Folks who grew up in the '90s, I am going to start with the very obvious here, but the '90s ended 24 years ago! And a lot of the stuff we remember about the 2000s is now 20-plus years old. So, yeah, yikes, let's not think about that too much.
But even though it feels like the Y2K era was only a few years ago, you also know how much has changed since then. And it was with that time period in mind that a few months ago, Reddit user Glittering-Syrup-339 asked: "Women in their thirties, which things do you miss from the '90s and '00s eras?"
Needless to say, the question got a lot of women reminiscing about the good old days. Below are some of the best and most repeated comments:
1. "Going to the movies was a thing you did when you DIDN'T have any money."
2. "I miss the music videos on MTV/VH1. You found a lot of new music that way. The videos were huge budget productions, and some had really good directors."
3. "The Delia's catalog."
4. "I miss phone calls being the norm with friends and talking daily or for hours — even if it was just nonsense. Now everyone seems to have phone phobia and also don’t know or have time to have a convo with anyone anymore."
5. "Nick at Nite, fastest way to fall asleep as a kid. And Keebler Magic Middles."
6. "Being a mall rat."
7. "I miss sweats and hooded sweatshirts. Baggy comfy clothes. Athleisure made it so we have to wear tight leggings because that's all that's sold now. Give me back my folded-over sweats and one size too big shirts. Maybe it was a rural America thing, but I really miss not having to try to look good all the time. I really do dress like Adam Sandler at home and for errands though."
8. "RIP to Pop-Up Video and all the I ♥️ the [insert decade here] shows that were the greatest time wasters."
9. "Browsing the shelves at Blockbuster with my friends to find a film to watch."
10. "People who actually dressed like it was '90s and '00s and no one pretending. That and non-stretch rigid denim."
11. "No social media and no streaming. I feel like we were the last generation that really had a childhood. I played outside with my friends, I had two TV shows that I made sure I was ready to watch at 7 or 8 p.m. Things were just simpler. I feel bad for kids these days."
12. "Delayed gratification. Like, waiting for disposable cameras to be developed."
13. "The newness of things. The time was so transitional with technology and there was so much possibility. While I'm sure some of that is because I was younger then, the adults in my life back in the '90s also seemed curious and excited about all the possibilities for how the future would look. As adults, in this era, most of the people I know definitely don't feel the same way now."
14. "Going to live events and not having everyone just filming everything with their phones."
15. "Midnight movie and book release parties. LOTR, the Star Wars prequels (which...eh), the later Harry Potter books. The stores and theaters would throw these big midnight release parties and all my friends and I would go."
16. "Music of the '90s was awesome — and early '00s music wasn't too bad either. Even though there is more access now, exposure was easier because you could still hear the stuff on TV or radio... which made it an easy gateway to better music."
17. And lastly: "People being able to function without cell phones."
You can read the full thread of responses on Reddit.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.