Life

34 Signs You Grew Up in the 90s

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how different my teenage experience was compared to what my kids’ will be, and in the process, I’ve come up with a list of things only people who grew up in the 90s will understand.  Are you a 90s kid?  Browse these 34 signs to be sure.

1. You owned a Jansport backpack.

2. You wore your backpack on one shoulder using a single strap only.

3. You owned a pager, and you were neither a drug dealer nor a medical professional.

4. You were well versed in pager codes.

Photo Credit: ubmassive.blogspot.com
Photo Credit: ubmassive.blogspot.com

5. You are wearing a plaid button down Polo shirt in at least one of your senior photos.

6. You owned and/or coveted Girbaud and Guess jeans with the signature crotch and back pocket labels clearly visible to onlookers.

Photo Credit: flickr
Photo Credit: flickr

7. You or nearly every girl you knew sported a “Rachel” haircut at some point.

8. You owned a pair of bib overalls, and you 1.) actually wore them, and 2.) wore them with one strap hanging down.

Photo Credit: Getty Images
Photo Credit: Getty Images

9. You or nearly every girl you knew owned a choker necklace.

10. You wore baggy, oversize jeans and a flannel button down, or at least you did during your Nirvana phase.

Photo Credit: Getty Images
Photo Credit: Getty Images

11. You kept your school work in a Trapper Keeper.

12. You hand wrote and passed folded up notes to your friends during class.

Photo Credit: emilylayla.files.wordpress.com
Photo Credit: emilylayla.files.wordpress.com

13. You could get around town for an entire Friday night (and maybe even Saturday) with just $5 worth of gas in the tank.

14. Nobody you hung out with owned a cell phone (except that one friend you made fun of for whipping out the Zack Morris when there was a perfectly good land line right there on the counter).

15. You or somebody you hung out with owned a “system” in their car (and your hearing will never be the same again).

16. You owned CK One.

Photo Credit: eyeneedglamour.com
Photo Credit: eyeneedglamour.com

17. You or somebody you knew rode the Goth train and wore far too much black lipstick, nail polish, and eye liner.

18. You did your homework without the aid of Wikipedia or SparkNotes.

19. You were super bummed when your parents got Caller ID and could tell from whose house you were calling to check in.

Photo Credit: openclipart.org
Photo Credit: openclipart.org

20. You or nearly every girl you knew wore scrunchies without embarrassment.

21. You jumped on the Crystal Pepsi bandwagon.

22. You wouldn’t miss an episode of My So Called Life.

Photo Credit: richkidsunite on Flickr
Photo Credit: richkidsunite on Flickr

23. You hung out at the mall (especially the food court).

24. You had your own land line in your room (the one your parents purchased for dial-up Internet).

25. MTV’s The Real World was groundbreaking and actually real.

Photo Credit: commons.wikimedia.org
Photo Credit: commons.wikimedia.org

26. You belonged to BMG or Columbia House.

27. You got your concert tickets at Harmony House.

28. You owned Doc Martens.

Photo Credit: commons.wikimedia.org
Photo Credit: commons.wikimedia.org

29. You or nearly every girl you knew wore Mudd bell bottom jeans (and swore you’d/they’d NEVER wear skinny jeans again).

30. You or someone you knew wore a neon colored wig, donned a pacifier, and attended a rave in an abandoned warehouse.

Photo Credit: en.wikipedia.org
Photo Credit: en.wikipedia.org

31. You or nearly every guy you knew rolled their hat brims tight and/or wore them backwards with a little tuft of hair poking out the front.

32. You wanted to be Winona Ryder or Ethan Hawke in Reality Bites.

33. You were expert at hitting record right at the moment when the radio DJ quit talking and your favorite song began to play, and you had a killer collection of mixtapes to prove it.

Photo Credit: Generation Bass on Flickr
Photo Credit: Generation Bass on Flickr

34. You signed each other’s yearbooks with H.A.G.S. (they still do that).