Remembering the 1990s...

Got a "You know you grew up in the 90s.." by email and it's almost too good not to post. ( Sorry Alexia ;-) ) There's 50 of them in the original document, so I've tried to keep this slightly briefer.

It made me think a lot about growing up (nothing to do with turning 30 in August, honest) so I've added a few of my own to the list. What can you add?

The email seems to be written by a guy for guys, but I've tried to even things out a bit. Just a bit, mind.

- You know you grew up in the 90s when... -

You remember exactly where you where, who you were with and what you were wearing for THAT penalty. You even remember George Hamilton's commentary, ‘A nation holds its breath…’ You possibly have a son named after Kevin Sheedy.



(25 June 1990, I was at home, in soccer t-shirt from Dunnes probably. Sun was shining. Amazing day.)

You liked Oasis or Blur. But not both, because that ‘wasn’t allowed’. Tipping your two heels confirmed it was not allowed.



(I liked both. Country House and Cigarettes and Alcohol were both anthems)

You had a Megadrive or SNES. But not both, because that ‘wasn’t allowed’ either.



(I had neither. We had a Sega Master System)

You’ve only just turned thirty yet your doctor tells you that you have the wrists of a severely arthritic eighty year old thanks to days spent in the arcade on Street Fighter.



(Had it on the Amstrad. Almost broke me joystick between that and Yie Ar Kung Fu)

You had a crush on the youngest girl in Hanson…



(Giggidy)

‘Talk to the hand coz the face ain’t listenin’ was an acceptable response to any question. As was ‘it’s a free country’. Finish off with ‘Word to your mother’.



You have the complete series of Father Ted…



(and can quote most of it...)

You had ‘The Rachel’ hairstyle if you were female, or one of many ‘Beckhams’ if you were male.



You can quote Pulp Fiction start to finish, you know who Keyser Söze is, and secretly Toy Story made it into your Top 5 films of all time.



You started to watch Tennis. Can’t say I recall why…



Talk shows controlled TV. Ricki Lake, Sally Jessie, Geraldo, Oprah and of course…



You could wear your clothes back to front if you wished and it was ‘cool’ thanks to Kris Kross. ‘Daddy Mac’ll make ya Jump, Jump…’



You owned (or still own) any of the following: A carpet jacket, X-works jeans, eclipse jeans and/or a bubble jacket. For the female, you wore leggings/cycling shorts with long t-shirts and most likely had a pen pal.



You owned a pair of Air-Max and/or Puma discs. You'd bugged your parents for a pair but weren't allowed them in school.



20p got you far in the shop. 10p for a Mr. Frosty cool-pop (a Snow-time optional), a 5p packet of A-team crisps, two fruit salads, two apple jacks and a Postman Pat.



(Special nod to Wham bars, 5p Woppa bars, Meanies, lemon Roy of the Rovers, Banshee Bones, Hot Lips, real Monster Munch and Mr Freezes)

Your breath smelled of Frosties.


Bryan Adams was number one for about four years. Wet Wet Wet another three. At least.


(The Bryan Adams song reminds me of picking strawberries up the hill. £1 a bucket.)

Helen Daniels was alive and well in Neighbours. As was Percy Sugden in Coronation Street.



Saturday evening TV was worth watching: Catchphrase, Gladiators, Baywatch, Generation Game, You Bet, Big Break, Noels House Party and then Casualty. And shame on you, the answer's ‘holding down a job’.



You remember Sports Saturday on RTE, and now you’re humming the tune of ‘The Final Countdown’.



Pippa was blonde, Michael was alive and Sally was 8 in Home and Away



Your attic has a stash of old Shoot & Match Magazines. Or Smash Hits if you were that way inclined.



Sharkie & George were the crimebusters of the sea.



You still think of Ant & Dec as PJ & Duncan.



You know the dance moves to Whigfield's Saturday Night and the Macarena. You firmly believe Scatman John did a lot for the music industry.



Chris Evans was ‘a madser’.



Your first mobile phone required you to carry around a backpack and your number is still 088…



(check out Eugene's amazing mobile collection)

You got your first DVD player.



Beverly Hills 90210 was reality TV. You watched California Dreaming, Pugwall & you know the theme tune to ‘Saved by the Bell’. You’re singing it now.



You know what ALF stands for. And you’ve just realised how scarily he looks like that old guy who hosts the Rugby on RTE. Not George Hook, the other one.



If you’re a bloke, you secretly liked Take That. If you’re a girl, you loved them. Either way, you cried when they broke up in February 1996.



(Most certainly did not! Back for Good is their only good song. Oh and Never Forget. Oh, and ...)

If you preferred East 17 you were ‘a knacker’.



Among the big bereavements in your life were Kurt Cobain, Biggie and Tupac



Mr. Motivator helped your mother lose five pounds.



Mr. Kipling helped her find it again.



You remember when Victoria Beckham was just the skinny Spice Girl who never sings.



Ireland won the Eurovision every year because Eastern Europe was collectively known as Russia. It was pimps.



and this made you proud to be Irish and to give it a go:



You got up really early to cheer on Michelle Smith in Atlanta.



And you are of the opinion she couldn’t have been lying, because swearing on a loved one's life without crossing any part of your body was a guarantee you were telling the truth.

Other things:

• You camped out your back garden during the summer and had water fights because water was free. Rubbish could be burned out the back.
  
• Owning a CD player classed you as ‘Posh’
  
• Now Albums came out on tapes once or maybe twice a year.

Rather embarrassingly now, most of the black people I knew were the following people:















Sunday mornings was Ian Dempsey, Dave Fanning and Simon Young with Peter Collins on the Beat Box, then Little House on the Prairie and a bit of this



Gosh there's so much else. Diana and Mother Teresa dying in 1997; Brush Shiels and Brendan O' Carroll on every second Late Late Show; Erika Eleniak; Zig and Zag Christmas specials with Ian and then Ray D'arcy; The X Files; American Gothic; Saturday Nights were Star Trek The Next Generation; Gerry Ryan did that awful TV show (left, left, left, fire, fire, fire) and so on.

My favourite though from the whole list:

You had to walk around and find your friends by yourself. You couldn’t just text or ring them.

What do you remember? It wasn't THAT long ago!