being an adult is a ton better and I wouldn't trade my friends and family now for my friends and family then.
Agreed. We often view the past through rose colored glasses and I’d imagine (at least for myself) that it’s not what I pictured things were like 30 years ago.
Best to leave the past in the past.
My mom looks back on her childhood fondly as well as a carefree and better time. People were kind and friendly, and you could leave a diamond ring in the gutter and it'd be there a week later. Look at a history book and Watts, Selma March, VIETNAM presidential assassination, presidential candidate assassination, threat of nuclear holocaust etc.
The 90s weren't special...
I am a lifelong gamer and music fan. I spend *significant* amounts of time on these hobbies.
In the past month, the only games I have played are the C&C remaster and Donkey Kong Country 2, and my guitar practice has been primarily Goo Goo Dolls, Nirvana, and Soundgarden.
So...I miss the 90s *a lot*. But they will never die while I draw breath!
Now if you'll excuse me, I paused an episode of Star Trek TNG to type this.
Command and conquer was my world in grade school. I love that it made your list!
I used to sit and draw C&C maps in my 4th grade class, then build them when I got home. From there I entered into the world of hex editing the game in RAM, learning about direct ipx and dial-up connections and so on. Now I’m a network engineer and the rest is history!
Good times :)
I never became a network engineer but I also did the maps! I had an entire notebook full of them.
Red Alert was my first game modding experience, first with simple rules.INI editing and then eventually coding custom missions. So many formative experiences.
Are you me? except I've been playing almost only Green Day on guitar my entire 19 years of playing. I'm so close to breaking out my N64 and ocaraina of time lately.
I bought the N64 controllers for Switch and it's one of the best things I ever did.
There is a great selection on Switch already but for anything that isn't, they are Bluetooth and work great with emulators as well.
I think it's more that I miss the optimism I had in the 90s. I had so much time ahead of me and I could see a future with many possibilities. And now the time goes so fast and I don't see much of a future at all anymore. I think more than the 90s themselves I miss the me I was then.
>I think more than the 90s themselves I miss the me I was then.
This is honestly so true and is something that crosses generations. I remember my Dad talking about when he was a kid in the late 60s/early70s and it seemed so long ago. Those conversations are just as far in the past now, if not further.
I miss the hope I felt. My childhood kind of sucked, and there was this hope that life would eventually get better. Now I'm turning 40 next year and nothing got better, things have just gotten worse.
We're often far more optimistic as a kid, when the worst thing we typically had to worry about was school. Now we've got bills to pay, mouths to feed. Adult life is not as glamorous as we thought it would be as a kid...
Born in 86 so I remember the 90s most of all. I miss everything about it. I miss seeing kids being kids playing outside, riding their bikes and just being innocent. Nowadays kids grow up way too fast and they don’t have the innocence that kids back in the 80s and 90s had mostly due to the overuse of the internet and smart phones. I believe we were the last generation to ever exist where kids played outside until the street lights came on and didn’t spend all day parked in front of a screen. I miss it so much and if I could take my own kids and get into a Time Machine, I’d gladly take them back and raise them in the 90s.
I miss everything about it. And I end up re-experiencing it often by watching mostly 90’s tv shows, 90’s movies, and even 90’s sports. Most recently I was watching the 1996 Stanley Cup finals instead of the current ones. I rewatched the 1997 World Series. 90’s music too. I remember 90’s MTV was “da bomb”.
It pretty much think everything sucks since 2008. Social media sucks, the internet in general sucks, electric cars suck, dating sucks, friendships suck, parenting sucks.
Was thinking about America’s Funniest Home videos the other day… used to love watching with my family in the early 90s. And the Simpsons, seinfeld, x-files. So much good TV.
This is how I feel. I watched The Beverly Hills reruns, and MTV 2000s and 90s music channel and I reminisce every day through music that reminds me of that time.
So thankful my childhood and messy years were before everything ended up on the Internet. The good and the bad. It’s so sad no one can genuinely enjoy themselves any more because they are either distracted documenting it on their phones or afraid their image will get plastered all over social media.
I miss the 90s so much! Thankfully, I don’t think about it too often because I’d be really sad if I did.
Geriatric millennial born in 82 in MI. I’m sure a lot of it is nostalgia and having few responsibilities, but I also feel like that’s when the world completely changed with the internet and cell phones. Sure, they were around before, but mid to late 90s is when they both blew up.
To me, they’re both the biggest life changing events and technologies in the last 4 decades that completely changed our way of life.
I feel the next big change is coming soon with AI, robots, and possibly singularity
Without knowing, the 90s were one of the moste peaceful decades.
There was this big fear of nuclear war and world termination in the 80s which went away with the fall of the Berlin wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, beginning im '89.
I think there was no big economic crisis until the burst of the Dot-com bubble in march 2000 and than it felt like the world was back at war with 9/11 in 2001.
I think it has also to do how news, cable networks and newschannels changed in the 90s.
With the introduction of DSL and more bandwith, the internet begann to change to our advantage
And man, I graduated with *ipods* (‘04). It was totally wild. As a kid I was in charge of turning the record player off and putting the record away before sleep.
I don't miss being a teenager and lacking agency.
I miss malls being a place to hang out.
I miss airport security being way more relaxed.
I miss being able to assume that more or less everyone was on board with a basic, non-conspirital, understanding of the universe (I literally had no idea there were still creationists in the modern world of any significant number, for example, until I got to college in the early 2000s).
There's a lot of other specific things like that that I miss, including specific shops and restaurants that closed down, but there's also quite a lot of stuff that I just think is better now.
After the last 24 hours of horseshit ratings-farm presidential debate, clickbait debate reporting, the Supreme Court's power grab, and me with a stomach bug?
I'm feeling pretty goddamned nostalgic for those halcyon days when I was a teenager, yeah.
I miss it pretty hard, but have to remind myself to be grateful that I was a child through the mid 80's and 90's and got to actually experience it unlike so many others born 2000 and beyond.
Man oh man, if only I could go back and keep the knowledge I have today and re-do things. Wouldn’t waste nearly as much time as I did on people that didn’t deserve it.
I miss it alot. It was when my family was still together. My mother could still see. things were much happier. Before everything fell apart. Both my parents became addicts. I got my mom clean and off the streets. Things are okay now. Just hasn't been a fun ride. All we can do is try to create and be the happiness we crave.
I feel like it was a glorious time. I rode my bike around the neighborhood, wasn’t the economy good? Music was good! But I was a kid, born in 87, so it’s all I knew. I love 90’s cars and music.
I miss how bright things were, now there's just so much gray. I miss people being natural. Not just their appearance but also their personalities.
However, what I do like about today is corruption gets called out way more thanks to social media.
I miss the funkiness of the 90s. I'm so tired of beige, beige, beige, gray, silver, white, modern, sleek, and compact.
I miss wacky. Colorful. Large and in charge. CraaaAAaaAAAAAzzzzzyyyy!.
The 90s were an objectively special period of time, though. The last point in history before the internet dominated everything.. that is an incredible turning point in *human* history. Never before has the term "simpler times" been more apt.
Yeah I think objectively the world is a shell of what it once was. Most things are worse by any measure, the only argument I ever here against this take is always technology related ie "we all have computers in our pocket."
I could banter about this forever but it's still mind- blowing to me how things turned out. I used to think the future was going to be so awesome when I was younger.
I don't miss the 90's because it was my childhood, though. I miss it because there's just too much fucking bullshit going on today. I'm sure you've noticed who our presidential candidates are
Born in 86, so remember most of the 90s albeit from a kid perspective. Easier for my parents to keep things from getting to my attention, such as I learned later what the 90s Dallas Cowboys did off the field. Then again some things like OJ were talked about by everyone. It felt simpler having to know less and not be plugged in all the time.
Parts of me miss being a kid, but being an adult is more rewarding.
We watched the OJ verdict live on tv in my 4th grade classroom. Also watched 9/11 go down in my computer science class in 11th grade until the school disconnected the cable line. Wild time I tell ya! I was the kid who watched the news several times a day to always keep up with the world. Pretty sure it’s ruined me. We didn’t have a computer, video games, or even an answering machine when I was little though. Those were good times.
I haven't found being an adult rewarding at all, I'll never be as rich as my parents were/are
I'm frequently envious of people who had nothing childhoods in small houses and took one vacation to Disneyland. Adult life must look pretty cool to them. My childhood was like a lifetime's worth of presents and vacations and luxuries. The newest/best of everything. There's no way to live up to it, even if I reach the lofty financial goals I've set for myself. I'd have to be a multi millionaire to come close.
Yeah I mean I do remember a pretty decent amount of the late 90's, but I was a teenager in the late 2000's. Being 31 now I am more nostalgic for my teenage years.
94 here. I feel it. But honestly I think what we are all missing (doesn’t matter the year you were born) is the time when everything felt simpler. The newer generations may not get this because they are blasted with so much information via technology but I hope they have the same experience.
I miss being a kid and going on camping trips with my family. I also miss how no one worried about social media and just lived their lives. The 90s were awesome, but 2005-2009 were the best years for me because I had more friends and confidence compared to when I was little
I will agree when I was young growing up in the '90s, it did feel like endless possibilities for the future. It wasn't until 9/11 happened where I feel like things got so much harder financially and I somehow lost hope for the future. I don't miss being a kid though. I enjoy seeing my friends and seeing my family when I feel like it. As well as other adult activities
I miss my childhood. I miss not being connected 24/7. I miss the TV shows, the movies, hanging out with my friends, etc. I used to carry 75 cents in my pocket for a payphone. I would leave the house all day from the early afternoon to around dinnertime. My parents were none the wiser and they just expected me to be home every night. Kids today will never experience those simpler times ever again.
I was born in 1982 so I Remember the 90s. It was a great time. Do I miss it…eh.
I’ve achieved all the goals and wants I had when I was a kid in the 90s, so I’m good. Glad I was there for that optimistic time, but no need to go back.
I miss my grandmother very much and the lack of responsibility I had to do deal with. Otherwise I’m pretty happy in life besides being in debt like most Americans.
Not at all. I mean, I have some good childhood memories, some very bad tween/teen memories, and no desire to revisit being a child. This is less a reflection of the 90s and more a reflection on my life being much better now.
Born in 81 graduated in 99. I miss the simplicity that then was seen as life changing. Some of it can be seen as nostalgia like the birth of computers, the internet, buying a physical cd or tape at the music store, or going to Hollywood video or blockbuster on a Friday evening. I don’t know if i would trade it at this point but i do kinda miss it.
a lot. i was born in 1991 and my family isn't American so as a kid I really probably enjoyed 90s culture from like 96 to 99 which makes sense why i align with zillenials. but retroactively I've consumed so much 90s media and just love everything. however i would not want to go back. the world is a better place for me now
Quite a bit. My childhood was awesome. Diverse group of friends and neighbors. Shopping malls were cool and earning $20 actually provided some legit food and fun.
Weird. I'm literally watching that documentary show for each decade, "the nineties" and this post comes up. I was thinking I miss aspects of it. I'd be okay with less technology.
I was born in 1995 so I didn't experience the 90s really. But I do have a few scattered memories of the 90s that paint and overall happy picture. I remember the logo designs of things like video game consoles, how bright and exciting things looked. I remember the music and the music videos at the time and some very early internet memes (dancing baby etc). Overall, from my limited memories, the 90s seemed fun, fun, fun. "Weird" was cool, and there wasn't really any worries. I say that because I grew up in the 2000s and post-9/11 paranoia seemed to just hang in the air up until 2008.
Several posters mentioned tv shows / media from the 90s. To add, it’s not just missing those specific shows, but the collective consciousness of watching TGIF *as a nation, together, at the same tome* and talking about it the next day at school rather than streaming it asynchronously.
I too was born in the mid 80s and I cannot express how hard I miss the mid 90s until about 2010. A lot of people seem to enjoy the feeling of nostalgia but it often makes me sad because of how hard I miss those times and there's obviously and simply no way to return. I appreciate each day now, but I really miss those days.
I remember there was this commercial I think it was for flat screen tvs. And it was to The Beatles song -Have to admit it’s getting better . It’s getting better all the time! And it made me feel so much positivity of the future.! The future seemed so bright! Another commercial that made me feel that way was the VW Bug ones.
Missing the 90's is just like saying you'd be the guy in the Matrix that wished he never took the Red Pill. The internet has greatly expanded our ability to not only see and know what is happening around the globe, but also the speed of which that happens. While the chaos and anxiety this has caused are very real, it is important to remember that most of the major issues we face today we were also facing in the 90s but with half as much information gained at less than a tenth of the speed.
I was born in 91. I remember some things from the mid 90's, but its mostly the late 90's that I remember the most. But, I dont dwell thinking "man, those days were better". Sure, I had no responsibilities, but I have a great life as an adult that I worked hard for, and very glad to be living in the now
Nah. We're just online instead of listening to records in a garage by ourselves and ignoring our families. This is not from personal experience. My dad went to a bar.
Our whole lives baby boomers have been wishing things were like the 1950s. Our nostalgia for a “long lost better time” is not unique. It’s honestly what we do best, as Americans at least.
I do not miss the 90s. Before I came out of my shell, it was not a good time for me.
I miss 2007. That was the year I got into my second bachelor degree, I started dating the guy I would eventually marry, we all knew we’d get great jobs after college because the boomers were all supposed to retire en masse, and my biggest concern was whether I’d proofread my Philosophy of Education papers well enough for my grammar nazi prof.
I was born in 87, and I'm a bit conflicted. I like a lot of media from the 90s that occasionally stir up good feelings. But I grew up in an abusive household, and was constantly bullied for my disability outside of home. My childhood was largely unhappy.
I can appreciate the cool things like some video games, shows, music, and movies I liked, but some of that stuff is attached to some pretty terrible memories for me. I guess I don't "miss" the 90s, but I do "appreciate" the 90s.
Paid 13 grand for a Chevy S 10 brand new.
My payment was 235 , my rent all utilities included was 250.
Cigs a buck a whopper a buck.
Gas around a buck.
Worked 35 hours a week made 23,000 grand a year
Insurance 16 bucks a week.
Ya the 90's
It was a rough time in my life in the 90s. But I do wish I could live them again starting now. Don't miss the personal bullshit but it was otherwise the best decade easily.
I miss not being available 24/7. I miss not having TV available on demand. On one hand it's a luxury, on the other, I find my husband and myself complaining when we don't have something to binge. Making sure I was in front of the gd TV at 7 on Tuesdays to watch Buffy was awesome. I would just like to be less connected in general. (Insert AIM away message with Elliott Smith quote.)
It’s hard to seperate the difference in sentiment of now vs then from being a kid vs adult. Like am I reminiscing about being young or the 90s as an era.
In terms of youth vs adult, There’s a lot about being young I miss. I miss the simplicity of life-planning a get together to play 4 person goldeneye and Mario kart was the crux of my life. In general the future seemed optimistic-didn’t have to really worry about much in terms of wars, crazy politics, the economy, etc.
As a decade, I think the 90s was pretty good decade to grow up in. We had the best of tech and non tech. I feel the world is so addicted to your phone now that people don’t have the same experience of connection and friendship, it’s so much a digital thing now. Also it overall was a good decade for entertainment. Movies were exciting still as there so little that was just franchises and remakes. Music was before computers and still had soul.
If I had the choice of being a kid now vs the 90s, I’d take the 90s no question asked. Being an adult now bs the 90s, it’s a little harder to answer that knowing I wouldn’t have the same experiences as an adult that I did as a kid during that time.
We had the best toys growing up. The toys today are kinda ass and super expensive. Xmas was always insane because toys were cheap and also amazing and I don’t think other generations had it as good in that respect.
Not having tech meant we had so much more that involved imagination so we just played with stuff all day and the toy companies worked harder for the sale, idk maybe I’m overthinking it.
I would say I am grateful I was a kid in the 90s but I don’t miss it because I have a good life now.
I really just miss the aesthetics, and I’m not saying we should have the same style now but damn things felt more alive. Everything being minimalist today just doesn’t have that same colorful look things had back then
I was born in '91, but I have memories going back to nearly then. I wish I could be an adult in the '90s, or that life was still similar. I don't think it's because I was a child then and I miss my childhood, but because there was a much different energy then. Truly, I blame social media. I think in general people were much more sane, and there was a groundedness at the time that we now lack, just because people's lives were entirely rooted in relationships with people and things that they saw and encountered on a daily basis.
I miss the cheaper rent and gas. I think social media was also a cultural disaster. Other than that my life now is way better than that time of my life
I would say I miss it… but I lived in a bad neighborhood and the end of the 90s saw the break up of my friend group and everyone murdering each other joining rival gangs… the ones that did not die started doing really hard Meth and put holes in their brains and were not recognizable as their former selves… the murdering and robbing caught up with them and most went to jail 25to life… so when I left my neighborhood and went to college in 2000 that was the start of a new normal that was sane and healthy
I enjoy being adult and as a homosexual having more freedoms and legal protection.
With that said the 90s were a simpler time with less mania and constant stimulation. If I had the freedoms and adulthood I have now, but lived in the 90s, I reckon quality of life would be pretty fucking awesome!
There’s so much that I miss about the 90s. Jay and silent Bob, Alanis Morissette, music in general was a lot better IMO.
What I miss the most tho was feeling like anything was possible. Like the American dream was attainable. And that if I worked hard I could reach any dream… well that dream is now just a lot of debt that I’ll never be able to pay back and will haunt me until my death
Honestly the only thing I miss from it is that you could actually do stupid shit without having to worry about it going up on the internet and being humiliated in front of the entire planet.
I don’t have much nostalgia and I am well aware that the reason it was so much less stressful back then was because I was being sheltered from a lot of it, and I had less responsibilities.
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I miss the brightly colored optimism. There was a wonderful tackiness to the 90’s.
The entirety of the 90s was so wonderfully camp.
God, sometimes I wonder if the neon and happiness of childhood was all in my head. Like, did things just seem happy-go-lucky because I was a kid, and they became the dull gray of a modern fast food joint because that is what growing up is? Or did we really just have an amazing childhood, and then got dropped into a pit of economic, social, and political hellscapes?
85 born here. Things were literally more bright, colorful and neon in the 90s. Now more muted and plain colors are the norm...look at pics of 90s McDonald's vs Today as a glaring example. This coupled w general nostalgia and the fact the 90s were a __very__ optimistic time not just for kids but society as a whole probably intensifies the feelings.
I was a young adult in the 1990s. I don't know if I was an exceptionally pessimistic person, but my childhood and teens through early 20s in the 70s through the 80s were characterized by a sense that there was no future. Suddenly, starting in about 1994 through 1999, there might have been one. So in my opinion, you are not wrong.
Yes.
Eh, my childhood was fucked up too.
This, so hard. This intro by Carly Simon summarizes that kind of hope from then that I can't seem to find now https://youtu.be/TRXFJrz_imw?si=RTYRiroWchT9YT1P That show was my jam too. There was a hope to that time, that is no where to be found now. That is what I miss the most from that era. The feeling of hope in things getting better.
My favorite thing to do to experience the past is go to my local cinemark. Probably hasn’t been updated since it was made and has an aura of that 90s tackiness I love so much. I go there more than the other place even though the seats suck.
Do you miss the 90s or just your youth
Neither. I just miss a very specific “vibe” the 90’s had.
Yes.
It was before we really started seeing the Fallout if Regeanomics, and we were blissfully optimistic we could fix thr planet.
Me too. The 80’s captured this as well but being a millennial I remember the 90’s quite well and I miss the tackiness, the kitschy atmosphere, the sleaze, whatever you want to call it the 90’s was definitely a vibe. Lol.
It was the wind breaker suits...
Born in 85, so the 90s were a staple to my childhood. I miss the days of not being plugged into the Internet at the snap of a finger. I feel like my brain wasn't made to process so much information, and so many people's perspectives, all at once. For the past year I've tried to make an effort to unplug more and not check social media as often. But, I'm still guilty of the occasional doom scroll here and there.
I had deactivated my social media before. But always go back after a month or so. But this time I just deleted the apps off my phone. So if I want to go on I have to log in on the internet on my phone. And ugh it’s so hard that way. I barely go on anymore. And I actually don’t really want to. It’s been nice. It helps my mental health a lot.
The only thing I really miss about the past is the lack of responsibility and the unlimited access to hang out with friends. Otherwise, being an adult is so much better.
It was the last full decade where you could just go fuck off. Now you can make a conscious decision to unplug and remove yourself from tech but in the 90s you could walk out your door with a house key and 11 dollars on you and have a whole ass day.
This. This is what I miss the most. I used to skip school, walk to the port, and check out the boats, wondering how it would be like to be a stowaway on one and where it would go. Sounds weird, huh? But fucking off was my dream.
Ah yes, I too loved my life so much that I wanted to run away and disappear forever.
Do it. You still can. You might need more than $11 though.
Right, that's what I said in my comment, today you can *choose* to do that, but it's a decision that you have to consciously make, it's a choice to leave your tech behind as opposed to then when it was just life.
I still do this from time to time. not having the phone in case of emergency feels risky but fuck it. I never go so far that I couldn’t walk back home given an hour or two.
It's just such a strange feeling, and I agree with you completely, but it *feels risky* to not have these devices in our pocket. I'm absolutely right there with you and it's just so bizarre that 30 years ago, really 20 years ago even, that really did not exist at all.
yeah, and it would suck pretty bad if your car broke down and you got stranded, there was some sort of medical emergency etc.
I agree completely. I had a typical childhood and there are some things I miss like the lack of responsibility and seeming simplicity of everything. I also miss some people who are no longer here. But, overall, being an adult is a ton better and I wouldn't trade my friends and family now for my friends and family then.
Agreed. We often view the past through rose colored glasses and I’d imagine (at least for myself) that it’s not what I pictured things were like 30 years ago. Best to leave the past in the past.
For sure. And the thing is, I can still listen to limp bizkit and watch the matrix if I want to.
I mean, all things considered… in the 90s I was the youngest and like >4ft and didn’t have much of a say in shit Being an adult is way better
I miss not being afraid. I don't feel.the world was as scary back in the 90s.
My mom looks back on her childhood fondly as well as a carefree and better time. People were kind and friendly, and you could leave a diamond ring in the gutter and it'd be there a week later. Look at a history book and Watts, Selma March, VIETNAM presidential assassination, presidential candidate assassination, threat of nuclear holocaust etc. The 90s weren't special...
I am a lifelong gamer and music fan. I spend *significant* amounts of time on these hobbies. In the past month, the only games I have played are the C&C remaster and Donkey Kong Country 2, and my guitar practice has been primarily Goo Goo Dolls, Nirvana, and Soundgarden. So...I miss the 90s *a lot*. But they will never die while I draw breath! Now if you'll excuse me, I paused an episode of Star Trek TNG to type this.
I got the N64 game emulator for the switch and beat Donkey Kong Country on it. So fucking satisfying.
Omg the VIDEO GAME MUSIC. It was soo good back in the 90s. That alone makes me sad and weepy
Yo I played Final Fantasy 1 for the first time ever this year and it was AMAZING
Technically not 90s, but I’ll allow it
THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!
Command and conquer was my world in grade school. I love that it made your list! I used to sit and draw C&C maps in my 4th grade class, then build them when I got home. From there I entered into the world of hex editing the game in RAM, learning about direct ipx and dial-up connections and so on. Now I’m a network engineer and the rest is history! Good times :)
I never became a network engineer but I also did the maps! I had an entire notebook full of them. Red Alert was my first game modding experience, first with simple rules.INI editing and then eventually coding custom missions. So many formative experiences.
Are you me? except I've been playing almost only Green Day on guitar my entire 19 years of playing. I'm so close to breaking out my N64 and ocaraina of time lately.
I bought the N64 controllers for Switch and it's one of the best things I ever did. There is a great selection on Switch already but for anything that isn't, they are Bluetooth and work great with emulators as well.
God bless you sir
I think it's more that I miss the optimism I had in the 90s. I had so much time ahead of me and I could see a future with many possibilities. And now the time goes so fast and I don't see much of a future at all anymore. I think more than the 90s themselves I miss the me I was then.
>I think more than the 90s themselves I miss the me I was then. This is honestly so true and is something that crosses generations. I remember my Dad talking about when he was a kid in the late 60s/early70s and it seemed so long ago. Those conversations are just as far in the past now, if not further.
I miss the hope I felt. My childhood kind of sucked, and there was this hope that life would eventually get better. Now I'm turning 40 next year and nothing got better, things have just gotten worse.
We're often far more optimistic as a kid, when the worst thing we typically had to worry about was school. Now we've got bills to pay, mouths to feed. Adult life is not as glamorous as we thought it would be as a kid...
Born in 86 so I remember the 90s most of all. I miss everything about it. I miss seeing kids being kids playing outside, riding their bikes and just being innocent. Nowadays kids grow up way too fast and they don’t have the innocence that kids back in the 80s and 90s had mostly due to the overuse of the internet and smart phones. I believe we were the last generation to ever exist where kids played outside until the street lights came on and didn’t spend all day parked in front of a screen. I miss it so much and if I could take my own kids and get into a Time Machine, I’d gladly take them back and raise them in the 90s.
My kids still play outside all the time. And ride their bikes, it’s not completely gone like people think it is.
I miss everything about it. And I end up re-experiencing it often by watching mostly 90’s tv shows, 90’s movies, and even 90’s sports. Most recently I was watching the 1996 Stanley Cup finals instead of the current ones. I rewatched the 1997 World Series. 90’s music too. I remember 90’s MTV was “da bomb”. It pretty much think everything sucks since 2008. Social media sucks, the internet in general sucks, electric cars suck, dating sucks, friendships suck, parenting sucks.
Was thinking about America’s Funniest Home videos the other day… used to love watching with my family in the early 90s. And the Simpsons, seinfeld, x-files. So much good TV.
Glad I'm not the only one that thinks 2008 is where things took a turn
This is how I feel. I watched The Beverly Hills reruns, and MTV 2000s and 90s music channel and I reminisce every day through music that reminds me of that time.
I know this sounds extremely cynical, but I feel like everything has been downhill since 9/11. The 90s were a magical time.
Nah something shifted in the 2010s. 2000-2009 was still pretty cool.
“Something shifted in the 2010s” Yes, more or less everything went online
So thankful my childhood and messy years were before everything ended up on the Internet. The good and the bad. It’s so sad no one can genuinely enjoy themselves any more because they are either distracted documenting it on their phones or afraid their image will get plastered all over social media.
Yep. 9/11 is when everything went to shit. The end of innocence. The terrorists won that day because the USA response was so psycho
I miss the 90s so much! Thankfully, I don’t think about it too often because I’d be really sad if I did. Geriatric millennial born in 82 in MI. I’m sure a lot of it is nostalgia and having few responsibilities, but I also feel like that’s when the world completely changed with the internet and cell phones. Sure, they were around before, but mid to late 90s is when they both blew up. To me, they’re both the biggest life changing events and technologies in the last 4 decades that completely changed our way of life. I feel the next big change is coming soon with AI, robots, and possibly singularity
Without knowing, the 90s were one of the moste peaceful decades. There was this big fear of nuclear war and world termination in the 80s which went away with the fall of the Berlin wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, beginning im '89. I think there was no big economic crisis until the burst of the Dot-com bubble in march 2000 and than it felt like the world was back at war with 9/11 in 2001. I think it has also to do how news, cable networks and newschannels changed in the 90s. With the introduction of DSL and more bandwith, the internet begann to change to our advantage
I'm a mid Xennial, and living through the "Analog to digital" transition was pretty wild. I grew up with vinyl records, graduated high school with CDs
And man, I graduated with *ipods* (‘04). It was totally wild. As a kid I was in charge of turning the record player off and putting the record away before sleep.
I don't miss being a teenager and lacking agency. I miss malls being a place to hang out. I miss airport security being way more relaxed. I miss being able to assume that more or less everyone was on board with a basic, non-conspirital, understanding of the universe (I literally had no idea there were still creationists in the modern world of any significant number, for example, until I got to college in the early 2000s). There's a lot of other specific things like that that I miss, including specific shops and restaurants that closed down, but there's also quite a lot of stuff that I just think is better now.
Those planes hit them towers and we've just been trying to put the pieces back together ever since
After the last 24 hours of horseshit ratings-farm presidential debate, clickbait debate reporting, the Supreme Court's power grab, and me with a stomach bug? I'm feeling pretty goddamned nostalgic for those halcyon days when I was a teenager, yeah.
As I was typing out my response, one of the things that came to mind was “life before rapid climate change change” 🫠
I miss it a little too much
I feel the same way. The smartphone ruined everything.
The smartphone was one of the worst things to happen to us.
Born in 85’. I absolutely fantasize about the 90’s. We grew up in an almost perfect decade to come of age. So much transition in society, technology.
I miss it so fucking much
Reading your comment got me emotional.
I don't miss being a kid again but to have the 97 to 99 energy again would be sweet.
I miss the freedom , the music , the friends , the lack of responsibility. Adulting is hard as f .
I miss it pretty hard, but have to remind myself to be grateful that I was a child through the mid 80's and 90's and got to actually experience it unlike so many others born 2000 and beyond.
Man oh man, if only I could go back and keep the knowledge I have today and re-do things. Wouldn’t waste nearly as much time as I did on people that didn’t deserve it.
I miss it alot. It was when my family was still together. My mother could still see. things were much happier. Before everything fell apart. Both my parents became addicts. I got my mom clean and off the streets. Things are okay now. Just hasn't been a fun ride. All we can do is try to create and be the happiness we crave.
Even if you are someone like me, born in 1987, go listen to “1979” by The Smashing Pumpkins, and try to imagine yourself in the mid 90s
I certainly miss articulate presidential candidates..yea I definitely do
I feel like it was a glorious time. I rode my bike around the neighborhood, wasn’t the economy good? Music was good! But I was a kid, born in 87, so it’s all I knew. I love 90’s cars and music.
You have no idea, it seems every day that passes I miss it more and more
I miss how bright things were, now there's just so much gray. I miss people being natural. Not just their appearance but also their personalities. However, what I do like about today is corruption gets called out way more thanks to social media.
I miss the funkiness of the 90s. I'm so tired of beige, beige, beige, gray, silver, white, modern, sleek, and compact. I miss wacky. Colorful. Large and in charge. CraaaAAaaAAAAAzzzzzyyyy!.
Considering my current situation I miss the 90's a lot. Being a broke adult is really no fun.
Taco Bell feasts for under $5. Con Air, Tomb Raider, Robin Williams. Things were good
Most people remember their childhood as the good times no matter what decade they were born. Unless you had a terrible childhood
The 90s were an objectively special period of time, though. The last point in history before the internet dominated everything.. that is an incredible turning point in *human* history. Never before has the term "simpler times" been more apt.
Yeah I think objectively the world is a shell of what it once was. Most things are worse by any measure, the only argument I ever here against this take is always technology related ie "we all have computers in our pocket." I could banter about this forever but it's still mind- blowing to me how things turned out. I used to think the future was going to be so awesome when I was younger.
Some of my childhood was terrible. I still miss it at times.
I don't miss the 90's because it was my childhood, though. I miss it because there's just too much fucking bullshit going on today. I'm sure you've noticed who our presidential candidates are
I guess so
Born in 86, so remember most of the 90s albeit from a kid perspective. Easier for my parents to keep things from getting to my attention, such as I learned later what the 90s Dallas Cowboys did off the field. Then again some things like OJ were talked about by everyone. It felt simpler having to know less and not be plugged in all the time. Parts of me miss being a kid, but being an adult is more rewarding.
We watched the OJ verdict live on tv in my 4th grade classroom. Also watched 9/11 go down in my computer science class in 11th grade until the school disconnected the cable line. Wild time I tell ya! I was the kid who watched the news several times a day to always keep up with the world. Pretty sure it’s ruined me. We didn’t have a computer, video games, or even an answering machine when I was little though. Those were good times.
I haven't found being an adult rewarding at all, I'll never be as rich as my parents were/are I'm frequently envious of people who had nothing childhoods in small houses and took one vacation to Disneyland. Adult life must look pretty cool to them. My childhood was like a lifetime's worth of presents and vacations and luxuries. The newest/best of everything. There's no way to live up to it, even if I reach the lofty financial goals I've set for myself. I'd have to be a multi millionaire to come close.
Pre 9/11 was a happy time....
I was born in 1993. So I remember the late 90's. But my formative years were the late 2000's. I would say I miss 2007-2009 a lot more.
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Yeah I mean I do remember a pretty decent amount of the late 90's, but I was a teenager in the late 2000's. Being 31 now I am more nostalgic for my teenage years.
94 here. I feel it. But honestly I think what we are all missing (doesn’t matter the year you were born) is the time when everything felt simpler. The newer generations may not get this because they are blasted with so much information via technology but I hope they have the same experience.
I miss being a kid and going on camping trips with my family. I also miss how no one worried about social media and just lived their lives. The 90s were awesome, but 2005-2009 were the best years for me because I had more friends and confidence compared to when I was little
I miss a lot of things about the 90s. I’m glad social media and a lot of current tech wasn’t around while I was a teenager.
Most of us remember their childhood fondly. We didn’t have the stress of being an adult.
Like the deserts miss the rain
I will agree when I was young growing up in the '90s, it did feel like endless possibilities for the future. It wasn't until 9/11 happened where I feel like things got so much harder financially and I somehow lost hope for the future. I don't miss being a kid though. I enjoy seeing my friends and seeing my family when I feel like it. As well as other adult activities
I miss my childhood. I miss not being connected 24/7. I miss the TV shows, the movies, hanging out with my friends, etc. I used to carry 75 cents in my pocket for a payphone. I would leave the house all day from the early afternoon to around dinnertime. My parents were none the wiser and they just expected me to be home every night. Kids today will never experience those simpler times ever again.
I was born in 1982 so I Remember the 90s. It was a great time. Do I miss it…eh. I’ve achieved all the goals and wants I had when I was a kid in the 90s, so I’m good. Glad I was there for that optimistic time, but no need to go back.
Enough that if I was able to hit the reset button on my life, I would.
I miss my grandmother very much and the lack of responsibility I had to do deal with. Otherwise I’m pretty happy in life besides being in debt like most Americans.
Summer as a kid just hit different
A lot. Like I think about it all the time. It felt like we were on the verge of some Great Leap Forward. Then it all fell apart.
I miss the abundant nature
90's was peak civilisation.
Which is why that's where the Matrix is set.
You don't miss the decade. You miss being a kid
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Yes
Not at all besides the music.
Not at all. I mean, I have some good childhood memories, some very bad tween/teen memories, and no desire to revisit being a child. This is less a reflection of the 90s and more a reflection on my life being much better now.
Enough to watch videos of [random people shopping at Walmart in 1997.](https://youtu.be/-NBYhcfaWi0?si=BPtMIZkaHASXzUew) My teenager loves it (NOT).
every single day
Born in 85 and I miss like 2000-2005 more than the 90s but I miss them too lol
[Dream of the 90s](https://youtu.be/U4hShMEk1Ew?si=J_3IKPl1XEH1Ri3l)
Member when we could play outside..
Born in 81 graduated in 99. I miss the simplicity that then was seen as life changing. Some of it can be seen as nostalgia like the birth of computers, the internet, buying a physical cd or tape at the music store, or going to Hollywood video or blockbuster on a Friday evening. I don’t know if i would trade it at this point but i do kinda miss it.
a lot. i was born in 1991 and my family isn't American so as a kid I really probably enjoyed 90s culture from like 96 to 99 which makes sense why i align with zillenials. but retroactively I've consumed so much 90s media and just love everything. however i would not want to go back. the world is a better place for me now
with the exception of 2012, my best memories are from the 90s
So much that I made it my username
The 90s are unique coz it had the vibes of the 80s with better techniques. What I miss about that time is people felt more unique and unreserved.
Man I miss blockbuster.. that anticipating for a drop in vhs/dvd, and scanning my card. IG/tiktok has given me adhd 😂
Quite a bit. My childhood was awesome. Diverse group of friends and neighbors. Shopping malls were cool and earning $20 actually provided some legit food and fun.
Weird. I'm literally watching that documentary show for each decade, "the nineties" and this post comes up. I was thinking I miss aspects of it. I'd be okay with less technology.
I was born in 1995 so I didn't experience the 90s really. But I do have a few scattered memories of the 90s that paint and overall happy picture. I remember the logo designs of things like video game consoles, how bright and exciting things looked. I remember the music and the music videos at the time and some very early internet memes (dancing baby etc). Overall, from my limited memories, the 90s seemed fun, fun, fun. "Weird" was cool, and there wasn't really any worries. I say that because I grew up in the 2000s and post-9/11 paranoia seemed to just hang in the air up until 2008.
Several posters mentioned tv shows / media from the 90s. To add, it’s not just missing those specific shows, but the collective consciousness of watching TGIF *as a nation, together, at the same tome* and talking about it the next day at school rather than streaming it asynchronously.
I too was born in the mid 80s and I cannot express how hard I miss the mid 90s until about 2010. A lot of people seem to enjoy the feeling of nostalgia but it often makes me sad because of how hard I miss those times and there's obviously and simply no way to return. I appreciate each day now, but I really miss those days.
I remember there was this commercial I think it was for flat screen tvs. And it was to The Beatles song -Have to admit it’s getting better . It’s getting better all the time! And it made me feel so much positivity of the future.! The future seemed so bright! Another commercial that made me feel that way was the VW Bug ones.
Missing the 90's is just like saying you'd be the guy in the Matrix that wished he never took the Red Pill. The internet has greatly expanded our ability to not only see and know what is happening around the globe, but also the speed of which that happens. While the chaos and anxiety this has caused are very real, it is important to remember that most of the major issues we face today we were also facing in the 90s but with half as much information gained at less than a tenth of the speed.
I was born in 91. I remember some things from the mid 90's, but its mostly the late 90's that I remember the most. But, I dont dwell thinking "man, those days were better". Sure, I had no responsibilities, but I have a great life as an adult that I worked hard for, and very glad to be living in the now
Not at all! Nostalgia is a toxic impulse!
Nostalgia is okay, it's nostalgia mixed with regret that is toxic. One is remembering good times past , the other is wanting to live in the past
Our gen especially seems to bath in nostalgia like it’ll restore us somehow.
Nah. We're just online instead of listening to records in a garage by ourselves and ignoring our families. This is not from personal experience. My dad went to a bar.
Our whole lives baby boomers have been wishing things were like the 1950s. Our nostalgia for a “long lost better time” is not unique. It’s honestly what we do best, as Americans at least.
Those planes hit them towers and we've
Those planes hit them towers and we've been trying the pieces
I do not miss the 90s. Before I came out of my shell, it was not a good time for me. I miss 2007. That was the year I got into my second bachelor degree, I started dating the guy I would eventually marry, we all knew we’d get great jobs after college because the boomers were all supposed to retire en masse, and my biggest concern was whether I’d proofread my Philosophy of Education papers well enough for my grammar nazi prof.
Born in 1991, it really was a good time to be a kid.
“You’re from the 70s, and I’m a 90’s B!tC)
I was only a lil ass kid in the nineties but not at all. I like being grown.
Please give me the Spice Girls 30th anniversary tour. It’s all I want.
Well, my childhood was F*cked, so I guess not at all. But that has nothing to do with the 90's being the 90's
I was born in 87, and I'm a bit conflicted. I like a lot of media from the 90s that occasionally stir up good feelings. But I grew up in an abusive household, and was constantly bullied for my disability outside of home. My childhood was largely unhappy. I can appreciate the cool things like some video games, shows, music, and movies I liked, but some of that stuff is attached to some pretty terrible memories for me. I guess I don't "miss" the 90s, but I do "appreciate" the 90s.
I miss feeling like there were adults in charge and had our best interests at heart.
Quite a bit, was a simpler era.
I miss certain snacks. But the 90s.. I mean looking back it was meh as a preteen and teen.
Watching Tammy and the T-rex now so I definitely miss the 90s
I miss the good memories of being a child in the 90s but overall, our quality of life in the current age is far better.
I feel the same way about the 2000s, but I was born in the very early 90's. Maybe it's just part of getting older.
I do miss the innocence of childhood, but I also enjoy the agency that I have as an adult.
I only miss my dad who passed away in 1999.
Paid 13 grand for a Chevy S 10 brand new. My payment was 235 , my rent all utilities included was 250. Cigs a buck a whopper a buck. Gas around a buck. Worked 35 hours a week made 23,000 grand a year Insurance 16 bucks a week. Ya the 90's
I’m watching That 90s Show, not for the plot but for the references and nostalgia lol
i don't really miss it, 2000's on the other hand, i want to get back to that young age
It was a rough time in my life in the 90s. But I do wish I could live them again starting now. Don't miss the personal bullshit but it was otherwise the best decade easily.
I wish i could go so far back into the 90s that I wouldn't even be born
I hated the 90’s we were so poor.
A lot
Not one thing honestly.
Not at all.
It’s my Roman Empire
I miss not being available 24/7. I miss not having TV available on demand. On one hand it's a luxury, on the other, I find my husband and myself complaining when we don't have something to binge. Making sure I was in front of the gd TV at 7 on Tuesdays to watch Buffy was awesome. I would just like to be less connected in general. (Insert AIM away message with Elliott Smith quote.)
Life was just so much easier without social media.
It’s hard to seperate the difference in sentiment of now vs then from being a kid vs adult. Like am I reminiscing about being young or the 90s as an era. In terms of youth vs adult, There’s a lot about being young I miss. I miss the simplicity of life-planning a get together to play 4 person goldeneye and Mario kart was the crux of my life. In general the future seemed optimistic-didn’t have to really worry about much in terms of wars, crazy politics, the economy, etc. As a decade, I think the 90s was pretty good decade to grow up in. We had the best of tech and non tech. I feel the world is so addicted to your phone now that people don’t have the same experience of connection and friendship, it’s so much a digital thing now. Also it overall was a good decade for entertainment. Movies were exciting still as there so little that was just franchises and remakes. Music was before computers and still had soul. If I had the choice of being a kid now vs the 90s, I’d take the 90s no question asked. Being an adult now bs the 90s, it’s a little harder to answer that knowing I wouldn’t have the same experiences as an adult that I did as a kid during that time.
We had the best toys growing up. The toys today are kinda ass and super expensive. Xmas was always insane because toys were cheap and also amazing and I don’t think other generations had it as good in that respect. Not having tech meant we had so much more that involved imagination so we just played with stuff all day and the toy companies worked harder for the sale, idk maybe I’m overthinking it. I would say I am grateful I was a kid in the 90s but I don’t miss it because I have a good life now.
I like that our clothes are making a comeback lol
Don't really miss anything. Currently making the most of the present!
I really just miss the aesthetics, and I’m not saying we should have the same style now but damn things felt more alive. Everything being minimalist today just doesn’t have that same colorful look things had back then
I was born in '91, but I have memories going back to nearly then. I wish I could be an adult in the '90s, or that life was still similar. I don't think it's because I was a child then and I miss my childhood, but because there was a much different energy then. Truly, I blame social media. I think in general people were much more sane, and there was a groundedness at the time that we now lack, just because people's lives were entirely rooted in relationships with people and things that they saw and encountered on a daily basis.
Not at all! I did not enjoy my childhood.
Watch Rocco’s Modern life and play Mortal Kombat 2 on SNES :)
Not very much. I miss being a kid, healthy and having little to no responsibilities more than a random decade.
I miss the cheaper rent and gas. I think social media was also a cultural disaster. Other than that my life now is way better than that time of my life
The 90’s were great, period. Especially 90-97.
A lot when I think about it. Even up to 2007 or so. Before smartphones and excessive social media
90s was the golden era.
I would say I miss it… but I lived in a bad neighborhood and the end of the 90s saw the break up of my friend group and everyone murdering each other joining rival gangs… the ones that did not die started doing really hard Meth and put holes in their brains and were not recognizable as their former selves… the murdering and robbing caught up with them and most went to jail 25to life… so when I left my neighborhood and went to college in 2000 that was the start of a new normal that was sane and healthy
I enjoy being adult and as a homosexual having more freedoms and legal protection. With that said the 90s were a simpler time with less mania and constant stimulation. If I had the freedoms and adulthood I have now, but lived in the 90s, I reckon quality of life would be pretty fucking awesome!
I miss the early 2000s.
There’s so much that I miss about the 90s. Jay and silent Bob, Alanis Morissette, music in general was a lot better IMO. What I miss the most tho was feeling like anything was possible. Like the American dream was attainable. And that if I worked hard I could reach any dream… well that dream is now just a lot of debt that I’ll never be able to pay back and will haunt me until my death
Life before the internet took over was peak
Honestly the only thing I miss from it is that you could actually do stupid shit without having to worry about it going up on the internet and being humiliated in front of the entire planet. I don’t have much nostalgia and I am well aware that the reason it was so much less stressful back then was because I was being sheltered from a lot of it, and I had less responsibilities.
The 90s were an amazing time to grow up and I think of those years fondly and often.