Growing up in the ’90s, everyone had that one best friend.
— the person you’d have late-night phone calls with,
gossip about how strict your parents were, and coordinate outfits with.
While a lot has changed when you think about best friends in the ’90s versus today,
the fundamentals remain the same: you still spend late nights on the phone with your BFF,
still gossip, and still coordinate outfits but pretend it was an accident.
Really, things aren’t all that different after all. We’re just older and drink more wine.
Best friends are like the siblings we never had, or maybe we did have siblings
but didn’t like them much. While your siblings stole your favorite
toys and ran around outside with your training bra on their head (cough happened to a friend…),
your best friend was the one you’d make prank calls with and the shoulder
to cry on when you saw your crush holding hands with someone else on the playground.
We wouldn’t be where we are without our best friends
— both back in the ’90s and to this day, even though times may have changed a bit.
The Fights We Get Into
In the ’90s: Your BFF promised to take care of your digital
pet while you were on vacation, and then she let it die. You couldn’t look at her the same after that.
Today: Adults don’t really fight anymore. Instead,
we leave passive-aggressive comments on Facebook and purposely don’t like each other’s Instagram posts.
How We Make Up Afterward
In the ’90s: This was the pre-smartphone era, so getting through a fight
with your BFF usually involved passing her a note in class, full
of frown faces, dotting the i’s with hearts so she knew how
sad you were without her, and ending it with “LYLAS” — “love you like a sis,”
for anyone who forgot how we used to abbreviate stuff.
Now: The peace offering usually involves a $12 Starbucks coffee drink and a smiling selfie of you two together to put the past behind you.
Friday Night Entertainment
In the ’90s: We’d head to the mall and buy fake nose rings from Claire’s before sneaking into an R-rated movie. We were so bad.
Now: Who goes out anymore? Not us. Give us something on Netflix to binge-watch and a bottle or two of wine, and we’re good to go. Can you say FriYAY?
Playing Wingwoman
In the ’90s: After deciding who the love of your life was using
the almighty cootie catcher, you’d stage a run-in during science class while your BFF kept other girls away.
These days: Every BFF knows the way to help you find lasting love: spending 14 hours stalking him on Facebook with nothing but his middle name.
Squad Goals
In the ’90s: Life was all about finding a few more girls as cool as you so you could pretend to be the Spice Girls.
Now: The good news is you only need one more person to do the Single Ladies dance,
but you’re not much of a people person these days, so your BFF is more than enough.
