Gen Xer rattles off ‘useless info’ stuck in his brain from the ’80s. It’s delightfully relatable.

So many of us have had that moment. We walk into a room and can’t remember why or what we’re looking for. Or even more frustrating and fun, we can’t recall our own phone number and yet can remember all seven digits from a one-hit-wonder ’80s song. Of course, Generation X doesn’t have a patent on this. But in a funny clip circulating on Instagram, one Gen Xer hilariously replies to a Millennial who claimed she had “more useless information stored in her brain than any other generation.” Hold our Zimas, because this man comes with “memory” receipts. ALF had a real name? The content creator John Kotrides begins, as he’s accustomed to doing, with a comically over-the-top response to whatever another member of a generation has said. He starts listing off a litany of all the things his mind holds. “ALF’s real name was Gordon Shumway. Shaggy’s real name was Norville Rogers. KITT stood for Knight Industries 2000. The first video on ‘the’ MTV, The Buggles…‘Video Killed the Radio Star,’” he said. For a little more music, he lets us know that he recalls Jenny’s phone number, 8-6-7-5-3-0-9 (of course referring to the song by Tommy Tutone). Kotrides continues with commercials. “My bologna had a first name: it’s O-S-C-A-R.” He then rattles off the McDonald’s commercial, which plugged the “two all-beef patties,” including all of its condiments and sauces. He answers a very Gen X question: “The answer to how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop is three…or if you’re not biting, the world may never know.” So much TV to remember, so little headspace Now it’s time for all of those Saturday morning cartoons. “Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?” Kotrides goes back to the commercials, including Calgon “Take me away!” and Shake ’n Bake. Kotrides is just getting started, illustrating that TV shows are deeply embedded. “The number on Emergency! was Squad 51. Jon and Ponch’s call signs were 7-Mary-3 and 7-Mary-4,” of course referring to the popular police show CHiPs. “The Love Boat’s captain was Merrill Stubing. The professor on Gilligan’s Island was Roy Hinkley.” Kotrides continues, almost as if he’s in a trance. “The skipper’s name was Jonas Grumby. The robot on Lost in Space was a B-9.” He makes a reference to The Princess Bride and then immediately goes back to television. “The Six Million Dollar Man could run roughly 60 miles an hour.” The answer is 42 Time to get philosophical, as Kotrides references The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which told us, “The answer to life, the universe, and everything is 42.” And perhaps in keeping with a little sci-fi fun, he throws in a Back to the Future reference. “The flux capacitor requires 1.21 gigawatts. But Doc Brown pronounces it JIG-a-watts. Great Scott! The speed was 88 miles per hour.” Kotrides mentions a few more movie references and then gets to John Hughes. “The five members of The Breakfast Club were a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal.” His mind jumps back to commercial slogans like “Don’t squeeze the Charmin,” “Where’s the beef?,” “He likes it,” and “Hey Mikey.” In the final stretch, Kotrides switches back to music. “Tommy used to work on the docks. Gina works the diner all day. Billy Joel? He didn’t start the fire. I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar, that much is true.” But where are my keys? Finally, Kotrides gets a little vulnerable, ending with “By the power of Grayskull, I have the power…and I still can’t remember why I walked into the kitchen.” He then notes, “Gen X has been storing this nonsense for decades, and we can’t remember why we walked into a room.” The comment section lights up with people from all generations who seem to deeply relate. A few Millennials shared that they too have the same knowledge. One writes, “As an ‘elder Millennial,’ I really wish I didn’t know most of these references. Goonies never die. Why did it have to be snakes? As you wish. Do you want to play? Don’t get Gizmo wet…” and it goes on from there. Some commenters are a bit shocked by the massive amount of specific TV trivia: “Wait, Shaggy of Scooby-Doo had a real name? I didn’t know that!” Another shares the clip with a positive spin: “The fact I know all this same information in my 49 years of life shows we had a good life.” When one person pushes back, “Dude, my Gen Alpha daughter knows a lot of this. Not sure what you’re on about…” Kotrides replies with the perfect answer. “Inconceivable!” Some memories are stickier than others The truth is there are reasons our minds hold onto certain memories and not others. In a Boston University research piece, Andrew Thurston shared research on why certain moments seem to never leave our brains. Thurston wrote, “A new Boston University study has a potential answer, suggesting that memories of mundane moments are given extra sticking power if they become connected to a significant event—something surprising, rewarding, or carrying an emotional punch.” He continued, “The findings, published in Science Advances, could potentially lead to improved treatments for people with memory problems or even help students retain tricky concepts.” In other words, it wasn’t that the music jingles from our youth were so incredible (though they were often impactful) or that every cartoon was worth an Emmy. It was the fact that it was an exciting time in our lives and things were new. Perhaps watching The Breakfast Club with dear friends in middle school made the moment itself more important than the film. The novelty alone gives these memories sticking power.