Memories of 2000-2001?
Posted by wbgsj@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 60 comments
Super vague, I realize. I’m writing a novel that takes place in 2000-2001 (which was my senior year of high school) and I’m wondering if anyone has any specific memories they’d like to share. I don’t need personal revelations, but if there are specific details you remember, I’d love to see them. *Especially prom.* What was it like to hang out with your friends? What did you eat/drink/listen to? How did you talk to each other? Bonus points for a female perspective. All help is appreciated — thanks.
Same-Manufacturer773@reddit
My junior prom was in 2001. We were very serious about our up-dos and full length dresses. I think I got my dress at Dillards. French tip acrylic nails. Our prom was generic. It was pretty boring. And we left for a house party at my friends house. Went swimming and drank captain morgan. Smoked a lot of menthols that night. My boyfriend date was pushy. And I recall doing things just so he would shut up.
Lucky-Remote-5842@reddit
I read this as my boyfriend's date. 😅
HOTDOGVNDR@reddit
Sorry, I was already out of school 5 years and 1 kid in.
alphabetikalmarmoset@reddit
The Internet as we know it now was in its infancy. Even seeing a website URL advertised on television was a new thing. E-commerce was not fully formed. There were no smart phones; you had green backlit basic brick or flip mobiles. The Motorola StarTAC was a big deal. Texting was brand spanking new. Imagine a world where, on a walk down a city street, you’d see barely anybody with a phone in hand - because they were still telephonic devices, not yet digital pacifiers and human addiction machines.
Colossus-of-Roads@reddit
I mean, I'd been on the internet for 6 years by the year 2000, it was pretty mainstream. And I'd been sending and receiving SMS on my mobile for 4 years (the first SMS-capable phone I had was a Nokia 2110 in 1996).
Then again, tbose things were still sonewhat the domain of the geek class. You'd see URLs on the sides of vans or on TV but not all the time.
Petraaki@reddit
I feel like I was on the internet, and it had lots of things to check out, but it wasn't flash yet. I visited government and college sites, chat rooms, AOL, email, and the occasional new movies release site, but most of the brain rot stuff would come a bit later (hamster dance, peanut butter jelly time). I remember going to the LOTR website, and they had 3 different size previews you could watch, but even the smallest one took forever to download and was still super glitchy. I thought it was the coolest thing ever, it was the first preview I remember seeing that way. I remember also looking up the requirements for becoming an astronaut on a nasa site in 2000/2001 I know it was around then because it was around when I was figuring out college options
djsynrgy@reddit
It was! Homestar Runner was doing flash animations in '00. I was learning how it worked around the same time, with a pirated copy my stepdad had.
concreteghost@reddit
And we texted using the t9 method. And we were fast at it.
a_dance_with_fire@reddit
This is how I remember it too. Only a handful of people had brick style cell phones (although they were becoming more popular). Some had a pager. Although google existed, search engines were still unreliable, doubly so for information. People creating their own websites (geocities) with flashy, animated, god awful rainbow text.
Cameras to take pictures. Patience waiting for film to develop. It was expensive too. Digital cameras had crappy resolution.
CDs, DVDs, various gaming systems. Making plans with friends at school to meet up later, or going to various homes or spots to find your friends. House parties, bush parties. Not worrying about physical evidence of shenanigans like there is nowadays, mainly word of mouth.
Oh, and wondering why the fuck so many friends opted for pencil-thin, nearly nonexistent eyebrows.
Flat-Philosopher8447@reddit
Went everywhere in a 94 Toyota Carola - manual. Half my friends learned on old stick shifts. When that car finally died (rear ended and totaled) I couldn’t find a manual shift anymore. My walkman had a radio adapter instead of a tapedeck. I was wireless before wireless. I don’t know how tux rental may have changed - but as guy that was an expense unlike any other I ever had. Up to that point “church clothes” sufficed for any event that required looking nicer. Seems like girls may ha e had a few other occasions to get nice dresses for a specific event, but the tux thing was completely new for guys.
AphelionEntity@reddit
That feeling when y2k didn't happen. The adults were very concerned. I was online to watch the clock roll over. I also had a lot of friends, played MUDs, hung out with different cliques based on clubs. Nerd culture was transitioning to being more cool.
I feel like I was in jncos and flared jeans. All the white boys had one of a few hair cuts... This variation on a bowl cut was super popular there.
I still had a Nokia phone you could throw like a brick. I played snake, had my favorite ringtone, had to press number keys repeatedly to text letters.
The music was amazing. Like this is the era of the thong song.
Went to prom with a close friend I had been trading crushes for years. Neither had feelings at the time, but he had just been dumped. Another girl had my dress. We laughed about it and took a photo.
Everything felt new and exciting and hopeful until 9/11. I grew up in NYC. It was a sudden lesson about how adults navigate the world. Not just the event but our response. I had classmates who were trying to use those nokias to call parents who worked in lower tower floors. It was still weird to watch other parts of the country use "never forget" to turn us into a political bludgeon in support of things we thought seemed questionable.
KinkMountainMoney@reddit
The last time I saw my high school best friend was we went to see Moulin Rouge in early summer 2001.
I had pirated it the first week in September and showed it to some friends that first weekend. I found out about the attacks around 0915 that morning. I didn’t know it was jets until I got back to my dorm around 11. My mom had told me it was planes. I thought she meant bi-planes. Little one or two seaters. After the reality set in, I had Jim Broadbent and Nicole Kidman singing the end of “The Show Must Go On” in my head for the next week it seems like. Alternating with Freddie Mercury, depending on how ill-fated I was feeling. It was this whole air of inevitability and how we as a people needed to pull each other up and keep going.
Prom? I wore a top hat. A redneck trash whore said she’d be ashamed to be seen like that and to this day I don’t know if she was talking about me or my date who was Pakistani. Pretty big smack from a girl who’d had her ear gnawed off by a rat when she was a baby.
Rude-Suit4494@reddit
Coyote Ugly and Bring it On both came out August 2000 and were very influential. In spring 2001, the Sixers made it to the playoffs and that was a VERY big deal for us where I live. In terms of prom, I remember shopping for dresses with friends, and being nervous about who I would go with since I didn’t have a boyfriend. I ended up asking a boy a year older than me who I didn’t know at all. I probably should have just gone alone. It would have been less desperate.
_Satincoffins@reddit
Waiting in line outside a record store for the release of Kid A. Also waiting in line outside a JC penny’s early in the morning waiting for tickets to Phish concert tickets to go on sale. Lots of waiting in lines
HZLeyedValkyrie@reddit
Boones farm ( strawberry hill) and MD 20/20s, Pearl tip acrylic French nails, my updo ( French twist with the excess hair curled and adorned with rhinestones or glitter hair gel?), my prom dress was spaghetti strapped and iridescent purple. I remember a lot of people using those butterfly clips in their hair the wings looked like they were moving. I had an invisible necklace ( it was legit fishing wire with a rhinestone charm on it) that I got from Claire’s because it matched my dress perfectly. My heels came from Bakers because why not they were chunky platform style.
Back that ass up was the jam still.
Rude-Suit4494@reddit
This is the answer
Tie_me_off@reddit
That was my senior year too.
Pfft, it feels like a lifetime ago. I had an abbreviated schedule because I had an “internship”. I would change oil and tires at my buddies dad’s garage. I only had to go to 3 classes in the morning and then rolled out.
I remember the feeling of “this is it, I’m so close to finishing and getting the fuck out of school.” I didn’t know what I wanted to do. My friends were all going to big universities but I slacked and wasn’t sure my next move. I just wanted to be done with school.
I remember senior beach week beer honing vodka and walking in the boardwalk completely hammered. Sharing a hotel with some close friends and my girlfriend.
We would get drunk in each others basement. Smoke a lot of weed.
I enrolled in community college and ended jointing the Army a month after 9/11. It was the best decision of my life. I didn’t stay in longer than I had to but it helped me course correct.
Most of my memories were from working at Dominos Pizza. Going to parties, drinking, drugs, and girls.
APOC_V@reddit
I may be a year off (Class of 2000) but when I'm thinking Prom from that period that Vitamin C 'Graduation (Friends Forever) immediately popped into my head. It was in HEAVY rotation everywhere but like I said may either be spot on or 1 year earlier to the time frame you're talking about.
DustedGorilla82@reddit
Graduated the same year. I smoked lots of weed so hazy memories
Atomies@reddit
I have a very, very niche memory from this very specific time-period! I was in 7th grade during the 1999-2000 school year. Of course, this was before everyone had a cell and we'll before texting culture as it is today.
This specific year, good portion of the class had these FriendLink E-Messengers and this one friend group of boys used them to send daily erotic Dragon Ball Z fanfic to all nearby devices.
As far as I know they never got found out. I vividly remember carefully deleting those messages before I got home in case my mom wanted to look at it, lol.
FoppyRETURNS@reddit
2000 - 2001 was not as carefree as the late 90s. A recession from the dot com crash happened, the first "stolen election," and we became slightly less techno-optimistic. 9/11 became the then version of dystopian hell.
But it was 2001, there were a great many amount people if the stock market didn't affect them or they did not care about politics they carried on just the same. I used to think these normies were unenlightened but they had an inner peace they didn't even know they had.
Ok_Contribution_1319@reddit
Somebody at the party definitely has frosted tips.
TheREALBaldRider@reddit
Something big happened in 2001 early in the fall semester of my sophomore year of college.
Prom: Went with the girl I had a crush on. We went back to my grandmother’s house after the after party and then headed down to Ocean City, MD the next day with a couple of our friends. When we got back, I asked her if she wanted to go on a real date and she said no. Good times.
Gloomy-Moose-4367@reddit
lateralus was released
percypersimmon@reddit
Yea when *Rat Race* came out we all felt things shift.
Negative-Wrap95@reddit
The start of a series of existential dread events.
Brilliant-Special685@reddit
We had corsages and it was a very big deal to indicate our dress colours so our partners could get our corsages and we their boutinierres. Also the terror of pinning the boutonniere on your date and getting it straight and also the itchiness of the corsage strap and how basically it fell apart by end of the night from our enthusiastic dancing.
Funny_Sea_2873@reddit
Chickenbrik@reddit
For me it was my sideburns. The only trend I regret ever being part of
Chickenbrik@reddit
I was a skate/freak/goth guy who was also a mallrat.
Went to my senior prom in an all black tux while my gf at the time went with a big black skirt and a leather corset. We didn’t do much at prom but did go to the after party hosted by our school which was enjoyable.
We were deep into numetal and punk in that era, while I also discovered my love for Drum and Bass. Being in close proximity to NYC I was going to house parties in NYC,CT and NJ. I hung out more outside of the “normal” school experience.
Balthierlives@reddit
Some of the worst years of my life. Graduated from university into the .com bubble bursting. Witnessing 9/11 on tv and then leaving the country for good after that as a result of probably both of those things.
concreteghost@reddit
You left the US bc of 9/11?
Balthierlives@reddit
More coincidence, but I couldn’t find a job in the US so found one somewhere else.
Affectionate_Ask_769@reddit
Malibu run with pineapple juice as well as Alize was super popular in our circle at that time
Radiant_Tie_9362@reddit
Waited in line at Target with my college boyfriend to buy a PlayStation 2
SimpleVegetable5715@reddit
Well, I was born on 9/11, so 2001 hit a weird way. Still does. I’d just been to NYC in 1999.
Metamorphica_0226@reddit
I mean, there was the whole airplane flown into the twin towers thing that happened in 2001
Spartan04@reddit
That time would have been when AIM was still a big thing. A lot of us used that to talk to friends back then.
ElectricLego@reddit
I was busy chatting people up on the MSN chat rooms back then. Way before Gmail came out, so I can't look up the conversations. I remember a lot of 10-packs-for-a-dollar top ramen for dinner. I didn't have a cell phone yet, but I was struggling a bit at the time.
Significant_Mode50@reddit
A lot of “suck it” and wrestling references, tanning beds at prom time, huge binders of cds, landlines and gathering courage to call w risk of talking to parents!
Rewired79@reddit
Cell phones were crazy. I reached up a $1,000 phone bill. I always went over on the text and talk limits. Unlimited talk time would start around 7p.m. on the weekends or something.
herzmaedchen@reddit
you are probably interested in US memories?
Distracted-by-Shiny@reddit
Starbucks opened its first location in my area in 1997. I was a Caramel Frappuccino addict in 2000/2001. This was the start of the fancy coffee drinks era. Used to get Dairy Queen after school, by 2000, I had switched out to Starbucks and Frappuccinos after school.
No-Dig-4408@reddit
A lot of cellphones couldn't text message yet; and if they could, it wasn't yet socially normalized.
And the reception quality was hit or miss -- usually miss, if in a down with under a 5-digit population.
VincentMac1984@reddit
My senior year as well. I was working before and after school and Saturdays. Anyway, the economy wasn’t bad, we got over the big Y2K scare and politics were fairly tame (compared to today’s standards), people seemed optimistic, the American dream seemed within reach with hard work and dedication. I would say a high point in our country until obviously 9/11… that changed everything
guyincognito121@reddit
Most days I would eat a Wendy's #6 plain, large, with a coke, another plain spicy chicken sandwich, nuggets, and a large chili with extra hot sauce.
jazzminarino@reddit
And what are you eating now?
CivilExam1011@reddit
I had job ready for me at Boeing straight out of High School. My parents and older brother already work there. Simple office jobs that pay really well for someone out of high school. Nothing can possibly happen that would get them all laid off
justpassingby_thanks@reddit
A couple notes..... This was peak tape player in the car hooked up to a disc man where your anti skip never lasted long enough. Dave Matthews band was taking over the world. This was the time when low rise jeans got really low, think genie in a bottle by Christina Aguilera which came out in 99 but now girls were wearing it. Also the backless bandana shirt became a thing. Most people didn't have broadband but we were already over aol and had Napster/Limewire to pirate music and burn cds. TVs were still big boxes, but had component input or s video input so you could watch dvds. It was magical when one had multiple angles on a scene. You could also zoom in on a paused movie, for.... Reasons. You couldn't call long distance so instant messenger was a thing but we had to log off eventually so people with away statuses were fancy. Fast casual and chains that didn't grow up in malls weren't there yet. Coldstone creamery was a treat.
What a time to be a young teenager.
wbgsj@reddit (OP)
Dude, the tape player/Discman combo. Great pull.
rythmicjea@reddit
Make sure you get the slang correct! Everything was "whatever!", "as if!", "that's so generic/gay", "no duh", "you wish!"
rinarinabobina@reddit
For prom (senior year, 2000) we had someone's older sibling rent us a hotel room at a place on the beach, we all drove our own cars with our dates to the venue and then the after party. I went to a Regis in the mall to get my hair done in an updo and did my makeup like Shania Twain's in her Man I Feel Like A Woman video. I was the only one in my friend group not allowed to stay the night at the after party so my date drove me home with a friend in the car so he'd have company on the drive back. I remember Sisqo's Thong Song was SUPER popular. All My Life by KC & JoJo was the most romantic song ever. I bought my own wrist corsage.
rinarinabobina@reddit
That summer after graduation we spent going to the beach, the mall, and out to eat at Chili's or Bennigans, or Applebee's. My BFF and I were obsessed with Taco Bell's meximelts and Mountain Dew. We shopped at Charlotte Russe and went halvsies on a pair of white Nike Cortez with a silver swoosh that we shared. We listened to NSync and Brittney but also Kane and Abel and Trick Daddy and were obsessed with Big Pimpin by Jay Z. My BFF worked at the Body Shop and I was obsessed with their coconut body butter and she bought all of their hemp products and the Satsuma scented stuff. I drove a 94 Nissan Sentra and she had a a newer Saturn. I also got.my first cell phone that summer, one of the old brick looking ones that you could change the face plate on. I wore Strawberries and Champagne scented body spray from Victoria's Secret.
AJ14847414@reddit
Going to the 24 hour Target to get Perfect Dark and other video game new releases the minute they came out.
Playing hey mister or having other booze connections to get our fix before turning 21
SpoonFullOfSugar1111@reddit
We called it "shoulder tapping"
BidInteresting8923@reddit
Spring ‘01 graduate. From a VERY working class background. Very close to joining US Army Reserves to help pay for college. Turns out it would’ve been a less than ideal arrangement
No-Dig-4408@reddit
If you mention drinking Code Red, let it be known that that became a thing in mid 2001.
Up until that it was pretty much just the regular stuff.
I don't know if this is important in remembering your 2000\~2001, but it sure was to mine.
ohio2az@reddit
I had to poop on the way home from school, pulled over on a rural country road. I hopped out of the car, went into the woods, squatted and dropped a duece. Little did I know, I shit into my boxers that made a bridge across my jean legs. Didn't find out until I pulled them up and hopped back in my car.
Verbull710@reddit
Obese sawed off little guy who gave himself the nickname Beefcake came back to the boat drunk after a night on the town when we were in England
His inebriated stubby fat ass couldn't climb up to his rack in the torpedo room so he just took his shirt and pants off and sat down there unconscious and pissed all over himself 👍
Verbull710@reddit
Also, that was summer of 2001 if you end up using that 👍 🇺🇸