1990's & 2000's (the decade) in retrospect....oh those crazy '90's & OH-OH's...

[mrreindeer]

Disclaimer: This post may be confusing; it may wander to & fro and eventually never get to its point; this post may be entertaining, it may not, it most certainly will not cook you dinner. This post may require batteries, oil, air, other miscellaneous ingredients and artificial flavors which you most certainly won't have in your cupboard and yeast (if you want this post to rise). One 6 ounce serving of this post will provide you with 2 grams of fiber, 1 gram of fat, 260 calories, 100% of your Daily Values of Vitamins A, B & F U; it also contains Red#5 yet Phenylketonurics! it does not contain Phenylalanine. This post is not to be taken too seriously and contains high amounts of exaggeration. Be warned.

As some of you have requested in the past, this post will have a 'Short Version' at the bottom for those of you who just want me to get to the damn point and not beat around the bush.


On my way in this morning, I was in quite the quandary. But I'm getting ahead of myself....

As we quickly approached the year 2000, most of you were concerned about the end of the world. Anyone remember Y2K? While I couldn't be bothered by the prospect of my computer (or any computer) not working or not having access to my bank accounts or being able to call someone up on the phone or the plane I was flying on suddenly dropping from the sky, I was much more worried about what nomenclature to give the brand new decade and to a much less extent, what the next 10 years would hold for us.

I remember looking forward and giving serious thought (much before everyone else because I tend to think about stupid stuff like this…have you read my other posts?) to whether or not the “Oh Oh’s” would work as our nickname for these terribly tumultuous times, all the way from Internet Bubble to Bear Stearns/Countrywide/Lehman Brothers/Merrill Lynch/Madoff Bye-Bye to Corporate Bailouts Oh-My!

Has it worked? Will these years be known as the “O-O’s” or “Oh Oh’s” or will something else stick?

Since we all tend to be a bit procrastinistic, I guess we’ll figure it out next year, looking back from 2010 and remembering the Uh-Oh’s of the Oh-Oh’s. I’ll feel much better in the next decade, when we can say in the ‘20’s, “Boy, those ‘10’s were good years”, although “20’s” sounds considerably better to me than “10’s”.

But aside from worrying about what name to call these years (and I was always told it wasn’t nice to call something names), I began to worry and wonder this morning what these times will be known for, aside from the things listed above. Aside from the obvious history being written as we introduce the first African-American into the office of President, which truly is historic, what on Earth else will we really take from the ‘O-O’s’?

I mean, looking back to the ‘90’s, I can’t remember much macro worthiness being taken from that decade either. They just kinda came and went. From the ‘70’s & ‘80’s though, man, we’ve got amazing music, style, wardrobe, dance. That could also be said for the ‘40’s, ‘50’s and ‘60’s. Truly amazing times which really had their own unique feel, as far as decades go.

My question is this. Are we losing that which distinguishes us from decade to decade? And it really is interesting because you can truly see the discrepancies between each. If we can remember Elvis and the Beatles in the ‘50’s, Berkeley in the ‘60’s, Disco in the ‘70’s and Miami Vice in the ‘80’s…..what the heck are we gonna remember from the ‘90’s and O-O’s? Perhaps I’m putting too much emphasis on style & music but in 30 years, what the heck are we going to call and take from this era? Better start thinking now & prepare yourselves.

Short Version:
-We're coming to the end of the decade
-What will this past decade be remembered for? Like in 4 words or less
-Are we losing our decade uniqueness/individuality?

[PipesandGOP]

Originally Posted by mrreindeer

-What will this past decade be remembered for? Like in 4 words or less
Lack of personality
-Are we losing our decade uniqueness/individuality?
I'd say so. Granted I'm not old enough to remember those decades remembered for their, I guess you could say 'culture', but I do Think we're loosing all sense of anything unique. It's hard to come up with something like disco or Andy Griffith when all anyone wants to do is have their head glued to a cell phone. Hell, they don't even call any more, now it's the texting just to add that extra wall between people. TV is dominated by reality shows because no one even cares what's on, and if they did the networks would say it's too expensive to make a show. Everything that's ever been known as good and right is out. I'd say we might be known in this decade for the destruction from within of America.

.

[JCK]

remembered by me as... Ji's Thirty Somethings
I have to say all in all it was a mighty fine decade.

[Mad Hatter]

We'll see the neoconservative revolution and the rise of fundamental christianity. We'll think back on the Bush years (and the end of the Clinton years) and the wars in the deserts of asia. We'll remember the Walmart boom and how they went from "Made in America" to "Made in China" and textiles made in parts of the world that we didn't even know had electricity. Among other things (to put this in short form) revolutionizing the Internet, Youtube, online forums, wikipedia and how flashdrives carried on a keychain hold more memory than a good computer used to, SUVs and pickups you need a stepladder to get into, Martha Stewart and Leoni Helmsly, OJ Simpson, Dawson's Creek, dozens of movies with weird looking kids who were not the brat pack from the 80s, SouthPark, tons of movies with too little plot and too many cheesey special effects, satellite TV and DVRs and TIVO , god....where does it end? Forensic science and CSI, the new feminism, tattoos and Harleys and the explosion of pernography and our TVs telling us to be scared, be scared, be scared and the mass insanity over everything like somehow time was frozen and we were living on the edge of forever. Personally I'll remember ten years of crappy health and a long hard road to get past it. To hell with the first ten years of the 21st century. For better or worse I'll be glad to see 'em go

[mrreindeer]

Originally Posted by PipesandGOP

Originally Posted by mrreindeer
-What will this past decade be remembered for? Like in 4 words or less
Lack of personality
-Are we losing our decade uniqueness/individuality?
I'd say so. Granted I'm not old enough to remember those decades remembered for their, I guess you could say 'culture', but I do Think we're loosing all sense of anything unique. It's hard to come up with something like disco or Andy Griffith when all anyone wants to do is have their head glued to a cell phone. Hell, they don't even call any more, now it's the texting just to add that extra wall between people. TV is dominated by reality shows because no one even cares what's on, and if they did the networks would say it's too expensive to make a show. Everything that's ever been known as good and right is out. I'd say we might be known in this decade for the destruction from within of America.

You bring up a really intersting point! Perhaps we should be called the "ADD Decade" or "ADD Generation". With all that we occupy our time with these days and all the things we juggle (CS included...hell, I'm at work right now...and I'm busy) at one time (we're no longer the Pepsi Generation but the Atttention Defecit Generation and have made this past decade our home), how can we possibly be expected to focus on one thing long enough to have a culture created out of it?

It is kind of sad and really our responsibility to slow down and focus on some important stuff.

[Cigar Man Andy]

1990's - Forgettable Music, and Big Cars/SUVs
2000.s - 9-11 and a Re-session/depression.

[mrreindeer]

Originally Posted by khubli

remembered by me as... Ji's Thirty Somethings
I have to say all in all it was a mighty fine decade.

While I joke about the '90's & O-O's, I agree Ji, the O-O's were probably my finest decade as far as personal growth goes. In 1991 when I graduated high school, I was completely lost with absolutely no direction. I finally graduated college in 1997 and started working for my current employer. I met my wife two years later and she's been the absolute best thing to ever happen to me. And then I figured out what the helll to do with the rest of my life and am loving my job (been in the same position for the past 6 years now).

Originally Posted by Mad Hatter

Personally I'll remember ten years of crappy health and a long hard road to get past it. To hell with the first ten years of the 21st century. For better or worse I'll be glad to see 'em go

Great post Mad Hattter & I'm sorry that it's been a tough one. Here's to much better '10's for ya!