And we’re back!

Hold on to your wallets, folks.

Before we jump in further…

If you’ve enjoyed this Millennial journey so far, please share this link on your socials/LinkedIns/wherever. If you are reading this online and/or this was passed onto you, join me for future editions by clicking on the subscribe button below.

Editor’s Note: As a readers’ heads up, with the 4th of July holiday next week, I’ll likely be taking a holiday break from the newsletter and resume the following week after.

Additionally, I’m looking to add some guest spots to the newsletter. If you have any Millennial takes you want to share with the Curb Your Millennialism audience, reply to this email or find me on Twitter.

Deep(ish) Millennial Thought of the Week

Last week, I received a call that my wallet had been stolen from the person who likely stole my wallet. It was an odd few minutes of discussion. I now know how Jerry must have felt when his car was stolen and the thief picked up his car phone. Remember car phones?! Hearing that my wallet had been found in the person who called me’s car which also had been stolen and then crashed, I quickly realized upon hanging up that either I spoke to a great citizen or the person who apprehended my wallet.

Either way, in a world where we are constantly concerned about digital identity theft and AI stealing out jobs, having a physical item stolen felt very unnerving. I don’t know how or when my wallet was taken, but if this unfortunately ever happens to you, the following is a list of steps to take to make sure you can attack this problem and get on with all of the joys and pains of normal routine Millennial life.

1. File a police report. Yes, it’s a little bit of a pain to head down and file this, but it will come of great use should anything happen to your identity in the future. It will also help you speed up things like getting a new license if you have to change that.

2. Contact your banks. Change your credit cards, debit cards, etc. If possible, let your banks know of potential fraud and put a freeze on any accounts you are concerned over (checking, savings, etc.).

3. Alert the 3 major business credit bureaus. This was the one I didn’t know of. By placing a fraud alert with one of Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, you automatically alert all three monitoring agencies to be on the lookout for anyone trying to open new credit lines in your name. This, along with placing a freeze on this type of activity, will likely protect your credit score and give you a heads up on any attempted fraud.

4. Buy a chain wallet. Let me explain.

Had my wallet been on my person, chained, it never would have been stolen in the first place. All of this got me wondering, how did chain wallets become popular in the 90s and where did they go?

Highsnobiety had similar thoughts a few years ago and outlined the origin of the 90s fashion icon, starting with bikers in the 50s who used chain wallets to stop their money from falling out of their pockets when the torque of their engines kicked in. Chain wallets rose to higher prominence in the 70s as the punk scene grew and mosh pits became an easy place to lose your wallet. Goths and metalheads similarly adopted chain wallets in the 80s as a way to show off their cultures and rally against the man.

And that brings us to our favorite decade, the 90s. Much like it had in previous decades, music greatly influenced the adoption of chain wallets, particularly Grunge. From Kurt Cobain rocking a chain wallet with a flannel to the local surfers and skateboarders adopting chains to help represent their counterculture behavior while also appreciating the adding security of their wallet not falling out while attempting an ollie, the influence of the chain wallet quickly made its way into the malls of America. As we watched Blink-182 wear chain wallets on stage at the Warped Tour and saw Carson Daly showcasing the look on Total Request Live, our impressionable Millennial minds told us we, too, needed wallets bound to a person by a chain, and felt damn cool having one. So what happened?

The truth is that there was no singular event that marked the fall of the chain wallet. Like many trends, it simply faded into the night. But chain wallets are back according to Vogue and Rolling Stone. And I am all for it. What better way to show my support for 90s fashion while securing my credit cards and cash from the humans of the world who like to commit wrongdoing. Fashion plus functionality seems like a total win-win to me.

THE VERDICT: Let’s bring back chain wallets and go to a mosh pit to test them out together. Motorcycles next.

SPONSORED EDITOR’S NOTE: Upon reading about the theft of my wallet from my complaining on Twitter, the fine folks at The Ridge quickly gifted me a couple of new ones which are super sleek and even have added RFID-blocking security features. Thank you Connor and team for coming to my rescue. Check them out for yourself here.

Less Deep(ish) Millennial Stuff of the Week

• GEN Z CLAIMS FALSE DISCOVERY OF COTTAGE CHEESE. In either a coup on all Millennial stomachs and hearts or a clickbait headline attempt, The Wall Street Journal stated that Gen Z discovered cottage cheese, wiping out years and years of Millennial support for the beloved protein-packed dairy delight that this writer has been consuming since 1999. Apparently, people (of all ages) are sharing cottage cheese videos on TikTok now, leading to a spike in its popularity. (WSJ)

• GRIMACE TAKES OVER THE WORLD, ONE SHAKE AT A TIME. When they aren’t stealing our cottage cheese, Gen Z actually can produce some pretty funny videos as McDonald’s latest menu item in honor of the purple monster’s birthday has turned into a thing of nightmares. (Mashable)

• TOTES MCGOTES. In fashion news, Millennials are ditching handbags for totes and fanny packs, but CYM thinks chain wallets are the play here. (Business Insider)

• COSTCO TAKES AIM AT CARD SHARERS. First, Netflix restricted password sharing. Now, the second blow in the war against Millennials refusing to purchase memberships has been dealt, as Costco has joined in on eliminating the temporary borrowing of someone else’s Costco card to shop. Thankfully, you can still get a hot dog and a soda for $1.50. (LA Times)

Millennial Commercial Spotlight

Chain wallets got me in the mood to revisit a commercial from one of my favorite iconic brands that didn’t quite make it out of the 90s, Airwalk. Watch it here.

Middle school was really the place you began to take fashion seriously, and if you were trying to be cool, you either wore Airwalks or Vans.

I love this commercial because it perfectly embodies the pre-teen/teenage angst of growing up in this era. We open with a young man at a punk rock show in an airplane hangar (maybe?). Can you think of a more underground punk rock setting for the 90s? Jamming out to a band straight out of Road Trip (yes, I know that came out in 2004 but they might as well be playing “Scotty Doesn’t Know”), our hero climbs a huge amp speaker, stage dives, and expects to be caught. The crowd disperses, but that’s okay - he’s wearing Airwalks and will be fine.

Have a nostalgic urge to lace up a pair and relive your wild “skate or die” 90s lifestyle? In 2023, Airwalk shoes can be found at one location, JCPenney. Woof.

Millennial Album Spotlight

After sitting on the Curb Your Millennialism porch, we decided it’s time to share more on the music we love with our official “Still Rocks” stamp of approval for the best music of the greatest generation. Today, in keeping in theme of this entire '“skater boi centric” newsletter, we salute the soundtrack to the original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater.

From “Superman” by Goldfinger to “Police Truck” by Dead Kennedys, the Tony Hawk Pro Skater franchise introduced mainstream America in 1999 to skate boarding culture and the music that fueled it. The Punk Rock MBA has a great video over on YouTube going into full detail on just how impactful this series was in an era where music discovery was NOT done via social media.

Sports Illustrated went ahead and ranked every track here.

Future iterations are nearly just as good, but the nod here is given to the inaugural soundtrack for being a true pioneer in showing just how powerful gaming could be to introduce genres of music to the masses.

Listen here.

That’s all for this episode…

Before I go, a little about me:

I’ve been in omnichannel marketing, business development, sales and operations for startups and big brands alike for over 15 years now. If you’d like to talk with me about consulting, find me on LinkedIn or Twitter or reply to this email. Or you can get creative, I know you have it in you!

Thanks for tuning in. Until next time, protect your wallets.