When I think back to life in the 90s, I realize that we used to live life on the edge. Remember when your parents just… let you go places? Alone? With other 14-year-olds? Without a cell phone or any parental supervision? Your best friend’s trampoline had no nets or pads. Kids would regularly leave their house with coiled spring injuries and, if they were lucky, an inadequate bandaid. And no one would bat an eyelash. That was just the way it was.
This week on Laugh Lines, Penn and I take a trip down memory lane with the most unhinged things Gen X did in the 90s. (Seriously… how are we even alive?) If you’ve ever gotten a late fee at Blockbuster or ridden in the back of a pickup truck without a seatbelt, this episode is for you. We heard from so many listeners who shared amazing stories: homecoming games with a live tiger from the zoo, going on cross-state road trips as teenagers, and even piling 20 college kids into the back of a U-Haul with a keg.
We survived but wow, we did some dumb stuff.
10 Wild Things About The 90s
We got hundreds of comments from you about things you did in the 90s that would never be allowed today. (Bonus points if you got a photo of it, because #2 was real.) I feel like this list would send Gen Z into a coma:
#10 Sending kids to school without water bottles.
#9 Your Mom sending you to a “chicken pox party.”
#8 Complete lack of seatbelts and helmets.
#7 Calling into the radio to request a song for your mixtape.
#6 Talking to your friend’s parents when you called their house.
#5 Going to the store to buy cigarettes for your parents.
#4 Always having a quarter on you for the payphone.
#3 No long distance phone calls because they were too expensive.
#2 The complete lack of evidence since no one had a camera on them at all times.
#1 Smoking sections everywhere… even at Chuck E. Cheese. (Seriously this ashtray is epic.)
Let’s Bring Back the Fun — But Maybe With Helmets
Despite the chaos, there’s so much we loved about growing up Gen X. No smartphones. Real independence. And a deep trust that if you told your mom you’d be at the Orange Julius at 2 PM — you’d be there. Or else. So maybe we bring back a few things:
Winter coats (hoodies are not outerwear, kids!)
Glamour shots (someone start this for menopausal women, please)
Middle-aged funeral slideshow prep (I said what I said, we need to make sure we have good photos when the day comes.)
And let’s also take a second to reflect. Sure, we’re safer now. But maybe a little bit of that old-school freedom could do our kids some good. Just maybe hold the Marlboros and mud wrestling contests. We laughed so hard making this episode, and your voicemails and emails were the highlight. Take a listen and let us know what we missed!
