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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.
This post may include affiliate links.
#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.
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.
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#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 2 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.
#5
Remembering phone numbers.
#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 2 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.
2 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 2 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 2 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 2 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? 2 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 2 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.
May light defeat the darkness 2 years ago
We interlapped with those who lived World War Ii. Their stories about the horrors of war desensitized us that whatever happens, happens. I am just happy we are not the trigger happy, violent, angsty generation. We are just okay existing.
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T'Mar of Vulcan 2 years ago
It didn't help that there were a bunch of movies about nuclear war (The Day After, Testament and When the Wind Blows are ones I remember quite well). If those didn't scare the c**p out of you, nothing would.
Katy McMouse 2 years ago
My grade school sent home a letter warning our parents to not let us watch "The Day After". I never saw it until well into my twenties. It wasn't as bad as the hype made it out to be.
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Alex Martin 2 years ago
As a kid it was earthquakes and nuclear wars. Kids today have it so much worse, add in pandemic, climate change, and mass shootings. That's a lot to carry. They are more socially isolated and don't do the get together and listen to music and talk thing we did as kids and teens. Online and text isnt the same. I have so much hope for and so much despair for the Z kids. We are leaving them one hell of a shitshow.
BakedKahuna 2 years ago
Tschernobyl happened, when I was a kindergarten kid. We stopped having mushrooms and milk, and avoided the rain.
Historyharlot93 2 years ago
Remember “If The Russians Love Their Children Too” by Sting? Cold War song that gave us chills. This is why Putin threatening to use nukes doesn’t frighten me like it probably should. I have this, “yeah, well bring it on” attitude, also a “kids today don’t know what living in fear of the mushroom cloud really is”. I’m American btw.
Dawn Marie 2 years ago
My father was a university professor. I remember the rations that were kept in the basement bathrooms for just this reason. When I graduated university in 1986, they were still there.
Robert T 2 years ago
This must've been a US thing, as in the UK it really didn't bother us. We just went about our daily lives as normal. About the only things that upset it were Chernobyl, which put paid to sheep grazing the fells (hills), and the Lockerbie bomb (Pan Am Flight 103), which if it had happened 10 minutes sooner, might have landed on my town.
Paula Olds 2 years ago
I think you are right about it being a US thing, mostly because of the cold war with the Soviet Union. I had a 2nd grade teacher (class level for 7-8 yr olds) who used to scare the c**p out of us with warnings about how we were all going to starve when the nuclear winter came.
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Darlene Molina 2 years ago
I can recall being in 5th grade and a friend let me cut in line with her at the cafeteria. Got caught and a teacher sent me to the back of the line scolding me for my error in judgement and I muttered under my breath, "What's the difference? We're all going to die in a nuclear war anyday anyhow." So yes, this post is extremely accurate.
Marcos Valencia 2 years ago
For Europeans, you can add the weeks where all we were following the evolution of the Chernobyl cloud. Spaniard here, it didn't reach us.
Alleman Jennifer 2 years ago
After I read this I had to google Gen x to see if I was a gen x to make sure I was one as this didn't ring true. I'm solid gen x. Maybe this is a European v American memory set.
Christina Landers 2 years ago
Def US thing. I don't know about europe. Obviously America and the cold war with Russia was during our childhood but fear of it probably depended on where you lived
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Kathryn Baylis 2 years ago
Boomers grew up under that cloud too, because we ceased to be allies of the USSR practically the day WWII ended, which was the year before the Baby Boom started.
Daaaaaaaaaaa 2 years ago
That's so true. I remember this fear so well in the 80s...'the big red button'
Gabriela 2 years ago
I guess that's a US thing? At this part of the world we weren't bombarded with that sort of propaganda
Rumple Schleppskin 2 years ago
I suppose maybe...but the entire world would feel the fallout.. As I thought of it.
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Foogle Phish 2 years ago
The "climate crisis" has been going on under one name or another sense at least the 1960s... It was an imminent ice age.. followed by global food shortages, fossil fuels were doing to run out within 10 years, then acid rain, then global warming, now it's called climate crisis...
Thomas Jones 2 years ago
When the stuff in Ukraine started, I was floored to find out how few nukes the US and Russia currently had. As a kid, there were literally ten times as many. Nuclear war was sorta less scary because you didn't need to worry about living in a post war hell-scape because it was a near lock you were simply going to have been turned to ash when the balloon went up.
Rumple Schleppskin 2 years ago
I think of the achievements that i had no part in,.., during the cold war.
Em 2 years ago
I was born in 1982 so I’m not sure if that counts as Gen X but I can relate to this. There was this ingrained fear of nuclear war, either handed down from our parents generation or because there was still this divide between East & West even if it wasn’t spoken out loud.The threat of Armageddon was always there. I was convinced the world would end via Nukes and remain an anti Arms campaigner & pacifist to this day. The fear was hammered home even harder when 9/11 happened.
Diana Pahule 2 years ago
I'm boomer and I was expecting the end of the civilization at any time. Guess what Russia is still the bad guy.
Sarah Bickel 2 years ago
Well said. I'm a gen x with 3 kids. One is a millennial, one is gen z, and my youngest is known as gen alpha.
Pamela Holleman 2 years ago
Big question when ever a new group of people got together... Seperating the "We got this" from the "forget it, we are done already" The Q: So when the Bomb drops, do you want to be at the detonation spot or do you want to be a survivor? ... Notice the opening phrase says WHEN not IF.
All's Gravy 2 years ago
Nuclear annihilation or death from AIDS related HIV - I was terrified.
Rodney McKay 2 years ago
Being something of a nihilist (thanks, life), I was more like "Bring it on, Russkies!"
Conchinha Coraçon 2 years ago
That was just an america thing. In europe no one was thinking about this.
Sage Gusano 2 years ago
I believed Gorbachev and was shocked when he didn't have an "accident". I kept expecting it.
Aye Emme 2 years ago
I remember the threat of Acid Rain being more of our generation than nuclear threat, sure it was there and a lot of post-apocalyptic/mutants in fiction, and fear of the effects of radiation, but I don't think of it as just Gen X thing as the cold war and nuclear threat started before our generation was born.
Noelia Jaime 2 years ago
No,jot for me or anyone my age...It was the freeist I've ever been. No cares at all.
Mark Melton 2 years ago
We know now that America is actually the evil Empire, not Russia, Russia can't even keep tanks running. We've Been lied to from day one, cut our military by 3/4 and start medicare for everyone, and free education.
BenMaharaj 2 years ago
I personally never believed it would happen. If any country in the world could build them I’d be terrified but I knew the countries that did have them were using them to prevent WWIII, not start it.
Brandi Delph 2 years ago
I saw one article calling the current group of young kids as the Alpha Generation. Don't know if that the "official" designation or not
Thomas Hunt, Jr. 2 years ago
My parents kept nuclear c**p from me. They were both born in 57, I came along in 77...
Amy Ferguson-Shannon 2 years ago
I don't remember the doom and gloom most of the others are talking about and I was also born in 77. I do remember the end of the cold war and the threats but my parents and teachers never really said much about any of it.
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Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 2 years ago
I grew up across the river from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation where they made plutonium. I was also 20 miles from a major nerve gas depot. I knew if they ever started popping off, it would be quick.
Let’s Be Kind 2 years ago
Very familiar with that too. Never toured it, just drove by it in the way to the ocean.
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Sorcha Dugan-Wolf 2 years ago
My DIL called me negative and nasty when in all actuality I'm a realist. Being Gen X taught me better to expect nothing than expect the best otherwise we'd live constantly be disappointed, yet cherish the good outcomes.
Sandy Hemphill 2 years ago
Cold War -- 1947 to 1991. Cuban Missile Crisis -- 1962. Atomic device testing -- 1940s and 1950s. Manhattan Project -- 1940s. Hiroshima and Nagasaki --- 1945. Duck and cover drills at school -- 1940s to mid-1960s. "Gen X growing up was living under the constant threat of nuclear war"? Uhm, I don't think so.
Let’s Be Kind 2 years ago
Yes, trivialize what we went through as kids, thanks!
Load More Replies... Haywood Jablome 2 years ago
"Whatever" is multi-generational. I'm a millennial, and my only "investment" is a gun and 1 bullet so I don't have to live through the water wars
#18
Telephone conversations. Like, calling up your friend and chatting for hours.
featherytoad 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 years ago
I can remember us kids, the oldest being 10, left alone literally all day.
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Malditos Bares 2 years ago
Being an individual and not an insectional box-ticker in order to define yourself and your identity.
similarly 2 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 2 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 2 years ago
Same here. But I think I'm on the verge so that may be the reason.
Load More Replies... Bill Evs 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 years ago
Benetton, Multiples, Norma Kamaili, Gloria Vanderbilt jeans, Service Merchandise, Interview magazine, Turtles, Coconuts, and Record Bar.
Skylar Jaxx 2 years ago
It's 10 o'clock do you know where your kids are??? Quote on the local news every night.
Katherine Dobias 2 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 2 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 2 years ago
Nah. Am older gen Z. My mother did this. Sent me off with lists too.
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Vanessa S 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 years ago
Gen Xers died with Thatcher's, Reagan's & Gordon Gekko's "Greed is good", neoliberalism.
Amy Ferguson-Shannon 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 years ago
I can remember us kids, the oldest being 10, left alone literally all day.
Load More Replies... Malditos Bares 2 years ago
Being an individual and not an insectional box-ticker in order to define yourself and your identity.
similarly 2 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 2 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 2 years ago
Same here. But I think I'm on the verge so that may be the reason.
Load More Replies... Bill Evs 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 years ago
Benetton, Multiples, Norma Kamaili, Gloria Vanderbilt jeans, Service Merchandise, Interview magazine, Turtles, Coconuts, and Record Bar.
Skylar Jaxx 2 years ago
It's 10 o'clock do you know where your kids are??? Quote on the local news every night.
Katherine Dobias 2 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 2 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 2 years ago
Nah. Am older gen Z. My mother did this. Sent me off with lists too.
Load More Replies... Vanessa S 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 years ago
Gen Xers died with Thatcher's, Reagan's & Gordon Gekko's "Greed is good", neoliberalism.
Amy Ferguson-Shannon 2 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 2 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 2 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 2 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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