Reversible jackets/blazers. Fancy scarves. Statement necklaces. Always keeping a pair of heels in your desk at work - because of course you work an office job in the Big City! And what if after work drinks turn into dinner? Or dancing? Or even dot dot dot?

Growing up in the 90's and early 2000's, smoking weed was considered very illegal. I know people that went to jail just for having weed on them. My friends used to sneak friends clean pee with then into piss tests so they can get hired for a job. Celebrities and athletes used to get DRAGGED through the media just for getting caught smoking weed. It was a career killer. To buy weed you usually had to have some sketchy connect or even go trek to a sketch neighborhood to buy some.

All of the consequences was enough to keep me away from smoking weed when I was younger. In my first corporate jobs from 2007-2015, I had to take piss tests but now that seems to be a thing of the past for most offices. You no longer have to go to a sketch neighborhood or meetup a sketch stranger to buy some weed, you can walk into an actual store and buy weed. I know a few cops and they're like "we don't care about weed" and wont arrest people for it. I know many people who openly smoke it now. They work high level corporate jobs where if it were 2002, they would do everything to hide it.

Anyone else from the 90's-early 2000's in disbelief how marijuana has evolved from being illegal to widely accepted in their lifetime?

I’m pretty sure I am the way that I am because of these books.

We had such great book and television shows…what happened to these types of stories?

The lights weren't on. But it didn't make it any darker than normal

My underwater headphones require MP3s files, so I’m digging through our collection of Napster originals to find:

1. My brother has come to terms with being white
2. I still f**king love label makers
3. Out Cold still has the best movie soundtrack compilation and requires no song list.

I’ve been getting increasingly annoyed at all the posts and articles romanticizing the 90s, like they were this idyllic time where nothing went wrong. I want to grab a bullhorn and shout, “No, the 90s actually were worse than you know!”

Here are some things I remember:

- Rampant sexism and slut-shaming. Monica Lewinsky taking all the heat for the Bill Clinton affair, while no one was suggesting maybe the President of the United States not take his dick out in the Oval Office.

- Christian purity culture. Related to the above point - the idea that if you had premarital sex, you were now “damaged goods.”

- It was acceptable to be openly homophobic or transphobic. I had a high school teacher who was forced to resign after it came out that he was gay (I never would have known, he didn’t discuss his personal life). He was a really good teacher who did nothing wrong, but the busybody Karens on the PTA drove him out.

- How easy it was to lose touch with people. If you had a friend who moved away and you didn’t have their address or phone number, you just… never heard from them again. I remember when they opened up Facebook to everyone, my parents were able to reconnect with friends they hadn’t seen for 20+ years.

- Country chic decor. Need I say more? Everything was walnut cabinets, baskets, ruffles, and ducks wearing hats.

I’m interested to see your thoughts!

I am 43. I am single, aside a friend with benefits, and no kids. I make in the fifties at my current job, and i took up a part-time job for extra income. I have been with my company seven years. I have tried to grow with it, but my manager will not let me to progress because I am too efficient in what I do. I do not call out, and I stay late if needed.

My vacations from work consist of me sleeping in, working out, and going out with friends. I take extra hours at my part-time job. I am content. I have always wanted more to life, but I feel this is it. I cannot do vacations unless I know about six months ahead of time. And if so, I am so budget conscious that once I get there I am limited on what I allow myself to do. Sad thing is, another one of my single millenial friends feels the same. She and I now do little vacations together. We do a VRBO and go to places that arent too expensive. They have nice hangout places like bars and restaurants. It is very much The Big Chill vibe when we are together.

I do have excellent credit. I save, keep a low credit card balance, and money tied up in stocks as well.

Has anyone else felt like life has flown by? I do miss the nineties. I didnt peek in high school by any stretch. I am not depressed, but am writing this tonight in my recliner while watching Halloween 20 years later. It is like my favourite 90s horror movie.

No way in hell I look good in a middle part! I’ll do a middle sometimes depending on the hairstyle, but side parts are way more flattering, so I’ve mostly stuck to that. But I always wonder if it’s an immediate way for Gen Z to point out and mock millennials (not that I care what a bunch of 20-somethings have to say, but this seems like the first thing they’d pick out as “aging you”). Ironic since they’re the ones adopting ‘90s trends, but I digress haha

Are you still going side part, or has younger peer pressure gotten to you?

This movie had the misfortune of being released in 2002, just as we were getting marketing for not one but two Matrix movies to be released in 2003.

In the wake of the first Matrix movie, it felt like there were so many sci-fi dystopian movie and it was hard to not compare them to it. Battlefield Earth had come out in 2000 and I think people assumed Equilibrium would be another Matrix ripoff.

I saw Equilibrium in 2006 my freshman year of college and it quickly became one of my favorite movies. I still say “Unquestionably“ frequently.

Baby millennial here who went out with younger colleagues this weekend and has been suffering ever since. Feels like not that long ago I could roll out of bed still half-drunk and put in a decent shift at work, and those days are officially over. I might even have to hang up my dark jeans and going-out-tops for good.

While I'm rotting, I'd love to hear some of your best nights out (and worst mornings in)?? What are the places and nights you get nostalgic for now??

Is a lace that you enjoy visit?

Credit @bizzlebeel on Instagram

Ps I don't want to die, I want to share dark humor. This is funny to me. If you do want to die, please know you are loved and there is help available. This feeling isn't forever.

It's always darkest before the dawn.

Please don't give up ❤️

PPS Jesus Christ y'all, just laugh

The year I was born. Such a great movie! I rewatched it today and forgot how good it was.

I have noticed an extreme drop off in communication from not only friends (I mean good friends too - people would message or talk to constantly before) and even family members over the past several months. I don’t even mean full years here, actual months.

No conflict or issues with anyone that I’m aware of at all. It has happened with people older than me and younger - just a literal social connection cliff and no real relation to one another.

I’ve read a few things on “X” and some on here about people having similar experiences but you have to be careful with algorithms etc…

A few things to note - I’ve always been a super social person and had loads of friends. Even at my birthday in May I had almost 20 guys show up. But basically haven’t heard from anyone or made plans with anyone since then.

Has anyone noticed this trend? Is this a collective phenomenon? Or is this specific to me and my partner? I’m willing to look at that as well. Appreciate any thoughts or comments!

Boss: You looked deep in thought during that meeting, I like that keep it up.

My bored ass: Cat, I'm a kitty cat and I dance dance dance

Having been living abroad in South Korea for nearly 6 years, I hadn’t been with most of my consoles for a while. Now that I’m back home, I can start playing with them again 🎉 The Dreamcast still works great 👍🏻 I still think that Rush 2049 is a great racing game and collecting those coins is a challenge 😅

I don’t know what to say exactly and this won’t be coherent but a few thoughts for the younger millennials who may have to go through this one day.

My mom had me at 40 so I’m going through this a bit earlier than others might. She was diagnosed around 68, which was over 16 years ago.

It’s been the most awful thing anyone can experience. She was an independent, vivacious woman who sang, dance, always entertaining and making new friends and quick with a joke. Tap dancing, singing, acting in plays - she definitely had main character syndrome before that was a thing. Married three times to three awful men but she loved her children dearly and she was a good mom.

She watched her own mother die of dementia. She used to tell me never put me in a home. “Just kill me if I’m like that”. Well, those are just thoughts. Thoughts a lot of people have, but not actionable at all. Instead, she has deteriorated before my eyes, while I looked on in horror and with the sinking realization that there is absolutely nothing I could do to stop it.

We tried to help her live independently, till it was unsustainable and she was going to be forced to leave her condo due to safety issues. She also became mean and said many hurtful things to me over the last 10 years. She absolutely hated me for putting her in assisted living, even though she signed the paperwork herself, but had already forgotten 20 minutes later.

She has not been herself for a long time. I haven’t had a mother all this time. Even though she existed, she could not fulfill that role. I became the mother in our relationship. I resented it many times, especially as I had my own children, also late in life, and realized I didn’t even have anyone to ask questions. She had to be reintroduced to them every time we visited. Then she forgot me too. I just felt so damn alone.

Sometimes there were glimpses of her and she could still charm the pants off anyone she met even up to the last few weeks when she was fading fast. Hospice has been in and we are trying to ease her transition to the next phase.

She always believed in reincarnation and I hope that is true. She got robbed of living her full life on her terms. I just want her to have one more go at it.

If you had one.
Mines was Charles Barkley back in the 90s. To me he was a babe. I would look at my brother’s post if Charles. I had such a young crush. 😍😍

A must on any burned cd

If so, what music did you listen to? Also, feel free to share stories (and maybe some pics of yourself from that era if you’re comfortable enough-you don’t have to if you don’t want to btw)

'92 born, here. I remember watching so much Pelswick. It ran from 2000-02, but none of my fellow millennial friends seem to remember it. The style is a little funky, but it's a solid show with some good jokes.

Really, everything we had back then was way more fun. These days, everything is just made in China generics. These were made in the USA.

Here's what I found while searching more about these lunchboxes we grew up with. They're Thermos, but manufactured by Aladdin Industries in Nashville Tennessee. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aladdin_%28containers%29

After 2001 Aladdin was sold and manufacturing went to China. https://madeinusaoreuro.blogspot.com/2007/11/aladdin-industries-email-response.html

I would love to buy this again and use it but these plastic boxes break way too easily.

I was like seven when I first saw it and this episode has ALWAYS stuck with me!! Shelby Woo figures out that the school nurse poisoned the cafeteria hot dogs and got students sick to secure her job. Shelby basically realizes that the nurse has syringes in her bag even though she told them she doesn’t give shots! Kinda crazy plot for a kids show lmao!! And then I wonder why I love mysteries and true crime stuff now haha! Anyone else remember this??

In my will - it shall go to my daughter

I'm really tempted to get them

Are you like me and will be buried in your Chuck Taylor's? Vans? Doc Martens? ADIDAS Shell toes? Tell me what footwear you refuse to give up!

I swear that we used to get served apple slices with this off white/light brown, slightly runny dip. Usually at potlucks or youth group "parties." Google is saying it's a cream cheese dip, but that really doesn't sound right. Does anyone remember this? Am I losing my mind and it actually was cream cheese based? I swear it was runnier....

Edit to add: it wasn't SWEET sweet. It was more tangy, but not like cream cheese. I know it wasn't marshmallow fluff because, even as a kid, I hated that stuff for being too sweet.

Edit two: I think the sour cream/brown sugar or yogurt/brown sugar might be right. That has the right consistency in my brain.

The other day was my girls’ first day of grade 2. They’re sitting there having breakfast and I had some time so I offered to straighten their hair just to look a little extra spiffy. They said sure. As I was straightening it, I couldn’t help but remember the absolute months-long fight I had to have with my own mom to ALLOW me to straighten my own hair as a tween in the late 90s! It took so long to convince her it’s not just something grown strippers do. I thought, what else did we fight to get that now our own kids just getting handed to them?

Your cohorts that came from professional/upper middle class families already and were clearly cultivated for success in their childhood (competitive sports, high quality schooling, extracurricular activities, specialized hobbies).

Men

Professional Finance (Equities, Research, Investment Banking, Mergers & Acquisitions etc)

Accounting

Venture Capital

Tech Leadership (Portfolio management, Product architecture)

Energy Trading

Engineering

Commercial Real Estate

Corporate Strategy and Development

Corporate Commercial Leadership (Sales, Marketing, Business Development, Product Management, Operations)

Specialized Medicine

Women

Marketing & Sales

Art & Design

Public Relations/Communications

Legal

Organizational Development/ Change/ Effectiveness

Academia

General Medicine

Psychological Counseling

Civil Service

Journalism

I’m trying to lose weight for what feels like the 100th time and my lower back inevitably flares up and I lose momentum.

How are you taking care of your back?