Mindset List: 1990

Apparently Beloit College put itself on the map by creating an annual list called the "Mindset List," which helps college professors stay in touch with their students. This year's entering class was generally born in the year 1990 (read: Year of the DArchuleta).


[Not sure where I found this photo. If it's yours, I'll give you credit. Just another excuse to post an archudorable photo of DArchuleta, not gonna lie.]
Here is their list, in full. I have taken the liberty of bolding those I cannot say is true of me.

1. Harry Potter could be a classmate, playing on their Quidditch team.
2. Since they were in diapers, karaoke machines have been annoying people at parties.
3. They have always been looking for Carmen Sandiego. [Well in theory, yes, but I stopped when I turned 8.]
4. GPS satellite navigation systems have always been available. [I didn't know what a GPS was until I was like 15 ...]
5. Coke and Pepsi have always used recycled plastic bottles.
6. Shampoo and conditioner have always been available in the same bottle.
7. Gas stations have never fixed flats, but most serve cappuccino.
8. Their parents may have dropped them in shock when they heard George Bush announce "tax revenue increases." [This is possibly the stupidest one on the list.]
9. Electronic filing of tax returns has always been an option. [I'm guessing this wasn't true when I was five, I dunno.]
10. Girls in head scarves have always been part of the school fashion scene.
11. All have had a relative — or known about a friend's relative — who died comfortably at home with hospice.
12. As a precursor to "whatever," they have recognized that some people "just don't get it." [WTF!?]
13. Universal Studios has always offered an alternative to Mickey in Orlando.
14. Grandma has always had wheels on her walker.
15. Martha Stewart Living has always been setting the style.
16. Haagen-Dazs ice cream has always come in quarts.
17. Club Med resorts have always been places to take the whole family.
18. WWW has never stood for World Wide Wrestling.
19. Films have never been X rated, only NC-17.
20. The Warsaw Pact is as hazy for them as the League of Nations was for their parents.
21. Students have always been "Rocking the Vote." [I think I just don't know what this means.]
22. Clarence Thomas has always sat on the Supreme Court.
23. Schools have always been concerned about multiculturalism.
24. We have always known that "All I Ever Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten." [Well since I could read, yes.]
25. There have always been gay rabbis.
26. Wayne Newton has never had a mustache.
27. College grads have always been able to Teach for America.
28. IBM has never made typewriters.
29. Roseanne Barr has never been invited to sing the National Anthem again.
30. McDonald's and Burger King have always used vegetable oil for cooking french fries.
31. They have never been able to color a tree using a raw umber Crayola. [I think.]
32. There has always been Pearl Jam.
33. The Tonight Show has always been hosted by Jay Leno and started at 11:35 EST.
34. Pee-Wee has never been in his playhouse during the day.
35. They never tasted Benefit Cereal with psyllium. [I don't think many 18 year olds have eaten Benefit, ever.]
36. They may have been given a Nintendo Game Boy to play with in the crib.
37. Authorities have always been building a wall across the Mexican border.
38. Lenin's name has never been on a major city in Russia.
39. Employers have always been able to do credit checks on employees.
40. Balsamic vinegar has always been available in the U.S.
41. Macaulay Culkin has always been "Home Alone."
42. Their parents may have watched "The American Gladiators" on TV the day they were born.
43. Personal privacy has always been threatened.
44. Caller ID has always been available on phones.
45. Living wills have always been asked for at hospital check-ins.
46. The Green Bay Packers (almost) always had the same starting quarterback.
47. They never heard an attendant ask "Want me to check under the hood?"
48. Iced tea has always come in cans and bottles.
49. Soft drink refills have always been free.
50. They have never known life without Seinfeld references from a show about "nothing."
51. The Windows 3.0 operating system made IBM PCs user-friendly the year they were born.
52. Moscow residents have always been able to buy Big Macs.
53. The Royal New Zealand Navy has never been permitted a daily ration of rum.
54. The Hubble Space Telescope has always been eavesdropping on the heavens.
55. 98.6 F or otherwise has always been confirmed in the ear. [May be because I'm Asian.]
56. Michael Milken has always been a philanthropist promoting prostate cancer research.
57. Offshore oil drilling in the United States has always been prohibited.
58. Radio stations have never been required to present both sides of public issues.
59. There have always been charter schools.
60. Students always had Goosebumps.

... my point is why the hell are they referencing things that happened in 1990!? No 0 year old baby is going to remember anything. Clearly, I was four-going-on-five at the turn of that decade and I barely remember any of these things. And how many 0 year olds are going to give a crap about New Zealand or Russia!? I didn't know what half of the things on this list were until I was thirteen or older.

Lastly, the one that annoys me the most: the Pearl Jam reference. Why do "old people" think Pearl Jam is still a viable pop culture reference with young people?? What percentage of teenagers listen to Pearl Jam on a regular basis?! I remember when Julia Roberts' character said that to Jena Malone's character in Stepmom (in 1997, no less!) and even then I scoffed, because really, who the hell listens to Pearl Jam anymore!?