The Nineties

The husband and I started watching this series streaming on CNN (I think?) and it’s called The Nineties. The first couple episodes were about the television shows and how “the slackers of Generation X started driving what people watched, which is hilarious because I haven’t been called a Gen X slacker in awhile.

But then we got to the third episode; the music episode and I have several thoughts that I need to get down here somehow. I graduated high school in 1994. I remember when we got MTV. My generation, Generation X is the first generation that grew up with MTV. Generation X grew up with gaming systems. And computers in schools before we thought computers could be much more than a glorified typewriter that you could play video games on. Email was brought into homes when I was in highschool. But the most important thing to me and every single one of my friends was the music.

We grew up as the “slacker generation”. We were spoiled, latch-key kids, with no work ethic, raised on MTV, and ridiculed for losing, ridiculed for not having what past generations had (we did it first, Millenials. Stand down). And then we got older and got jobs and went to junior college and spent all our money on rent and concerts. Because music in the 90s was amazing and diverse and everywhere. And it was so accessible. And parents were trying to shut it all down. Nirvana and Green Day and weezer and Beck and Salt-n-Peppa and TLC, Kid N Play, Fresh Prince and No Doubt and BRIT POP!!! and now there’s this show on CNN of all places, documenting it all. And it doesn’t seem possible because it all happened so fast. Why would adults talk about 90’s music? Why are adults discussing Biggie and Tupac with sincerity?

And then you realize it’s because the adults talking about it with respect are us. The Gen X slackers. We kind of grew up when no one was looking. We somehow got wedged between the Baby Boomer/Millenial war with a little shelf talker that says “Reality Bites” on it as if that’s all we have to show that we existed. We were Reality Bites but we were also F*R*I*E*N*D*S and kids these days LOVE Friends. And that’s what we did. Instead of settling down and starting careers and having 2.5 kids, we hung out with our other single friends and worked crap jobs and laughed and listened to music. Oh and swing dancing. We did a lot of that too.

Anyway, watch this show! The forth episode is about the Clinton impeachment and if you don’t think you need to relive that now, in this day and age, you’re wrong. It’s horrifying to think that people that impeached Clinton are so…. relevant today. Anyway….

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