Nowadays, teenagers access the world with a swipe of their fingertips on a touchscreen, but in the 2000s, they ventured out into the world and felt it underneath their feet — college and career center advisor McKenna Parfet, then a teenager, frequented Pacifica State Beach and its nearby Taco Bell. At 2 a.m. on a Saturday night, biology teacher Kenneth Gan participated in an underground dodgeball match at a parking garage. And on four wheels, history teacher Cody Owens went off-roading in the mountains one moment and practiced archery with friends the next.
As a teenagers in the 2000s, these three teachers enjoyed a variety of foods, clothing and music that are quite different than today. Owens, for example, had access to the typical fast food places of today, such as McDonald’s, Subway and Jack in the Box, but he preferred the restaurant Caveman Cavey’s Pizza.
“They have the best pizza in the world to this day,” Owens said. “I swear by it.”
As a teenagers in the 2000s, these three teachers enjoyed a variety of foods, clothing and music that are quite different than today. Owens, for example, had access to the typical fast food places of today, such as McDonald’s, Subway and Jack in the Box, but he preferred the restaurant Caveman Cavey’s Pizza.
“They have the best pizza in the world to this day,” Owens said. “I swear by it.”
While Caveman Cavey’s was his go-to spot outside of school, he also enjoyed a “good junk food time” at Frazier Mountain High School in Lebec, Calif. Unconstricted by today’s health regulations, and thus their gigantic sizes — about “half-a-plate” — the chocolate chip cookies were a hallmark of the school’s “madhouse” of a cafeteria.
“You could buy two corn dogs for a dollar, which was the best deal ever,” Owens said. “So everyone would buy the corn dogs at brunch. You could buy a pizza for $2.50. And initially, I remember my freshman year they were $2 and then they raised it by $2.25 and just the whole school got upset. It was all the most unhealthy food you [could] think of.” As Owens grew up, he heard everything from Nelly, a hip hop rapper and singer, to Nirvana, a 90s American rock band on the grunge scene. Parfet, too, listened to rock music, but prefered bands such as All Time Low and Mayday Parade. Wiz Khalifa’s “Black and Yellow” blasted loudly at her rallies, considered a fitting accompaniment to Parfet’s school colors of black and gold. |
Unlike at MVHS, where Owens considers student preferences to be much more homogeneous, the music of the 2000s varied between rock, grunge, 90’s music and rap. However, specific to the Bay Area, the “Hyphy Movement” saw an increase in a kind of uptempo hip-hop music akin to krunk. According to Gan, the movement was marked by artists such as Keak da Sneak and E-40.
“It was kind of inappropriate music for a kid, but because it was Bay Area and there's fresh lingo coming in, I always thought it was really fun,” Gan said.
Within rap music, Owens recalled a bit of “goofy rap” by rappers like Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz. This “goofiness” wasn’t exempt from film, either, as both Parfet and Owens recalled the first of “The Hangover” franchise hitting the big screen during their teen years. The comedy film, taking place after a bachelor party, follows three friends on the hunt for the missing groom.
“It was kind of inappropriate music for a kid, but because it was Bay Area and there's fresh lingo coming in, I always thought it was really fun,” Gan said.
Within rap music, Owens recalled a bit of “goofy rap” by rappers like Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz. This “goofiness” wasn’t exempt from film, either, as both Parfet and Owens recalled the first of “The Hangover” franchise hitting the big screen during their teen years. The comedy film, taking place after a bachelor party, follows three friends on the hunt for the missing groom.
Additionally, for Parfet and Gan, the midnight showings of the Harry Potter franchise were especially memorable. Both were prepared from head — or for Parfet, lightning-scarred forehead — to toe: a Hogwarts student, Gan donned either a Slytherin or Gryffindor scarf and robe (he also attended the midnight book releases), while Parfet and her friends wore graduation gowns and glasses.
“One of the most memorable things from high school — [I was] such a nerd — was going to the Harry Potter premieres,” Parfet said, “And just getting high on sugar and just being so excited and trying not to crash in the middle of the movie and just having so much innocent fun with my friends without, you know, needing anything else to kind of keep us happy.” Apart from films on the big screen, Parfet remembers watching several episodes of rather “awful” MTV television shows, such as “My Super Sweet 16,” where five teenagers constantly try to outdo one another’s birthday celebrations, and “MTV Cribs,” which featured celebrity house tours. “‘Pimp My Ride’ was also a show that was kind of popular,” Parfet said. “That one was always interesting. Like, ‘Wow, this crappy car becomes cool again.’ But yeah, that's what I would say as popular [as] that [was] I'm glad [the show] has not progressed and come into the late 2000s.” |
Coincidentally, Owens’ friends appeared to be living an altered version of Parfet’s “Pimp My Ride,” although their excitement about their modded-out Honda Civics was fueled by the Fast and Furious movies — specifically “Tokyo Drift,” the third in the franchise. In addition to car movies, Owens and his friends were loyal followers of the baggy clothing trend, boasting “triple XL” shirts and pants.
“The brands you would buy would be like beyond baggy, extremely baggy, and now it's like reverse fit,” Owens said. “So it's like everything's tight.”
“The brands you would buy would be like beyond baggy, extremely baggy, and now it's like reverse fit,” Owens said. “So it's like everything's tight.”
Gan, a skater boy in his middle school days, added an extra touch to the bagginess: sagginess. To avoid “pants falling down to your ankles,” as Gan exaggerates, boys would use a shoestring, rather than a belt, to keep their pants slightly up. Yet contrary to his outfits, Gan never considered himself a genuine skater, being too afraid to “ollie” upstairs. Come high school, he developed an interest in student government, and his public role for the school signaled an end to the days of saggy pants.
Regardless, Gan considered the 2000s to be “new” and “fresh,” especially with the rise of the computers and internet. The technology was offset by chances to play and explore the outside: while the stereotypical MVHS student might now be confined in their room, drowning in textbooks and papers, Gan spent his Friday nights on 24-hour Safeway floors, playing Settlers of Catan and Monopoly, and Owens hosted “LAN” parties (a congregation of people with game consoles or computers) with 10 Xboxes. |
Present-day, Owens is constantly “glued” to his phone. But back then, online communication was still confined to Instant Messenger, with flip phones at the height of their popularity and slide-out keyboards being a special touch. Both Parfet and Owens describe the 2000s, simply put, as “a fun time.”
“Oh, I loved [the 2000s],” Owens said. “It was a great time to be alive.”
However, he does add, at the end of his interview, “Don’t live in the past.”