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How great were the 1990s?

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The 1990s were a pretty special time for me, I left school, went to university and started my first ever job as a newspaper reporter. 
I have some really happy memories from the decade and look back fondly of school, leaving home and finding my independence. 
So I’ve put together five things that I loved most about the decade of Brit-pop, brick phones and when the internet was the new kid in town.

The Music
Brit pop and the Spice Girls exploded onto the pop scene in the 90s and both seemed to change the world. We saw Oasis and Blur battling it out for number one; the story of it even appeared on the national news. For me, the Spice Girls seemed to be like nothing I’d ever seen before and defined a generation of girls. 

No responsibility
The late 1990s were a sweet spot, where I had enough money to have a bit of independence but absolutely no responsibility. Mortgages, commutes to work and children were far away at that point.
I went travelling in America, worked as an au pair and on a whim headed to France to see a friend who was working out there, all without much thought. I can’t even leave the house nowadays without a full plan in place. 

Politics 
Yes back then we were all fairly optimistic, ‘things can only get better’ said new Labour and we all thought they could. Even across the pond the US president, Bill Clinton, was creating scandal with his intern which the world was appalled about. In comparison to what is happening now though it all seems rather bland.  

Social Media (or lack of it)
Yes I totally get the irony of celebrating times of no social media when I’m a blogger and a a self-confessed addict.
However in 1999 I bought my first phone. It sent text messages and made calls and other than a few games that was about it.  
The whole pressure of comparing our lives to others on Instagram or Facebook just did not exist, I wasn’t addicted to my phone and it was much easier to switch off.

The internet 
Again ironic I know and I love the internet, it has brought me so much. Not least being able to watch my Australian God-daughter grow up and many, many other things.
However in the 90s we were all just getting to grips with it and it really was a much simpler time. 
You booked holidays through travel agents or you went on teletext. If you wanted a job you went to the job centre or found your local newspaper and if you wanted to buy a house you walked into an estate agents.

So there it is my favourite things about the 90s, would I want to go back. No not really – but they were fab times and I have some great memories. 

1 thought on “How great were the 1990s?

  1. I like that idea, that from about 1990 to about 1999 we had lots of money and zero responsibilities comparatively speaking, we did a lot of growing up and all without mobile phones, one wonders how we organised things. I remember been stood in the hallway for hours talking on the landline.

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