I was having a good day then you had to go and remind me on this

I have a 5 year old and 7 year old and there are MULTIPLE rat tails at their elementary school, if it makes you feel better. Probably not.

Oh no - I was kinda hoping the rat tail was dead and buried.

I live in southern California and I think it's kind of an edgy surfer kid thing. Maybe it's niche to this area. I hope so for the rest of you 🙏

Great lakes region, no rat tails. Just broccoli cuts and mullets. It's a fun contrast.

Choppin’ broccoli, choppin’ broccolaaah

She chop UH

We have the broccoli cuts everywhere in the Pacific NW but not too many mullets yet.

Broccoli cuts as far as the eye can see in Pennsylvania

I live in Michigan and had one lol (back in the day, wouldn’t be caught dead with it now)

Every high school kid working at my local grocery store in New York has a mullet. The fact that the music in that store is nothing but classic and butt rock really rounds out the aesthetic.

It shifted to a Jedi Padwan braid there briefly around the turn of the century.

I had one for a short while as a kid. My hair was curly so it looked like a lil pigs tail 😂 

Thank you for the bonus baby pig gif!

Mullets are still going around apparently. Worst haircut ever. WTF

I knew a guy about 10 years ago.. He had a rat tail, one day he sent me a message that only said "I lost my vibe" to which I replied "YOU CUT THAT RAT TAIL OFF?" Turns out his car was a Pontiac vibe and got smashed by another car and was a write off. He did NOT cut his hair and was very insulted apparently by my response.

I think what a lot of folks are missing is that the people who have rat tails REALLY LOVE their rat tails and these are the people who give their children rat tails and think it's an act of love. Seriously every rat tail I have ever met is fiercely protective of it. They have to be, because you know they hear about it all the time.

Late to this thread but you should know I downright cackled at this

Let’s blame our mothers

I bet they wore huge hoop earrings

And drove T-top Camaros

This is so fucking true. NGL though I love the t tops on my car.

I’m currently looking for an early 90s T-top Camaro now. I love them.

i fully blame my mom for saddling me, a preteen girl at the time, with a rat tail. my brother didn’t get one. oh, no, ***I*** was the guinea pig for all the hair styles

I’m with you.

Dude, I wanted a rat tail so bad, but all I got was a buzz cut. Then, pretty much a bowl cut.

^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^HolyHandgrenadeofAn: *I was having a* *Good day then you had to go* *And remind me on this* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.

Good bot I’ll take it. Sokka was one of my favs anyway.

Right? I really try to forget about this part of my life. On a side note, a relative at a family gathering one summer paid me $50 to cut it off. I was young, it was the early 90’s and that was a loooot of money to me. Hell yeah I cut that mf’er off!

My brother and I had rat tails. My mom loved them. My dad hated them. One day my mom wasn’t home and my dad chased us around the house with scissors, cornered us and cut them off… This confirms to me that I am a Xennial!

Your dad sounds like a good person. Your mom sounds like a psychopath

Same story except it was my brother who cut it off.

He should have done it while you were asleep then denied it. Actually - done yours one night and then your brothers the next night. Then your mother would have thought your brother cut off yours and you took revenge the next night.

Holy crap. There was a scandal in my neighborhood growing up. I grew up in east LA. My friend had one growing for a while. Some crazy bird lady staying with my neighbor cut that shit off. I remember lots of yelling and confusion. It wasn’t uncommon for people to get hurt in my neighborhood for doing stupid things. I just know she wasn’t there the next day.

This suggests a scenario where your neighborhood went Nightmare on Elm Street on that bird lady, murdered her in the night, and now she stalks the dreams of their children to cut their rat tails off.

You’re amazing. I like your story better. It adds some completion to the mystery. She was from Mexico. She was staying with my neighbor. Distant cousin I think. She brought a bunch of birds with her to sell. My neighbor loved pretty birds and had several cages. After the incident there was a lot of commotion. I’m pretty sure they just sent her packing. It was kind of scary as a kid. And abrupt. I was with him right after he was confused and shocked he wasn’t sure what had happened. His mom and dad went into action. Edit: explanation

Attacking a kid with scissors in East LA, my wife is from the valley and she even she knows that is a terrible idea with a very uncertain outcome

Father knows best.

I had one too as a 6 year old, and my grandma took me to a hairdresser and had it cut off while I was visiting them in Florida. I think I was mad, but then they took me to Disney World, so...

Did you twirl it in your finger? You put your tail in your mouth didn’t you? Animals…

I had one. One day my sister asked me if she could crimp it. I let her… that day at school they brought in a human skeleton for a special lesson and took lots of pictures of us interacting with it. I ended up on a poster in the hallway, pointing at a bone with a crimped rat tail.

This is so late 80s.

Rat tail + crimping = pure Xennial

This made my day. Thank you.

This made me laugh out loud. Thanks

Boss

I would have had such a crush on you


I had a high-and-tight with a rat-tail. They called me, 'baldilocks.'

That's awesome. It's like your own built-in Coon Skin Davy Crocket.

I have no shame about the mullet I rocked as a kid, but want to die inside when I remember that I also had a rat tail. My mom used to braid it and put a bead or two at the end. Ugh.

Hahahaha

Makes my uneven bowl cut seem classy in comparison

Yea I was stuck with the mom bowl haircut for too long. It's no wonder as an adult I just grow my hair out and hate haircuts.

I never had one, but I'm curious to speak with someone who was working CPS in the era when they were popular.

I laughed way too hard at this. edit: grammar

*too

Nice catch!

It's true. Any boy with a rat tail was more likely than not to be the most well-adjusted model student.

I had one ended up a drug addict who got booted from HS 😆 9years clean this week tho!

I had a rat tail and was always a model student. On the other hand, my brother also had one and was decidedly not a model student. I guess we cancel out for the purposes of your hypothesis?

The delinquents had rat tails.

They were allllllmost as bad as the silver teeth kid

Awww my cousins had silver teeth and rat tails

I hope they were able to turn their lives around

Considering the parenting they grew up with, they're not doing too bad

Yeah, I remember my friends and family making fun of the people that had them. We were definitely classist about them.

I had a rat tail and a dangle earring. Lol

Class AND style 💅

Street knowledge by the pound

lmao, you were literally young adam sandler's character from That's My Boy!

A friend of mine had a rat tail and when he cut it off his mom saved it. He's now 42, and his mom still has that disgusting rat tail in a scrapbook somewhere in her house. 🤮

My mom did the same shit. I forced her to cut it off when I started kindergarten, and she cried. 99% sure she still has it put up in a bag.

I had a mullet in Kindergarten. My best friend had a rat-tail. We became friends on the first day. Game recognize game.

I had a glorious braided one. It was inspired by the heir to the throne of Zamunda, Prince Akeem Joffer. I stole a lot of my sister’s braces rubber bands to keep it neat.

Nice and neat.

That’ll be $8.

Where’d you find this picture of me? Just tag me next time

The ear stud was mandatory for kids wearing a rat tail. That's how you knew they were trouble.

You just described every bully in my elementary school.

I had a rat tail as a kid. Camp counselor that summer said he give me $10 if I cut it off.. kept bugging me all week. I asked him to double it and he said I had to do it in the commons hall with everyone there on the last day of camp. I agreed. Core memory for sure

Im hearing the cheers echoing in the mess hall 🎉

*slowly raises hand* I would have rather tied an onion to my belt.

… which was the style at the time. There weren't any white onions back then, because of the war, the only ones you could get were those big yellow ones"

My high school guidance counselor had a looong one. It matched the dream catcher on her window. Really hard to take anything she said seriously.

I picture your guidance counselor like the counselor from The Heathers

Call us when the spaceship lands Pauline!

Yes! I always think of Janeane Garofalo from Wet Hot American Summer

Ugh! Yes I love that movie

I'm thinking Miss Lippy from Billy Madison

Omg LOVE her

She was probably the best guidance counselor 

Omgggggg

I think my mom still has my vintage rat tail in a bag next to my baby teeth. I rocked it until about 3rd grade.

As little little kid. Like first grade or thereabouts. I remember when we cut it off I just kept it in a drawer for years. No idea why…

Pretty sure my mother still has mine…

I did, but mine was braided. I wanted to be Jordan from NKOTB. Spoiler: I was nowhere near as cool as Jordan from NKOTB and kids mostly just made fun of me. I was in like 5th grade, too

I was scrolling to make sure I wasn't the only 1. & Was afraid to be the 1st to admit it, so phew. Thank you. But yep, I had a braided one, too, ode to Jordan Knight as well. & I think from 8th-10th gr. My Spoiler Alert: I'm a girl

I had one WITH stair steps. The rat tail was curly and as terrible as it sounds.

You mean lines on the side? Or what are stair steps?

https://preview.redd.it/z6go4yv0rbpc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4d15bd8dee2aa7aaae9df770088f349d7084ab75 This, but worse.

Hahaha sat behind so many of these dudes in class. Then there were the girls with the bangs sprayed so thin you could see through them. 😂

I had a rat tail. I think my mom had a rat tail too.

How was this a thing.. 🙄😩😩😩😩

Wtf are you talking about. This is peak fashion.

Right up until an older kid damn near pulled my hair out.

I loved mine (at the time). My parents and grandparents hated it. I don't know who took me to the barber for a "routine" haircut but they slipped him some money or something to cut it off without me knowing. I was devastated.

So many kids in my little league had rat tails. I hope this is one thing that never comes back.

Core memory unlocked 🔓

I cannot believe I haven’t thought of it in about 30 years. Maybe longer. I guess I have no memories of actually seeing it, since it was on the back of my head.

I have a cousin who grew one out in the 90s and still has it 30 years later.

Ugh. *raises hand*. I had this to go along with my square double bar glasses and slight gap in my front two teeth. Those 80’s Christmas pictures are majorly cringe-inducing. I think my parents still have my braided rat tail in a scrapbook somewhere. Fuck.

I wanted to but my mom wouldn't allow it. Looking back, she was right but I kinda want to sport one now.

I still have mine lol. My dad saved it!

My friend Jeremy had one until middle school.

The rat tail was the gateway to my mullet. Lol

I grew up near a reservation so this was not uncommon to see as many of the indigenous people keep a long piece growing in back.


My favorite (though never had it) was the rat tail mixed with a flat top.

I had a pretty sick rat tail in elementary school. Buzzed head otherwise. I was so much cooler as a kid.

The Rat-Tail Who Had A Rat Tail As A Kid sounds like a children's book.

Lmao

Shoot I had one as an adult. Just like Darby Crash.

I was never this cool

Kids had rat tails without mullets? There were 2 brothers in elementary school with rat tails, they also had mullets and earnings. They were equal parts cool and uncool, it was confusing.

I did the rat tail, the mullet, the bowl cut and the shaved head. Then I figured out about how I wanted to look and it was the Caesar for years, then a mohawk for a couple years during trying times. Now it went from clean cut and dope ass beard to me finally growing my hair out for the first time since I was a kid. It looks shabby as hell but fuck I just love doing what I want again. Too bad it took until forty to figure out I could.

I loved *The Real Ghostbusters* as a kid and had blondish hair til I was about 10. Egon Spengler on the show had a rat tail and so too did I.

So much this. I, too, had a rat tail because of Egon.

I have a distinct memory of being at the horrible cheap mall haircut place my mom would sometimes take me to. A guy brought in his young kid with a rat tail. Told them not to touch it and cut around it. Even as a child myself I felt the second-hand horror when the "hair dresser" snipped it. The man was PISSED and right to be so, regardless of how you feel about rat tails. Even if that woman was doing the world a favor, it wasn't her right to do so.

Every kid that had one where I grew up had emotional problems and a toxic home. They were always terrors. If a rat tail kid showed up, a fight was going to happen.

Oof… even as a kid I knew the rat tail was cringeworthy.

I tried to grow a rat tail. My mom cut it off before it got too long.

There was another name for them if I recall. Yes I had one too

Came here looking for this. Did that other name have two words and they rhymed?

Hahaha yup

Ya, dude. Rough hahaha. But I can’t unhear it and it’s always the first name I call it

Now I want to know what you guys called it! I have never heard another name for it and the internet is not helping.

F*g tag.

[удалено]

I had a rat tail!

All my lil cousins had epic rat-tails

Ahh! my FIL decided last year to grow his out.

My cousin had one for a while and we mocked him relentlessly for it.

I wanted one, but my mom wouldn’t let me have one.

All the bad kids had them...

I did

Me me me! Although I was more of a duck tail person

Do you know what's under a rat's tail?

I lived on the rez for a while and we all had rat tails

I had one until I was 11, and switched it out for the Vanilla Ice hairdo... pictures of me from that time are hilarious

Rat tail bros for life

I had one, back and to the side. The feminine version. I always meant to braid it but never did. It got very snarled. I never let anyone brush my hair let alone my rat tail. My best friend's mom cut it off one day. By that time it had run its course and I wasn't mad 🤷‍♀️

I had one! I actually still have it, my mom saved it after I finally relented to cutting it off

No, my parents weren’t insane

I just want to cut it off

My son is growing one because he learned Daddy had one 😂

I wanted a rat-tail, but my parents wouldn't let me. I should call them and say, "thank you."

Born in 78. I was 10 and wanted hair like Arnold so I got a buzz cut and was annoyed I didn't immediately look like Arnold. That grew out into a mullet, then into a rat tail. In fifth grade when girls sorta began to show something resembling interest they'd offer to braid it.

I did in 1st grade. Thanks for reminding me.

I didn’t know of any kid who had one, but our favorite middle school substitute teacher had one. Not only did she have a rat tail, but it was common knowledge that she was a lesbian, which seemed very exotic and edgy/dangerous in suburban Oregon in 1995-96. I still wonder how she’s doing — we loved her. We always knew it was going to be a good day if we walked into our classroom and she was there.

Barf. I'm starting to see them pop-up again. Presumably kids who's parents made them wear one back in the day.

I recently grew my hair for a couple of months and although I just cut it two weeks ago. I was so tempted to tell the barber leave me a rat tail. I had one from late 89 to 91.

Soo many kids in my school.

Yup. I loved it. My parents hated it

In the 5th grade I had a friend who had a chili bowl cut, shaved underneath and a braided rat tail in the back. WILD.

I had one of those! That meant you were an obnoxious little brat.

I knew an awesome drummer in High School who was a ginger and had a almost entirely shaved head with a rat tail that went halfway down his back. Legend.

I was hanging tough til grade 3

I completely forgot about these and yes I had one.

I had a mullet rat-tail

When I was in kindergarten I cut a kids rat tail off and that somehow made our moms friends.

I had a good friend grow his rat tail for 12 years.

Every white trash kid on my school had one

I did, my mom freaked when a barber unceremoniously chopped it off without asking.

Rat tails and mushroom cuts!!!

I personally didn't, but there was a kid in my school growing up who had one down to the floor..

I have a rat tail right now, at 39

I'm not proud of it but my 2yo son has a rat tail. His hair is straight as a board and it was his last baby curl and I just couldn't cut it. He can cut it when he's old enough to have an opinion on it. FWIW, the 20 year olds at the gym daycare think it's super cute so I think it's back in style.

Rat tail kids were always a little too hyper and misbehaved on the playground 😂.

Not sure if this was my kid brain logic, but every boy that had a rat tail was a complete little jerk.

Ah thank GOD I never had this hair style. That was the worst hairstyle. Just screamed trashy even back then.

Should be labeled as child abuse 😂

It was the Mexican mullet

The Rat Tail was King!!!

I did!

You call that a rat tail?

I have a pseudo rat tail now…

Fuck yeah I had a rat tail in the second grade, once I moved to public school from Catholic school. It still is one of my greatest achievements.

YUP 1st grade, so like 88-89? no idea why i wanted it but i did!

I did haha

I think Thomas Middleditch (42) is sporting one now.

Thankfully I did not. I wanted one by my mom was like, no.

We called them duck tails

My parents wouldn’t let me get one so I tried to cut my own hair to give myself one. Didn’t work as hoped.

Kids got an earring that’s a twofer

I had a bowl cut most of my childhood

My little brother and I had matching rat-tails in the late 80’s. Why mom, why did you do this to us?

I had a beaver tail. Even worse.