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Generation X (or Gen X for short) is the Western demographic cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. They are the first generation to grow up with personal computers to some extent, thus defining what we now consider tech-savviness.
But in order to find out what it really means to be a Gen Xer, you have to ask those who know it better than others, the Xers themselves. “What is THE most Gen X thing?” someone asked on Ask Reddit and the responses started rolling in, revealing why and how this particular generation is unique.
From traits like quiet quitting to being the last ones to remember life before the internet, these are the surprising things characteristic to Generation X, according to people who gave it a good thought.
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#1
Being the last unreachable generation. There were hours where no one knew where we were and our parents has zero way to contact us.
Danielle 3 years ago
I miss this. People get upset with me now for being unreachable for a bit. I’m not a receptionist.
ItsJess 3 years ago
I miss this as well. My husband is a millennial and he freaks when I come in the house and put my phone down by my keys. "Don't you need this?". No, I don't always need or want my phone. I'm actually bothered by the idea that people should be able to reach me instantly anytime they feel like it.
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2x4b523p 3 years ago (edited)
We were not totally unreachable. If my mom needed me she grabbed any kid she saw outside and tasked him/her to find me and send me home. It almost always worked.
Bill Evs 3 years ago
Ha ha, definitely this. "You're parents want you" always had equal amounts of fear and curiosity.
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Luci D. 3 years ago
Don't know why you got downvoted, here take my upvote.
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Ozymandias73 3 years ago
"Come home when the street lights come on." I did that one time like I always do. I was probably about 10-12yrs old. Out riding my bike going who knows where. It was oddly still bright outside. I'm just a playing to my heart's content.I finally get tired and head home. Lights still not on due to it still being light outside. My mom was having a fit when I walked inside. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT TIME IT IS?" Nope, I didn't have a clue. It was about 10pm. I told her "but the lights weren't on yet." Fortunately, I didn't get into any trouble.
Let’s Be Kind 3 years ago
This whole post is awesome! Gen X, the latch key generation! We rock, btw 😊
Aisling Raye 3 years ago
Yup. We essentially raised ourselves and turned out (mostly) fine. Now if your kid walks home from school alone someone will inevitably call CPS.
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Angel 3 years ago
That's how we got away with just about everything. If parents only knew... I feel sorry for kids nowadays. No privacy
Amy Ferguson-Shannon 3 years ago
Parents are always reading every text their kids are sending their friends. We didn't have our parents standing over us listening to every conversation. We need to give them a little more room.
Load More Replies... Let’s Be Kind 3 years ago
Yes! Safe and not a moment’s thought about it. And no bad encounters either!
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TrippyBanana 3 years ago
As an early millennial, I miss this. Parents had to know each other's phone numbers to give their children.
Rumple Schleppskin 3 years ago (edited)
Walking home from school.. 1/2 mile through some woods.. .. It took me 4 hours, and I didn't always have all my shoes or boots(in winter) when I got home.
David Brown 3 years ago
When I was little all the parents with kids had like a phone tree set up between each other. None of us really ever got in trouble unless our parents had to make more than 2 phone calls to find us.
Mari Mar Pinta 3 years ago
So true... riding bikes, on our roller skates, at our neighbors house down the street or together at the pool. My Mom trusted us and we knew what that meant. As long as we kept our word and didn't mess anything up, we felt like that freedom was everything! And you always knew where to find us... all of our bikes and toys were in the front yard... usually at Amy's or Brenda's lol... Class of 95 foreverrrrr!!!!
Demongrrrrl 3 years ago
I still have a tendency to ignore emails. I don't want to be reachable 24/7. Of it's really important, call or text
Cassi Lyris 3 years ago (edited)
I remember the very moment this changed for us in MN: when Jacob Wetterling was kidnapped. Suddenly we always needed to leave the phone numbers for wherever we'd be and regular checkins at home. It's sad that tragedy altered all of our lives so much.
JR_4755826 3 years ago
I personally can't relate as growing up in the 80s my mom had an eye on us or knew where we were always. I remember when Adam Walsh went missing at Sears in Florida and my mom would hold on to us for dear life!
Terri Rimmer 3 years ago
Yes! We would go to neighbors' houses, ride bikes, walk to the store, explore, discover things, take naps, invent games, and generally be creative all day.
Terri Martin 3 years ago
Yes!! And I loved it so much, I got rid of my cellphone 2 years AND all my social media accounts 2 years before that. The only thing different is that back then, I had a landline. Now, I don't even have that! It drives my millennial children nuts 🤣#freedom
4evr andAday 3 years ago
i told parents best frien snd i going to Pink Floyd laser light show every weekend never saw it once🤣
Lynn DeShaw 3 years ago
Double edged sword... ah, yes, the freedom of going where you want, doing what you want, without the constant interruptions from friends & family. Quite peaceful. Then there's the other side. My friend and I ran out of gas. Middle of nowhere back road, 2:00 a.m. We had to walk almost 5 miles to the nearest all-night gas station, beg to borrow a gas can, and walk back. Cold and dark! No cell phone to call, or to use as a flashlight. Cell phone sure would have been handy then! But...I have to admit, we had fun! Told each other jokes & scary stories, talked the whole way. We were able to handle the situation all on our own...that's the big difference between the last no-cell-phone generation and the next. We are much more self-reliant. "You gotta do what you gotta do," means a lot more to us.
naylene hess 3 years ago
Im a millennial and didnt have a cell phone and half the time i was just wherever. As long as i eventually came home all was good
Gabby Ghoul 3 years ago
My mother often had, at best, only a general idea of where we were as kids. She had a hand bell she would ring to summon us back home.
Andrew Poage 3 years ago
Same thing for most early millennials. Cell phones weren't main stream till after highschool for most
Shreeky 3 years ago
And that's why it was common to hear parents yelling outside that "it's dinner time" or they would holler our names to get us to come home if they were leaving and that you need to stay close by if you did not want to end up being locked out while they are gone lol.... The woods was my best friend as a teen lol I used to sneak and smoke in the woods back then and never got busted lol
Johnny Rodriguez 3 years ago
The rule was you had to be home for dinner.... or before it got dark, whichever came first!
Johnny Rodriguez 3 years ago
The rule was you had to be home before dinner or before it got dark.... whichever came first!
D20 Games 3 years ago
I only got a cell phone 2 yrs ago, we have a home phone. I would get asked constantly by high school kids how I communicate with anyone. They didn't understand when I told them that I didn't NEED or WANTED to be available all the time. They thought it was weird. No one cares that you had French toast for breakfast.
Rachel Watford 3 years ago
Us older millennials did the "home when the streetlights" thing, too
John Hannah 3 years ago
It's weird, I remember those days but the thought of being unreachable now really scares me
Let’s Be Kind 3 years ago
We can still do this! Phone on the table, out the door!
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Mary Jeffries 3 years ago
I wish people allowed more kids to do this these days . I’d love to do this but I’m afraid people will call CPS. Kids will never be able to spread their wings if we don’t let them.
Smiley MG 3 years ago
We've got more child abductors, rapists, street shooters and uncertainty of being alive at any given time... Times have changed and made us prisoners in our own homes.... Sad where the world is going...
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Thomas Hunt, Jr. 3 years ago
Hours? No, more like a week or two, especially in summer. Sure, they had a general idea, but....
David 3 years ago
So true. Boomer here so add a few more years. Most of us didn't even have watches because cheap watches were not a thing yet. "Be home by - sunset / dark / when the street lights turn on" was a real thing.
Let’s Be Kind 3 years ago
Hey boomer, get out of our Gen X thread! You always take the spotlight from us, big brother/sister! (jk) - kinda…
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Erwin Romadan 3 years ago
Ah...yes, in my place, the only rhing waiting me at home is, either the worrying face of my mother or the worrying face of my mother with broom in her hand (or belt)...
John Siorek 3 years ago
I frequently leave my GPS cell phone in one place while im somewhere else far away from it......
Saara-Elina Kaukiainen 3 years ago
I'm a xennial and I remember being around 14 years old when I got my first nmt phone. So by that I'm going to say there are millennials who are also a part of the unreachable generation.
To find out more about generational differences and what’s unique about Generation X, we spoke with Lauren McMenemy, a professional writer, journalist, and marketer with a burning desire to tell stories, to shine a light on society, to advocate for better mental health and self-care, who was happy to share some insights into the topic. Lauren is also a writing mentor and coach who runs workshops and training to help people get their words down right.
“I've never really been a believer in strict generational differences - we're all different in different ways! - but I do believe there is something to it when it comes to technology,” Lauren explained.
RELATED:
#2
Being old enough to remember (and appreciate) life before the Internet and cellphones but being young enough to transition into that world without a hitch.
#3
I'm just on that border between Gen X and the oldest Millennials but my sister is 8 years older than me. We would call the local rock station to request a song then sit there with a tape at the ready to hit record as soon as they played our song. Repeat that about 10x and you've got a nice mixtape.
#4
Being able to entertain ourselves for hours. This came from being latchkey kids. I didn’t mind the covid lockdowns too much at all.
May light defeat the darkness 3 years ago (edited)
I LOVE the lockdown. No mandatory social events to attend to.
“Gen X may not have grown up with the internet, but we did grow up with ever-advancing technology. The '80s were all about video games and the welcoming of computers into our homes, and it seemed every year there was a new version of Nintendo to covet. To me, that makes us adaptable and flexible - especially in terms of technology, but in general, too,” Lauren explained.
Lauren added that “we also had to amuse ourselves much more often - we were the 'latch-key' generation, with parents working full-time - so are less reliant on screens and can think through challenges with logic and precision,” she explained.
#6
Calling your girlfriend's house and hoping that her dad does not pick up. Kids will never know this fear.
#7
Massive CD collections neatly stored in binders for easy access.
Firstname Lastname 3 years ago
With another box hidden off somewhere with all the cases, because you still need them, but it's better than playing cd case Jenga.
Moreover, Lauren sees the Gen Xers as a bridge of sorts; “we can take the millennials' ideas and translate them for older generations, and can help smooth communication and ideological differences between them.”
“We're also the forgotten generation, as the two generations on either side of us are such huge cohorts, which very much plays into the ‘slacker’ mentality of Gen X - we can get passionate, for sure, but it takes a lot to rile us up,” Lauren explained.
She also believes that Gen Xers are also used to be overlooked and making their own way, or being stuck in the middle. “As parents, I think Gen Xers are less ‘helicopter’ parents, more willing to let their kids make their own mistakes (but I say that as a non-parent!),” the writer and essayist concluded.
#8
The fact that our generation was kind if passed over. When I started my career, they wanted us to be deferential to older more experienced co-workers, “pay your dues and wait your turn!” As soon as we became more seasoned, they were like, look at all these amazing millennials and their great ideas! We’re like the Jan Brady of generations.
3 years ago
Then the owners saw the work ethics of those hyped millennials and went back to those reliant X's.
#9
Video arcade. Before Gen-X, graphics weren’t good enough, and after Gen-X, you’d play the games on your own home console. No other generation claimed them like we did.
#10
Swatch Watches.
Ches Yamada 3 years ago (edited)
Aww, I love these. They had such funky designs! They still do, but I miss the one I found when I was little at a local park. No one claimed it so I got it. It was so cool.
#11
Always having a pencil in the car for the cassettes.
Alex Frohlich 3 years ago
Born in 96, but still used these and VCR for a while, for old stuff until about 2014ish. I just used my pinky finger lol
#13
Hair crimper, riding bikes with no helmets, buying smokes for my dad at the shop. Putting baby oil on and sunbaking (cause we were literally baking ourselves haha) doing whatever I wanted for one to two hours after school by myself cause parents were still working. Being allowed to roam the streets until almost dark. I forgot to add getting your hair permed curly.
Ches Yamada 3 years ago
Ahhhh. I'd crimp my hair and then, for some readon, brush it out so it was all poofy. Lol
#14
My kid called me a boomer, and when I told him, 'No, I’m Gen X,' he said, 'No one cares.' I couldn’t argue with that.
#15
The Sony Walkman.
Anyone-for-tea? 3 years ago
Surely that should be a photo of the cassette version? I still have mine, and it works!
#16
Never getting mentioned in the news. It always goes from gen z to millennials to boomers.
#17
What defined Gen X growing up was living under the constant threat of nuclear war. If you wonder why Gen X is defined as 'whatever,' it's because we believed that at some point in our future, we'd end up living, or dying, in a nuclear winter.
The USSR was the 'evil empire,' and watching the succession of premiers being executed or disappeared confirmed that. So much so, that when Gorbachev actually started the process of Perestroika, I didn't believe it. I thought it was some kind of plot by the Russians to make us let our guard down.
The threat of nuclear war was constant. The continuation of human life on the planet was not a given.
I think there are many similarities between Gen X and the current generation (don't think it's Gen Z, but the kids currently going through elementary school). So, another 'whatever' generation growing up during COVID and the whole climate change crisis.
Ches Yamada 3 years ago
I think for me it wasn't that I believed I'd die, but I was tired of living under a constant threat so: "eh, whatever happens, happens - I can only do so much to change the world". You can't worry all the time.
#18
Telephone conversations. Like, calling up your friend and chatting for hours.
featherytoad 3 years ago
Yep, we would see each other all day at school and then come home and talk on the phone for hours. My parents couldn't understand it.
#19
Mixtapes. Actual cassette tapes recorded on a boom box from songs on the radio. Bonus for Ramones tunes as part of the mix.
#21
Pong, space invaders, being the last generation to have to walk across the room to change the tv channel, being able to fix the tv by pounding on it the right way, getting the brown box for the tv and there only being 3 stations.
Also being totally forgotten about by the other two generations. Like door mice.
#22
Reality Bites and Singles. Record stores.
Sunlight on a Broken Column 3 years ago
Gen X. My first job was at Sam Goody Music... at the MALL.
#24
Staying out until the street lights came on, riding your bike with a playing card in the spokes. Staring at that sweet IROC-Z down the street. First-generation CD players. Cordless phones. Skate City. FINISH HIM!
#25
Quiet quitting. We've been doing that since the '90s, but they just called it slacking back then.
#26
Grunge music: Working with a handful of Gen-Xers and the only music they can consistently agree on is the Pearl Jam station.
#27
The Crow... Movie and soundtrack.
#28
Beepers. It felt so important to have one, even cooler if you paid extra for the voicemail service.
pico diablo 3 years ago
Michael Crichton (under the name, John Lange) wrote about this in 'Binary'. The doctor who felt this way soon realized it didn't make him important, instead, it was an electronic leash.
#29
Garbage Pail Kids.
#30
Breakdancing.
#31
Sun-In for hair. Feathered bangs. Blue eyeliner. Loves Baby Soft. Jellies.
Hiker Chick 3 years ago
Melting your wood pencil eyeliner with a cigarette lighter and lining the lip of your eyelid, but being careful that you don't scratch your eyeball.
#32
Trapper keepers.
Katy McMouse 3 years ago
I had one, once - my dad wouldn't pay out for a Trapper Keeper (I bought my own). To this day, I still wonder how I graduated primary school without it...
#33
Watching mtv headbangers ball Saturday morning, ready to rec on the vhs when my favourite bands came on.
#35
Using a payphonett to make a collect call with the intent of the call being declined. It's a messaging system that notifies your ride that you're ready to be picked up from the movies where you watched back to the future. Or from the arcade where you just blew a roll of quarters on super Mario bros.
#36
Blowing inside Nintendo cartridges.
#37
Oregon Trail.
#39
Valley Girl culture and talk.
#40
Bartles & Jaymes. The original White Claw.
What do you think ?
Jessica Bertram 3 years ago (edited)
latchkey kid here. played alone or with my brother on afternoons. Another thing i think defined our generation: we were the first to really acknowledge our mental health, as a nomal thing to work on. Gen X also wasn't *nearly* as progressive as we made ourselves out to be. i suppose all generations are more progressive than their predecessors. it makes sense.
similarly 3 years ago
I can remember us kids, the oldest being 10, left alone literally all day.
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Malditos Bares 3 years ago
Being an individual and not an insectional box-ticker in order to define yourself and your identity.
similarly 3 years ago
Nobody mentioned parachute pants. I'm so disappointed. I had a windbreaker in junior high that I thought was the coolest jacket. Black with a white stripe down each sleeve. I'd give just about anything to get one like it.
debster 3 years ago
I was high end of poor. I had parachute pants and I loved them. I’m sure they were knock offs. Made sounds while I walked in them. So many pockets!!!!
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My O My 3 years ago
Same here. But I think I'm on the verge so that may be the reason.
Load More Replies... Bill Evs 3 years ago
For me as a Gen X-er the best part is the whole not caring thing. Yes I'm generalising and yes it does come across at times like lack of ambition or passion and can potentially be detrimental. However we did/do have a way of looking at and/ or coping with the world with a kind of stoicism that creates a solid foundation for dealing with times when the sh*t properly hits the fan.
Frankthetank 3 years ago
Babysitting kids for hours or all night at 11 years old! Babysitter's club books!! Oh yeah, my favorite: never getting in trouble with cops- they would just pour it out and make us "go home"
Katherine Dobias 3 years ago
Eating free food samples at costco like nanaimo bars. Never bought them. We only ever ate them there for free. Back when Sears existed, my brother and I would sit on the couch and watch tv at the store while my parents spent all day shopping or rather examining each item and learning from the salesman how to use them so they wouldn't have to read the instructions manual. When my parents couldn't find us, we'd get paged by annoyed cashierists. And when we got there, the cashierists would have to page our parents cause they didn't stick around long enough for us to come.
Marissa J Bradshaw 3 years ago
45s, concert tix for 7$, actual ticket stubs, Aqua Net Super Hold (white can), records with lyrics, pictures and concepts on the sleeve. Smoking and talking for hours in coffee shops. Dancing at Skoochies. Grunge not being 'grunge', but just our Seattle sound. The Frontier Room, The Vogue and The Off Ramp. Cheap vintage clothes.
Tree P 3 years ago
Yes! 45s! And that little yellow thing you put in the center to play it! You know what I mean!
Load More Replies... I love the 80’s 3 years ago
Benetton, Multiples, Norma Kamaili, Gloria Vanderbilt jeans, Service Merchandise, Interview magazine, Turtles, Coconuts, and Record Bar.
Skylar Jaxx 3 years ago
It's 10 o'clock do you know where your kids are??? Quote on the local news every night.
Katherine Dobias 3 years ago
Waiting after school wondering if your mom will show up to pick you up or if you have to do the 40min walk back home. You just never knew. Coming home after your 40min walk to find that your mom's not home and must've gone to pick you up and then having to find an unlocked window to climb through. It was always either the basement window or kitchen window. Calling 911 for being home alone and feeling scared that one time even though I was 13. My brother did it too when he was 11. We were always home alone and it usually never bothered us except for those one offs. Letting salesmen into our home who had a suitcase of stuff they were selling, clothes, chocolate, gadgets, vaccuum etc. Chewing on dandelion stems in the field. Throwing rocks at a pine tree to dislodge the cones and later hitting them with rocks against the ground to get the pine nuts out and eat them during recess. Tipping men who would from time to time go up 5 flights of stairs carrying refilled gas tank for our stove.
Brindle Nutter 3 years ago
The last generation where your grandma wrote a note to the local 7-11 giving permission for a couple or 8 year olds to buy wine coolers and a pack of Marlboros for grandma.
Bina Wei 3 years ago
Nah. Am older gen Z. My mother did this. Sent me off with lists too.
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Vanessa S 3 years ago
Technically a millennial but barely I am stuck between I remember most of this the only one I didn't have to deal with getting up to change the channel
Helena R 3 years ago
I'm a millennial, but I had older parents/grandparents so I am still familiar with a lot of these. My grandmothers tv - someone had to get up to change the channel until a relative finally bought her a new one
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John Schindler 3 years ago
I loved Punk and Alternative music, still do, nobody believes me when I tell them I remember Chumbawamba as an 80s Anarchist Punk band, to most people, their just a one hit wonder.🤣
Runs with scissors 3 years ago
1. No school shootings, no active shooter drills. 2. Hair metal bands 3. I was healthy and fit.(I know, that's a personal one.) 4. We had hope for a good future because our folks told us that if we worked hard and stayed loyal to our employers we would move up in the company and have a good retirement fund. (Life was much simpler then.) 5. Gas was 0.83 cents per gallon. 6. Fashion, hair, and makeup were colorful, interesting, and attainable for almost everyone. 7. Skipping school and hanging with friends, playing poker and eating junk food all day. 8. Sneaking out at night and not getting hassled by the cops. No curfew. 9. Candy bars 11 for $1.00 10. Original Coke-a-Cola
Katherine Dobias 3 years ago
Burning songs from limewire on cds and watching it download slowly for several hours during the day. Having to pay library fines and rogers vhs video and block buster video fines. We were always late to return stuff. Never kept track of date returns. Watching commercial channel and calling in to buy the latest vaccuum on sale that turned out to be c**p. We could never get a good vaccuum. Back when youtube first came out 2006 or 2007, I would wait several hours during the day for the video to load and watch a few mins at a time. I was lucky if I was ever able to finish watching a video. In the 90s, I played disney computer games burned on cds. We had a generator for when the electricity went out. We had a water heater we had to turn on a day before wanting to shower. Not being able to use the internet because someone's on the phone. The phone bill being so high that one random month because someone left the phone off the receiver and forgot to hang up.
Sorcha Dugan-Wolf 3 years ago
Today we hit 20 degrees and while I was letting the dogs out I was singing "Tropical Heatwave", like Walter Matthua from Grumpy Old Men. I loved those movies when I was younger and still do.
Amy Ferguson-Shannon 3 years ago
That's funny I associate "tropical heatwave" with the movie White Christmas. I'm sure it's in lots of movies
Load More Replies... Maple Porkly 3 years ago
I grew up at the start of the millennial generation. I remember all these things. My husband being a few years younger, however, doesn't. Our approach to parenting can be quite different sometimes. I'll let our kid stay outside after dark unsupervised (no phone to reach her). My husband, on the other hand, will be calling her in as soon as it's starting to get a little dark (she'll be in the front yard). She's eight, not a toddler.
All's Gravy 3 years ago
Gen Xers died with Thatcher's, Reagan's & Gordon Gekko's "Greed is good", neoliberalism.
Amy Ferguson-Shannon 3 years ago
The defining moment for gen x is supposed to be remembering the challenger explosion. That happened in 1986. I was in the 4th grade. I remember we watched it on TV and the teachers bawling.
Load More Replies... Katherine Dobias 3 years ago
Playing with marbles, racket ball, and stray cats after school. Using a plastic bag to slide down a snow covered hill. Using a basket tied from balcony to roll up groceries to 5th floor apartment complex that didn't have an elevator. Using a long wiper to wipe water on the floor onto the drain instead of a mop and bucket for cleaning. Eating snow and making slushies. Using a stove pipe to roast chestnuts. Falling asleep near the stove pipe in winter because we didn't have heating. Using weighted blankets. Leaving a bowl of milk outside the door for stray cats. Spitting on cars from the balcony and bridge. Playing with bubbles on the balcony. Playing sandman at the playground as a teenager. Sitting with friends just to talk on slides, swings, monkey bars etc as a teenager. Stealing candy from 711. Getting 5 different slushie flavors and reading our zodiac and advice columns at 711. Tooney tuesdays at kfc during a 75 min recess, and a tooney for a pizza slice
Bina Wei 3 years ago
Im an older Gen Z but not only were my parents older. Growing up as a kid before 14 or so, so was my town. The only internet came from the desktop for me for many years. My first phone was a dinosaur nokia and I loved it so much. Anyway point is, despite my generation i relate to many of these posts. I spend half my childhood without internet or a cellphone, had the same Be back before dark rule, etc. I guess its the same for many small towns in the early 2000s to 2010. My town is now a semi big one now but its weird to remember how some of it started. Despite being quite young. For example I remember a highway that didn't used to be there about 20 years agoz and the memories that came from us being 5 and pretending the bus was a rollercoaster when it went over the railway. And what an old building used to be 10 years ago, etc. So yeah, most here is specific to Generations but I also think small not quite developed towns make some of that universal. Older parents and early 2000s tim
Tinderella 3 years ago
This doesn’t count though. It’s still not universal no matter how old your parents are or how small the town. Because it didn’t happen in the 80s and 90s.
Load More Replies... Jessica Bertram 3 years ago (edited)
latchkey kid here. played alone or with my brother on afternoons. Another thing i think defined our generation: we were the first to really acknowledge our mental health, as a nomal thing to work on. Gen X also wasn't *nearly* as progressive as we made ourselves out to be. i suppose all generations are more progressive than their predecessors. it makes sense.
similarly 3 years ago
I can remember us kids, the oldest being 10, left alone literally all day.
Load More Replies... Malditos Bares 3 years ago
Being an individual and not an insectional box-ticker in order to define yourself and your identity.
similarly 3 years ago
Nobody mentioned parachute pants. I'm so disappointed. I had a windbreaker in junior high that I thought was the coolest jacket. Black with a white stripe down each sleeve. I'd give just about anything to get one like it.
debster 3 years ago
I was high end of poor. I had parachute pants and I loved them. I’m sure they were knock offs. Made sounds while I walked in them. So many pockets!!!!
Load More Replies... My O My 3 years ago
Same here. But I think I'm on the verge so that may be the reason.
Load More Replies... Bill Evs 3 years ago
For me as a Gen X-er the best part is the whole not caring thing. Yes I'm generalising and yes it does come across at times like lack of ambition or passion and can potentially be detrimental. However we did/do have a way of looking at and/ or coping with the world with a kind of stoicism that creates a solid foundation for dealing with times when the sh*t properly hits the fan.
Frankthetank 3 years ago
Babysitting kids for hours or all night at 11 years old! Babysitter's club books!! Oh yeah, my favorite: never getting in trouble with cops- they would just pour it out and make us "go home"
Katherine Dobias 3 years ago
Eating free food samples at costco like nanaimo bars. Never bought them. We only ever ate them there for free. Back when Sears existed, my brother and I would sit on the couch and watch tv at the store while my parents spent all day shopping or rather examining each item and learning from the salesman how to use them so they wouldn't have to read the instructions manual. When my parents couldn't find us, we'd get paged by annoyed cashierists. And when we got there, the cashierists would have to page our parents cause they didn't stick around long enough for us to come.
Marissa J Bradshaw 3 years ago
45s, concert tix for 7$, actual ticket stubs, Aqua Net Super Hold (white can), records with lyrics, pictures and concepts on the sleeve. Smoking and talking for hours in coffee shops. Dancing at Skoochies. Grunge not being 'grunge', but just our Seattle sound. The Frontier Room, The Vogue and The Off Ramp. Cheap vintage clothes.
Tree P 3 years ago
Yes! 45s! And that little yellow thing you put in the center to play it! You know what I mean!
Load More Replies... I love the 80’s 3 years ago
Benetton, Multiples, Norma Kamaili, Gloria Vanderbilt jeans, Service Merchandise, Interview magazine, Turtles, Coconuts, and Record Bar.
Skylar Jaxx 3 years ago
It's 10 o'clock do you know where your kids are??? Quote on the local news every night.
Katherine Dobias 3 years ago
Waiting after school wondering if your mom will show up to pick you up or if you have to do the 40min walk back home. You just never knew. Coming home after your 40min walk to find that your mom's not home and must've gone to pick you up and then having to find an unlocked window to climb through. It was always either the basement window or kitchen window. Calling 911 for being home alone and feeling scared that one time even though I was 13. My brother did it too when he was 11. We were always home alone and it usually never bothered us except for those one offs. Letting salesmen into our home who had a suitcase of stuff they were selling, clothes, chocolate, gadgets, vaccuum etc. Chewing on dandelion stems in the field. Throwing rocks at a pine tree to dislodge the cones and later hitting them with rocks against the ground to get the pine nuts out and eat them during recess. Tipping men who would from time to time go up 5 flights of stairs carrying refilled gas tank for our stove.
Brindle Nutter 3 years ago
The last generation where your grandma wrote a note to the local 7-11 giving permission for a couple or 8 year olds to buy wine coolers and a pack of Marlboros for grandma.
Bina Wei 3 years ago
Nah. Am older gen Z. My mother did this. Sent me off with lists too.
Load More Replies... Vanessa S 3 years ago
Technically a millennial but barely I am stuck between I remember most of this the only one I didn't have to deal with getting up to change the channel
Helena R 3 years ago
I'm a millennial, but I had older parents/grandparents so I am still familiar with a lot of these. My grandmothers tv - someone had to get up to change the channel until a relative finally bought her a new one
Load More Replies... John Schindler 3 years ago
I loved Punk and Alternative music, still do, nobody believes me when I tell them I remember Chumbawamba as an 80s Anarchist Punk band, to most people, their just a one hit wonder.🤣
Runs with scissors 3 years ago
1. No school shootings, no active shooter drills. 2. Hair metal bands 3. I was healthy and fit.(I know, that's a personal one.) 4. We had hope for a good future because our folks told us that if we worked hard and stayed loyal to our employers we would move up in the company and have a good retirement fund. (Life was much simpler then.) 5. Gas was 0.83 cents per gallon. 6. Fashion, hair, and makeup were colorful, interesting, and attainable for almost everyone. 7. Skipping school and hanging with friends, playing poker and eating junk food all day. 8. Sneaking out at night and not getting hassled by the cops. No curfew. 9. Candy bars 11 for $1.00 10. Original Coke-a-Cola
Katherine Dobias 3 years ago
Burning songs from limewire on cds and watching it download slowly for several hours during the day. Having to pay library fines and rogers vhs video and block buster video fines. We were always late to return stuff. Never kept track of date returns. Watching commercial channel and calling in to buy the latest vaccuum on sale that turned out to be c**p. We could never get a good vaccuum. Back when youtube first came out 2006 or 2007, I would wait several hours during the day for the video to load and watch a few mins at a time. I was lucky if I was ever able to finish watching a video. In the 90s, I played disney computer games burned on cds. We had a generator for when the electricity went out. We had a water heater we had to turn on a day before wanting to shower. Not being able to use the internet because someone's on the phone. The phone bill being so high that one random month because someone left the phone off the receiver and forgot to hang up.
Sorcha Dugan-Wolf 3 years ago
Today we hit 20 degrees and while I was letting the dogs out I was singing "Tropical Heatwave", like Walter Matthua from Grumpy Old Men. I loved those movies when I was younger and still do.
Amy Ferguson-Shannon 3 years ago
That's funny I associate "tropical heatwave" with the movie White Christmas. I'm sure it's in lots of movies
Load More Replies... Maple Porkly 3 years ago
I grew up at the start of the millennial generation. I remember all these things. My husband being a few years younger, however, doesn't. Our approach to parenting can be quite different sometimes. I'll let our kid stay outside after dark unsupervised (no phone to reach her). My husband, on the other hand, will be calling her in as soon as it's starting to get a little dark (she'll be in the front yard). She's eight, not a toddler.
All's Gravy 3 years ago
Gen Xers died with Thatcher's, Reagan's & Gordon Gekko's "Greed is good", neoliberalism.
Amy Ferguson-Shannon 3 years ago
The defining moment for gen x is supposed to be remembering the challenger explosion. That happened in 1986. I was in the 4th grade. I remember we watched it on TV and the teachers bawling.
Load More Replies... Katherine Dobias 3 years ago
Playing with marbles, racket ball, and stray cats after school. Using a plastic bag to slide down a snow covered hill. Using a basket tied from balcony to roll up groceries to 5th floor apartment complex that didn't have an elevator. Using a long wiper to wipe water on the floor onto the drain instead of a mop and bucket for cleaning. Eating snow and making slushies. Using a stove pipe to roast chestnuts. Falling asleep near the stove pipe in winter because we didn't have heating. Using weighted blankets. Leaving a bowl of milk outside the door for stray cats. Spitting on cars from the balcony and bridge. Playing with bubbles on the balcony. Playing sandman at the playground as a teenager. Sitting with friends just to talk on slides, swings, monkey bars etc as a teenager. Stealing candy from 711. Getting 5 different slushie flavors and reading our zodiac and advice columns at 711. Tooney tuesdays at kfc during a 75 min recess, and a tooney for a pizza slice
Bina Wei 3 years ago
Im an older Gen Z but not only were my parents older. Growing up as a kid before 14 or so, so was my town. The only internet came from the desktop for me for many years. My first phone was a dinosaur nokia and I loved it so much. Anyway point is, despite my generation i relate to many of these posts. I spend half my childhood without internet or a cellphone, had the same Be back before dark rule, etc. I guess its the same for many small towns in the early 2000s to 2010. My town is now a semi big one now but its weird to remember how some of it started. Despite being quite young. For example I remember a highway that didn't used to be there about 20 years agoz and the memories that came from us being 5 and pretending the bus was a rollercoaster when it went over the railway. And what an old building used to be 10 years ago, etc. So yeah, most here is specific to Generations but I also think small not quite developed towns make some of that universal. Older parents and early 2000s tim
Tinderella 3 years ago
This doesn’t count though. It’s still not universal no matter how old your parents are or how small the town. Because it didn’t happen in the 80s and 90s.
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