These days it seems like there is a lot of nostalgia for the 1990s. It goes in cycles. I recall 10 years ago, everyone was nostalgic for the 1980s.
Even as far back as the 1970s, everyone was longing for the 1950s (remember Happy Days?).
Don't get me wrong, I had a great time in the 1990s. I was in my teens and twenties then and some of the best years of my life.
We like to romanticize but It was not always great as we remember.
Here are five things I do not miss about the 90s:
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:
First, you have to make sure nobody was already on the phone. Second, you open "Netzero" or "Prodigy" ie your Internet Provider. Wait for it to ring. Wait for that annoying noise (beep bop bee bop bee). Noise stops, but you're still waiting, waiting, waiting, and waiting. And you are connected!
The problem was one you were connected, it took another 15 minutes for IE Explorer to load the page.
And once the page loads, the connection drops and you have to start the whole process over again. If you do not believe me, you can still get a dial-up account in 2018. I researched it. Net Zero is actually still a thing.
The internet a new world to be discovered, but boy, that world was inconvenient.
𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬:
The nice thing about the 90s are the clothes were comfortable. It was nice to wear baggy everything all the time. Sweatshirts were baggy, pants were baggy, and even my shoes were baggy.
The only problem is we all looked weird.
It was nice for me because I didn't work out back then, so nobody knew if I was skinny or well built. It was a mystery!
The colors ranged from neon in the early 90s to strickly earth tones by the end of the decade.
I rocked my round wire-rimmed glasses throughout the 90s with my hair parted right down the middle. Looking back, I didn't get too many dates for some reason.
𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐬:
Cars made in the 90s were cheaply made and faulty generally. I think my Nissan Sentra was literally made out of the tin. Looking back, it was super unsafe. My friend once pressed down on the hood, a tiny bit with his hand, and the most of the hood just dented!
The car did have an airbag though. ONE airbag. So sorry everyone else in my car. They designed an airbag for me but the rest of you in my 130-pound car made out of tin are out of luck.
𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐬:
Looking back, TV was at its low point back in the 90s. I recall at some point back then it was really cool to say, "I don't even own a TV man." Just think how silly not owning a TV sounds today-- missing out on Game of Thrones, Westworld, Billions, Walking Dead, among others.
Not owning a TV was cool in the '90s, because there wasn't a whole lot of great TV back then. I do not remember more than a handful of shows that were all that great (there were some gems like Kids in the Hall, Mystery Science 3000, Quatum Leap, and many others, but I digress).
Netflix and HBO helped revolution television as we know it starting in the 2000s up to today and the rest is history.
𝐖𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬:
Wages are a hot topic now and rightfully so. However, when I started in the workforce, the minimum wage was just $4.25 an hour. And employers were not shy about paying you at the bottom.
I worked 25 hours a week at McDonald's and I might as well spent that time searching for loose change on the ground for what I was being paid (about 100 dollars per week, after taxes, if you did the math).
The bright side of it all was my first apartment a cool $260 per month in rent. And the price of gas was typically between $.78 cents to $1.50. And my tin car got great milliage so all was well. And my baggy clothes were cheap. And the crappy internet connection was free!
I guess we didn't have it that bad after all.
What about the 90s do you not miss (or miss)? Let me know in the comments.
I will have an upcoming blog on what I miss about the 90s!
Photo Credits:
http://cheapcarsdomain.com/cars-under-1000/