Episode 148: Special Guest, Cat Flynn, Talks Fads of the 90s

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Paige: You are listening to Coffee with Gringos. I’m Paige Sutherland.

Ian: And I’m Ian Kennedy.

Paige: And today we have a very special guest joining us on the pod—Cat Flynn—she is a good, good friend from college, from Holy Cross. So, Cat, this is your first time on the show. Thanks for joining us. To start, tell us a little bit about yourself—where are you from? What do you do for work? Where do you live nowadays?

Cat: Yes, well, I'm happy to share a little about myself. Thank you so much for having me on the pod. I am really excited to have my debut. I've been waiting for this day. Let me tell you, I’m a big fan. But as you said, my name is Cat and I live in Boston, Massachusetts. I grew up in New York in Queens, and I went to college with you, Paige, in New England outside of Boston. Since that time, I've been living in Boston for the last nine, going on nine years. I work as a nurse practitioner in one of the hospitals in Boston. Every day is a different experience, let's put it that way, but it's awesome. I really enjoy what I do and I enjoy working with the patients and doctors, nurses, everybody. It’s a great team and right now my focus for the summer is to train for a marathon. So that is going to keep me busy. Busy, I hope.

Ian: Good luck.

Paige: Well, congrats. Well, we are not going to talk about any of those things today. Because today, we're actually are talking about a topic that you, Cat, brought to us and we're very excited about talking about it—it is fads. So, for our listeners that don't know, fads are similar to a trend. They’re something that usually a certain demographic gets very excited about, everyone has to have it, and it happens a lot when you're younger because you're really impressionable of what everyone else is doing. And so, you're just trying to fit in, and so a fad, specifically, we’re going to talk about the fads of the 90s when we grew up back then, and the trends, the fads, that were really popular and very short-lived. That’s what makes it a fad is that it doesn't last, that it's cool for maybe a few months—maybe a year if it's a good fad—and then it's gone and you just laugh about how stupid it was. So that's what we're going to do today. Again, listeners as always, if you get lost, check out that audio guide and transcript online. So, Cat—kick us off. What is a fad, a trend, that you remember growing up that was memorable?

Cat: Yeah so, I would say, I was just reflecting upon the things that I've really enjoyed or the things that my peers enjoyed growing up thinking about movies, TV shows, things we used to wear and I was thinking about books that people would just go crazy over. I was thinking about the “Goosebumps” books, kind of a prolific series if you will. It was horror-fantasy by this author, R.L. Stein, and he started writing those books in the 1990s—early 1990s. These books were pretty wild, definitely could give kids nightmares if they let their imagination get the best of them. There are werewolves, or dolls or clowns, all those creepy things, and kids just loved it. That was one thing that came to mind immediately when I was thinking of 90s fads.

Paige: Did you buy a lot of them or read a lot of them? Because there were tons of them.

Cat: Yeah, there were like sixty-plus when I was looking up how many he had written, and then there were TV shows and movies, all these other things, and yeah, I used to take them out from the library. So, back in the day, before audible and eBooks and all these things, we would go to the library, which I know people still do. There were also some good “Choose Your Own Adventure” books. I don't know if you guys remember that spin-off from Goosebumps but no matter what, usually, the ending was pretty grim. As grim as a childhood horror-fantasy book could be. But we would flip through all the pages trying to get a good ending and it was tough. Let me tell you.

Ian: Yeah, that was definitely one that I remember being the first taste of a little bit of horror for a lot of kids when you're younger was reading those books and they were definitely creepy at that age when you were younger. And I remember them being big hot sellers also in the Scholastic book fairs. Those would fly off the shelf. It doesn't surprise me that there were so many of them that he had written because I remember seeing so many different titles. To be honest, I can't remember if even a specific one right now but there were so many that yeah, it's totally imprinted in my mind of those hot seller books as a kid and find out what creepy ending is going to happen.

Cat: It's like Stephen King for kids.

Ian: Yeah, exactly. That’s a good way of putting it.

Paige: Yeah, I remember those fairs now that you said that, Ian. That is really funny. It was always the “Goosebumps”, “Captain Underpants”, and then the “Guinness World Records.” Those were the bestsellers and I feel like they had those fairs to be like, “Kids, you should read something more insightful.” And we're like, “A fat guy in underpants.”

Ian: Classics. I love those.

Cat: That is a good point. I just found some old “Captain Underpants” books when I was going through my childhood room recently. Yeah, he used to battle the evil toilets. It was great.

Paige: That's what the kids wanted.

Paige: Hey, Ian. Did you know besides the podcast, Dynamic English offers one-on-one classes with native teachers from all over the world?

Ian: Really? But isn't it just a bunch of grammar lessons?

Paige: No, it's completely discussion-based and focuses on topics the student is interested in.

Ian: That's amazing. But what if I'm not living in Chile?

Paige: No problem. Dynamic does online classes. You can be living anywhere.

Ian: Great, but I'm a little intimidated to take the class alone. Can I join with a friend?

Paige: Of course. Dynamic offers group classes of up to four. Plus, for the next month, Coffee with Gringos listeners get 10% off individual or group classes. So go online to www.dynamicenglish.cl and mention that you are a listener and get your discount.

Ian: Well, I'm sold. Sign me up.

Paige: Ian, what about you? What were some fads you remember?

Ian: I was just thinking of one how back in the 90s, one thing that was a fad, in general, was there was a lot of slime. Like on Nickelodeon, you had “Slime Time Live”, there were always these green gunks or goos or whatever it was that was being in the form of slime being shown on TV or in those, even in the “Goosebumps” books and in a lot of different ways and I think of one specifically that I used to play with a lot and it was Silly Putty. I don't know if you guys remember Silly Putty but kind of like a plastic egg that was filled with this kind of semi-hard playdough gunk, kind of like a mystery substance, but it was really fun too. You could stretch it out and make it into different shapes. You could even stick it on to newspaper and it would take up the ink off in the newspaper and leave the print on it. And, as a little kid, you’re amazed by that. “Oh my God. It took off the ink off the newspaper.” And I just remember sticking that Silly Putty everywhere, all over the house and playing with it and just a lot of times spent sticking it on everything.

Paige: I do remember that. That reminds me that there was like a hand that was sticky and it stretched out, kind of similar and you could attach it to the wall.

Ian: And it would get stuck to the wall and you couldn't get it down. That would happen all the time. Yeah, it was the era of slime and gunk and sticky stuff. It was pretty interesting.

Cat: Ask your mom at the grocery store when you're checking out, “Can I please have a quarter and see what I get?” And what random prize awaits was very exciting.

Paige: I know. It's funny to think now that we're at an age where we would have children and how our kids would be like, “Can I buy this Silly Putty thing?” And you're like, it's so stupid. I'm not buying that. But I remember begging my parents for just the dumbest toys that I had to have because everyone had it and it was cool, and then it wasn't cool a month later.

Ian: I will say that I would still play with some Silly Putty right now if I had it. That being said.

Paige: Fair. So, that reminds me, I'll mention one of my favorite fads and I bet my parents hate me for how much money I made them spend on them, but I probably have over one hundred Beanie Babies—probably more. I was that kid that always needed to have them and I put them in special cases and I wouldn't cut the tags off them. I even bought a book. I bought a book that was “these will be worth X money” and I was like, “I'm going to be rich one day by selling.” I didn't even play with the Beanie Babies. I collected them as a ten-year-old because I thought they were a gold mine and then they were a fad and they're useless, and I am really pissed about it.

Cat: So, I was similar and Paige, I similarly had many Beanie Babies. More than I care to admit. Clearly, I feel badly that my parents really indulged me in that endeavor and that they held on to them all these years for me. I just recently collected them back because I don't want them taking up space in their attic anymore.

Paige: I know. That's my follow-up question: where are they? Is that why your screen is blank? They're just all behind you in your bedroom?

Cat: Me and all my friends.

Paige: And for listeners who don't know, Cat is thirty-one years old, so that would be weird.

Cat: Yes, and childless at this point. It's fine. Yes, I chose one Beanie Baby, I think of them all that I had, I had one that I chose to take the tag off and really allowed to get messed up but the rest of them are in pretty pristine condition, let me tell you, and still have not appreciated in value. So, good times.

Paige: So, one day, me and Cat will be rich and will be laugh and Beanie Babies were never fad.  They were always forever.

Ian: Speaking of furry, small animals from the 90s, another one that I think of that was a pretty hot fad for a while was the Furby toys. So, the Furbies were kind of hard to describe but it's like a mix of an owl with a troll with some other kind of animal, and altogether and they would open their eyes and say things. And it's funny because I never had a Furby myself but I had friends with Furbies and I ended up not liking Furbies because I spent the night one time at a friend's house who had a very scary house, and I was the last one to fall asleep and his Furby kept going off throughout the night. I thought it was staring at me, opening its eyes and talking to me. So needless to say, from that night on, I was pretty traumatized by the Furbies. So, I never had one myself and not really like looking at it right now that I bring it up.

Paige: I'm just going to send you Furby for your birthday and you're just open it up like “God damn it.”

Ian: I'm just going to yell and scream in my apartment. Exactly.

Cat: I would love it if they could program an Alexa inside of a Furby, like with a Furby voice so that you could meld the two worlds of the 90s and the 2020s together so that Furby is now our digital assistant.

Paige: Would you want that, though?

Ian: That sounds like a nightmare to me. No thanks.

Cat: For the fad, if you will. For the novelty for a day and then I say, “I'm done with this. I've had enough.”

Paige: Fair. What about you, Cat? What's another one you remember?

Cat: It might be generous to call this a fad, I guess, but I would be remiss if I didn't bring up AIM—AOL Instant Messenger—which came out in the 90s. I had to look it up just to really solidify my head. It came out in 1997 and it shook our 90s babies’ worlds, in my opinion. And the reason I say this is because prior to that, really the only one we didn't have texting, barely. Most of us did not have cell phones in the 90s, those of us that were 90s babies, so we had landlines and we could ask our parents if we can make a call and then we'd call our friend’s landline and then we spoke to their mom and we said can we speak to our friend? And so, when AIM came about, that was really the first time that 90s babies could, in some way, communicate to their peers by sending messages online. And in that vein, that was the first time that we could have AIM profiles, so to speak. The first online identity where we could put quotes, we could put our best friends’ names, and cryptic initials, “Shoutout to my girls”, lots of asterisks and uppercase letters, lowercase letters, alternating, really adding some flair to that. So, little did we know that Facebook and Instagram and Tik Tok and all these other joys, Snapchat, all those things were waiting for us decades later, but here we are.

Paige: Well, I have to I have to ask, what was your screen name, Cat?

Cat: Alright. Well, I wish you hadn't asked. But if you must know, it was “Addicted2Jeter” because I have to say, though I have lived in Boston, Massachusetts for many years now, I grew up a diehard Yankees fan, and specifically really adored Derek Jeter, the best shortstop ever, in my opinion.

Paige: For the baseball skills or his looks?

Cat: You know, both. If I’m being honest, both.

Ian: Derek Jeter fangirl.

Cat: Yeah, I was an OG fan girl, that's for sure.

Paige: What was your screen name, Ian?

Ian: I honestly thank God I can't remember. If I did, I would be embarrassed saying it. I really don't remember what it was but I know it was super embarrassing. I remember I had a Metallica wallpaper on my chat. Yeah, it was so funny bringing up AIM. That was the first moment, it was one of the first moments where you could chitchat with your crush. So, you could wait till your crush came online, and like you mentioned earlier too, it was funny at the time with a landline, if somebody made a call to the house, then it would disconnect the internet. So, I'd be trying to flirt with my crush and then my grandma would call the house and I'd be like “Grandma, I'm trying to talk to my crush!” Or something really funny like that and you’d get upset and like you mentioned. Little did we know that all the social media would await us now at the touch of a button on our phones.

Paige: Yeah, so AIM, those are some good times and now we get Facebook, Instagram, so many more so AIM is definitely in the past and probably not coming back. So, sorry Cat. But Cat, thank you so much for joining us today. This was really a trip down memory lane and it was really fun to think about all the stupid, dumb fads that we spent money on and all our parents spent money on. So, thanks again, Cat for joining us. It was really great to have you.

Cat: Thank you so much for having me. This was so fun.

Paige: And so, as you know, listeners, as always, if you get lost, check out that audio guide and transcript at www.dynamicenglish.cl.  As always, thanks for listening.

Ian: We'll see you next time.

Ian: “Coffee with Gringos” officially has over one hundred episodes and we are among the “Top Podcasts in Chile”. And that’s thanks to you. But we are always working to grow our audience so make sure to rate sure to rate, review and share us. 

Key Vocabulary, Phrases & Slang:

 1.     impressionable (adjective): easily influenced.

a.      Children are very impressionable and believe a lot of things.

2.     to fit in (phrasal verb): to be socially compatible with other people in a group.

a.     They just want to fit in with the other kids at school.

3.     to kick off (phrasal verb): to start.

a.     Let’s go ahead and kick off the topic for today.

4.     prolific (adjective): making or producing many works of something.

a.     The prolific author made an appearance at the local mall. 

5.     nightmare (noun): a frightening or unpleasant dream. 

a.     I had a nightmare last night and I couldn’t go back to sleep.

6.     spinoff (noun): something associated with a popular TV program, movie, book, etc.  

a.     The movie spinoff of the book was terrible. I don’t recommend that you see it.

7.     grim (adjective): depressing; scary; dark.

a.      The books always had a grim ending for the main characters.

8.     to fly off the shelf (idiom): to sell very quickly; to be very popular.

a.     The new books were flying off the shelves as the kids came into the store.

9.     insightful (adjective): having or showing an accurate and deep understanding.

a.     Thank you for all of the insightful comments.

10.  gunk (noun): a sticky or messy substance.

a.     We found so much gunk all over the house and had to clean it.

11.  Beanie babies (noun): stuffed animal toys from the 1990s.

a.     I remember when Beanie Babies were super popular.

12.  gold mine (noun): a source of a lot of money.

a.     There were a lot of fads that people thought would be gold mines.

13.  pissed (adjective, informal): angry, annoyed.

a.     I am pissed that I spent so much money on that stupid fad.

14.  to indulge (verb): to enjoy or take pleasure in something.

a.     It’s important to indulge every once in a while.

15.  endeavor (noun): an attempt to achieve a goal.

a.     The athletes are pursuing an endeavor to win the most races.

16.  pristine (adjective): clean and fresh as if new.         

a.      The book copies are in pristine condition.

17.  novelty (noun): a new or unfamiliar thing or experience.

a.     The novelty of living in a new place was starting to disappear.

18.  remiss (adjective): lacking care or attention to something.

a.     I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my favorite fads.

19.  to solidify (verb): to make stronger; reiterate; reinforce.    

a.     The discussions we had solidified the commitment we have to each other.

20.  landline (noun): a telephone with a fixed cable.

a.     Houses used to all have landlines but now people mostly only have cell phones.

21.  in that vein (idiom): in the same distinctive manner or style.

a.     In that vein, let’s talk about some similar fads from that time.

22.  flair (noun): stylishness and originality.

a.     Everyone wanted to add some flair to their things back in the 90s.

23.  shortstop (noun): baseball position in the infield between second and third base.

a.      Derek Jeter is one of the best shortstops to ever play baseball.

24.  screenname (noun): a unique account name used for online messaging.

a.     I am so glad that I cannot remember my embarrassing screen name from AIM.

25.  crush (noun): a person to who someone is romantically attracted to.

a.     My crush is here at the party! What do I say?

26.  to flirt (verb): to behave as though attracted to someone.

a.     She was flirting with her crush on AIM when the landline disconnected the internet connection.