GOBSTACKED

A description of my life as told by USA Today

90skidandcompany:

By Craig Wilson, USA TODAY

You’re what they call a “Millennial,” born after 1980 and now roughly between your tweens and your 30s. There are 101 million of you, the largest generation now alive.

You’re well-educated but, in this bad economy, you’re more than likely unemployed. If you are employed, you’re underemployed, itching to contribute to an organization that doesn’t quite understand how much you have to offer. Really! You know you are far more tech-savvy than your boss. She knows it, too.

You’re restless, ready to change the world, ready to be the next Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder of Facebook. And most likely, you’re also living back home with the folks. Oddly enough, you don’t mind. Neither do they.

Millennials are often thought of as spoiled. Some have dubbed you the “Babied Boom.” But your babying days are over, as anyone watching the job market can easily see.

So how are you spending a good portion of your time in these “doubled-up households,” aka Mom and Dad’s place? Reminiscing. Looking back to the ’90s.

Yes, the ’90s are the newest “good old days.” This summer, some of your favorite TV shows began airing again on cable. Beavis and Butt-Head returns to MTV on Thursday (10 p.m. ET/PT), but with updates. For instance, the famous duo will now be watching Jersey Shore.

MTV executive Van Toffler hopes the dozen half-hour episodes will appeal to old and new fans alike, with many of the latter familiar with Beavis from online snippets and TV reruns.

“We’re going through a period of what we call ‘instant nostalgia,’ where it kind of goes back no further than the mid-’90s,” Toffler says. He cites the resurrection of other ’90s staples, including Pop Up Video on sister network VH1.

MTV2 also revived 120 Minutes, premiering two new episodes this summer. And another old friend, Barney, is making a big comeback in retail. Yes, Barney.

Some of the best-selling items this fall at novelty retailers, including Spencer Giftsnationwide, are based on the purple dinosaur of Millennials’ youth: T-shirts, caps, socks and blankets, as well as an adult-sized Halloween costume.

“The kids of yesterday are looking for positive and fun reinforcement right now. Barney was the first friend they connected to,” says Stacey Reiner, vice president of licensing for HIT Entertainment Global Brands. Sales are already “doing well,” and restocking requests are coming from retailers daily, she says. “Everyone knows Barney. He makes them feel good.”

Nickelodeon shows of yore

And why not? There’s not much for Millennials to look forward to, which has made nostalgia for the last decade of the 20th century a growing cottage industry of late.

“They feel very stuck right now,” says Melanie Shreffler, editor in chief at Ypulse, a marketing firm that studies Millennials. “They’re an optimistic generation. They’re at that age when they think things will get better. But in the meantime, they’re like a deer in the headlights. They can get a job that is beneath them or bide their time, go back to their parents’ house.”

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