Ahh. Our teenage years. A time when we didn’t have to worry about paying bills, the cost of tamatar or global warming (to be fair we should’ve started worrying back then). A simpler time, when our biggest concern was the fittings of our uniforms, our pocket money and whether daddy/mommy will let us use the car after school so we can go chill at a cafe and take pictures with our hot pink digital cameras. The good ol’ days. Sigh.
With the laidback, happy go lucky charm of our school days, also comes the horrendous fashion/lifestyle mistakes we made but thought were oh so cool. Can you relate to any of these?
The Kajal
If only someone had told us to keep halka hath when it came to kajal application we wouldn’t be looking back at pictures in which we look like a goth racoon/panda hybrid. Honestly though, EVERY adult asked us to stop, but did we care? NO. We were cool. Kajal like a metalhead yet listening to Akon’s I wanna love you on our mp3 players. What a time to be alive.
The Bangs
Remember when EVERY female in the world had side bangs? We do. From teenagers to adults, this trend refused to die for years. Plus points if your bangs were long enough to cover one eye and make you half blind. We’re so happy sidebangs are dead. Hopefully forever.
The Music
Our O Level, High School days is when Akon’s career peaked. The best part was that our parents were soooo oblivious to the trash we were listening to. With songs like I wanna LOVE you, Smack That, Tonight I’m LOVING you, Sexy CHICK, we’re not surprised women are being objectified like never before today. Those of us who weren’t listening to Akon, Usher and Enrique, were busy memorising Eminem’s Encore album or Linkin Park’s In the End. And if you went through a break up? It was always Goo Goo Doll’s Iris that’d be on repeat. Without fail.
The Spikes
Girls weren’t the only ones living with bad hairstyle choices. Every guy we knew was dripping in gel and spikes high and sharp enough to take out an eye. Those who were gel-less were labelled champus. And the higher the spikes, the lower the guy’s jeans would hang. We’ve seen a great number of mens underwear in our time, and it’s not what you think! It’s because of the low hanging pants trend.
MSN Messenger & Orkut
How exciting was MSN as a teen!? You’d come back from school, eat, and then jump in front of a computer to chat with the same people you just spent all day with! And it was soooo much fun. From confessing to first loves, to sharing songs and “nudging”, MSN was the best. And did any of you keep signing in and out to get your crush to notice? We did! Not far behind was Orkut, the poor man’s facebook. Remember how exciting it was to get your friends to write testimonials for your wall? The gorays had Myspace, and us Desi’s had Orkut.
The ” I walk in the rain so no one can see my tears” quote
80 % of everyone we knew shared this quote on MSN or Orkut as their status or display pictures at some point or the other. Either they broke up with their boyfriend of one week or got rejected on their 18th attempt to get a girlfriend, this saying still lives on today, and while it was serious business back then, now, it is a joke (as it should be)
The Pout
The pout hasn’t died yet but it sure has decreased in frequency. As teenagers, we pouted and fish faced for every damn picture. What was the appeal to look like a baby prostitute? We dunno. Still pout to this day SOMETIMES. We’re not ashamed.
The Colourful Digital Cameras
In the days of blackberries and motorola razor flip phones, the only way to get good pictures and awkward selfies was with a digital camera in the LOUDEST of colours. We had one in hot pink, but we’ve seen greens and blues and purples too. Ofcourse, we would never post ANY of the pictures that we have saved on those today. Too embarassing.
The FLAMES Calculator
More of a middle school thing but easily transitioned to high school for us, FLAMES was the most reliable love calculator out there when we were growing up. We ended up married to so many horrendous people according to the Flames algorithm. Thank God it was just a game.
What are some of the embarrassing things you got away with as a teen? Let us know in the comments below.