Things from your 90s childhood to bring back when your healthcare job starts taking over your entire personality

Julie Granger
5 days ago
5 min read

We’re at the middle of August and I think it’s safe to say that –

90s fashion and 90’s summers have made a real comeback this year. I don't hate it.

And while millennial parents are bringing back pieces of our childhood for their own kids…

I wonder if that same 90’s reboot is being applied to … themselves?

This applies to any millennial woman, but I have a particular soft spot for women in healthcare (especially my physical therapy pals who were indoctrinated with Vision 2020 #IYKYK).

You spend your entire work day talking to people, documenting in front of a screen, counting billable hours and units, and keeping up with social media (because apparently that’s part of a thriving career now, too?!)

OF COURSE you get home and you’re so overstimulated you don’t feel like talking to another human or sitting still.

You want to scroll so someone else will tell you what to watch, buy, eat, do, or think because you’ve made 700 decisions already today.

Nobody is taking that from you.

But I also see you–

Reposting Brene's latest Reel about boundaries and then reading this post from the toilet 💩
Taking a coaching certification so you can help patients use their voice to ask for what they need — then spending 3 days drafting a non-annoying text asking your neighbor to watch your kids
Reading about the science of co-regulation and community and then saying “she’s probably too busy” instead of texting your friend to hang because now it feels like you need an appointment just to talk to her

And honestly – same. I get it. Times, technology, accessibility to information, and expectations for availability have changed.

But that doesn’t mean that you also have to become part of the Anxious Generation yourself.

Here are 13 things we need to bring back when our jobs as a woman in healthcare start to take over our whole lives 👇

I would personally like to reinstate #10 right now.

(1) AIM AWAY MESSAGES

Sometimes it was a song lyric or cryptic message intended for one specific person.

We announced we were AWAY and then — crucially — we actually stepped away.

You clearly set boundaries long before you reposted memes about them.

(2) GOING TO THE MALL WITH ZERO OBJECTIVE

You spent your entire allowance on a Wetzel’s Pretzel and Cherry ICEE while you and your friends tried on clothes you didn’t buy at Forever 21

You became an expert at soaking in a whole day doing literally nothing productive.

(3) DISPOSABLE CAMERAS

You only had 27 chances to get a photo JUST right, then waited 24 hours for the film to be developed at Eckerd Drugs.

You captured a moment without knowing what it looked like or needing strangers on the internet to see it, like it, share it, save it, or comment on it.

(4) LANDLINE PHONES

You dragged the phone with the 25 foot long cord into your bedroom to call a friend when you felt bored, upset, lonely, or because that’s just what you did at 8:30 every night

You were built on reaching for another human without

Needing news to share
Texting “is now a good time to talk?”
Sending a Reel first as a socially acceptable bid for connection
Scheduling a catch up 3 weeks from now

…all while tolerating the risk of rejection.

(5) IRL “GET READY WITH ME”

Your friends curled your hair with too much Rave 4X Mega Hold, plucked your brows ultra thin, and taught you to apply frosty silver eye shadow

You received input from people who matter instead of livestreaming it to strangers

(6) BLOCKBUSTER FRIDAY NIGHTS

You wandered around, picked a movie, bought snacks, and went home to watch.

You learned to tolerate choosing something you don’t know you’ll like until you sit through it … all without 4000 options at your fingertips if it disappoints you.

(7) SCHEDULED TV

You were in front of the TV every Thursday at 7:59 PM

You never missed a minute of Ross and Rachel

You became an expert at being patient for and sitting still through something you genuinely enjoy.

There was no phone to scroll.

(8) BEING UNREACHABLE WHEN YOU LEAVE THE HOUSE

You left home and people simply...couldn’t reach you. Except for a true emergency (yes, there was a car / flip phone. You’re not a dinosaur!)

You taught others to need you AND wait for you while you lived your life – without being able to text, DM, email, Slack, check your location, or expect an immediate response.

(9) ENCYCLOPEDIAS

You had to go somewhere to look up information.

You had to go to the library, locate an encyclopedia, use the index, and LOOK for the answer.

The Interlibrary Loan and Dewey Decimal system proved you’ll survive days and several clunky steps of uncertainty until you find out the answer.

(10) THE COMPUTER HAD ONE HOME

That giant beige Gateway 2000 monitor lived on a desk somewhere. You went to it. And when you were finished, you got out up and left.

It didn’t get accidentally dropped in the toilet or go on vacation with you. You had impeccable screen hygiene long before Brick became a verb.

(11) SPEAKING TO AN ACTUAL HUMAN FOR WHAT YOU NEED

Need a pizza? You called Pizza Hut. Need a hair appointment? You called GreatClips.

You taught your nervous system that you won’t die when you use your voice and ask for what you need from a living, breathing human.

(12) DIAL-UP INTERNET

No wait, no. Let’s not bring this back

The irony is - nowadays you’re low key obsessed with taking care of yourself and your patients in whatever way is trending

You regularly quote The Anxious Generation or give it away to your millennial parent friends as a gift

You’re quoting data on the effects of loneliness on physiological health and telling all your colleagues and patients they really need to “build community”

But learning about something and actually doing them are two different things.

But as a kid of the 80’s and 90’s – You’ve actually trained for this.

The 90’s taught you the muscle memory, brain pathways, and tolerance.

You don’t need to read about it on Substack any longer.

It’s already inside of you – waiting for you like the glitter gel pens you left in 7th grade.

As women (and women in healthcare) we’ve gotten simultaneously obsessed with learning how to clock OUT of our jobs and how to get even better INSIDE them.

Nobody is telling you to stop learning or wanting to improve.

But turns out, a lot of the things you want to learn – you became expert at because you were a 90’s kid.

You knew how to have a whole life where being bored, unreachable, unsure, ridiculous, unproductive, and deeply invested in your friends WAS how you got better both in and outside of work.

Which is why I’m increasingly unconvinced you need another podcast or certification teaching you how to have a life outside work.

For 80s and 90s babies — you already know this.

Come back to this the next time you’re reaching for another podcast to teach you something you were already doing in 7th grade.

Your inner 13 year old is begging you while rolling her eyes and saying "Um, all the things you're doing used to be solved by just like, leaving the house?!"

So maybe like, hear her out?

What did I miss? What else do we need to reboot from the 90's?!

Would love to hear your thoughts!