50 ‘Memes From Generation X’ To Entertain You While Prepping For Midlife Crisis (New Pics)
No matter when we are born, many of us feel very nostalgic for our childhood and young adulthood. This sense of nostalgia offers a rare glimpse into how other generations used to live: what trends, products, shows, and cultural icons dominated their day-to-day.
The ‘Righteous Memes from Generation X’ Facebook group is a fantastic social media project that captures the essence of Gen X—people born roughly between 1965 to 1980 in the United States. And all in meme form! We’ve collected some of the freshest ones to share with you. For Gen Xers, it’s a blast from the past. For everyone else, it’s an interesting history and pop culture class. Don’t forget to upvote your fave pics as you scroll down.
We wanted to learn about what makes Gen X so unique in the US and why each generation seems to be critical of others, so we reached out to Glenn Geher, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the State University of New York at New Paltz and a published author. You'll find Bored Panda's interview with him as you scroll down.
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"There are various reasons that members of each new generation seem to think they see things more clearly relative to members of previous generations. Partly, this fact results from people surrounding themselves with like-minded others. If all of my friends and I tend to see the prior generation as having ridiculously outdated views, then our attitudes are bolstered and feel like a sort of reality," Dr. Geher, from the State University of New York at New Paltz, told Bored Panda via email.
"Further, in a time marked by rapid technological and cultural advancement, members of each new generation often do, in many ways, have a genuinely advanced understanding of the world relative to prior generations," the psychology expert noted that there's a kernel of truth in the idea that all generations tend to criticize others.
We wanted to find out what it is that makes Gen X unique in the United States, compared to other generations. Dr. Geher was kind enough to shed some light on this.
"We Generation Xers saw—and largely created—profound technological advances in our lifetimes. We saw the realization of the full human genome, the shift from paper mail to email, and shared global issues such as climate change. Our world is truly and permanently changed relative to the world of prior generations," he said.
I miss the excitement of going to rent a video for our betamax. If we were really lucky we could pick some sweets from the local shop to go with it,not once did we have a snack from the video store
The psychology professor added that Gen X "absolutely" enjoys different memes and internet content than other generations. "Memes tend to often be generation-specific," he said.
"Gen Xers may find memes about having difficulty resetting passwords hysterical while the younger generation seems to have better figured out things like account passwords and they seem to be onto other things when it comes to what they find funny and how they see the world in general."
Members of Generation X are the parents of Millennials and Generation Z (aka Zoomers). Meanwhile, Gen X themselves are the kids of the Silent Generation and early Baby Boomers. According to the US Census data, there were over 65 million Gen Xers as of 2019. Compare that to roughly 72 million Baby Boomers, as well as another 72 million Millennials in the United States.
There is some confusion as to how exactly to define Gen X in terms of when they were born. Investopedia notes that some researchers like William Straus and Neil Howe describe them as being born from 1961 to 1981. However, Gallup states differently, that the range runs from 1965 to 1979. But broadly and culturally speaking, Gen Xers are individuals born between the mid-1960s till the very early-1980s. This time span and cultural values will differ in other countries.
Gen Xers, who are known as an ‘in-between’ generation, are approaching the middle of their careers and (hopefully) peak-earning years right now. However, they may be the first generation in the United States that is worse off than their parents when it comes to retirement prep. Only the future will tell.
That would have been a sweet set up back then. And the speakers would have been almost the cabinet size too
A few key events may have done a lot of harm to Gen Xers’ potential savings and earning power, including the dot-com bubble, as well as the financial crisis of 2008. And this is clear from the numbers. Investopedia points out that as of 2021, Generation X households have estimated median retirement savings of $87k, compared to $162k for Baby Boomers and $50k for Millennials. What’s more, a third of Gen Xers have taken loans or early withdrawals from their retirement accounts, compared to 24% of Baby Boomers and 46% of Millennials.
As dorky as that sounds…. It’s true. I’m never got to have my pastel baby blush pink bedroom and now at 51….I’m getting my wish !!! Lol
The ‘Righteous Memes from Generation X’ Facebook group currently has 92.3k members, and the community is focused on having fun, posting good memes, and being excellent to each other. The moderator and administrator team running the whole show asks anyone posting and commenting to “leave their politics at the door” because it will serve to divide the community.
Moreover, the mods and admins want the community members to stay on-point and post memes that are relevant to the theme of the entire group: namely, things related to Generation X, not random stuff they find elsewhere. They also note that current events are rarely relevant.
Meanwhile, members should avoid posting videos, reels, and TikToks. And there’s no place for any sort of generation-bashing. That means that nobody should be attacking older generations for messing up things or young generations for having a weak work ethic. Anyone who writes‘ ok Boomer’ in a comment will get a 24-hour-long mute. And though personal stories from the ‘Good Old Days’ might be fun, the point of the group is to post memes.
If you don't remember Madness, and you don't remember them doing this song in "The Young Ones", then I'm afraid we have nothing in common, sorry.
These Gen X memes are incredibly funny and relatable if you know the cultural context of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. And though nostalgia has plenty of upsides, like energizing us and helping us power through tough times, too much of a good thing can have a very negative impact. Someone who’s constantly stuck thinking about the past may ignore genuinely good opportunities in the present. And it isn’t healthy to be overly cynical of how much the world has changed ‘for the worse,’ yearning to go back.
Yeah they did that on purpose. They knew. They knew we were trying to build the perfect mix tapes for free.
Whenever I talk about how much I hate the snow cause it turns to ice, and how me and ice don’t get along (for obvious reasons) I reference these commercials and refer to myself as the Life Alert lady who’s fallen and can’t get back up xD It’s embarrassing when it happens to me but that’s how tf it feels 😅
Psychologist Valentina Stoycheva, Ph.D., writes on Psychology Today that there is a difference between helpful and harmful nostalgia. It’s rooted in “the difference between incorporating the positive emotions of reminiscing into the present versus renouncing the present for the sake of reinstating and perpetually reliving some moment in the past.”
According to the psychologist, some individuals go completely overboard glorifying the past, and get stuck. They might start hoarding items, getting excessive plastic surgery done to create the illusion of youth, or they might stalk their former partners on social media. Stoycheva urges anyone yearning for a period of time that is long gone to ask themselves what emotions and former self-states they’re after.
Which of these Gen X memes did you enjoy the most? How many Gen X Pandas do you think we have? What are you the most nostalgic for, whatever generation you might be? Swing by the comments, tell us what you think. In the meantime, for some more awesome memes from ‘Righteous Memes from Generation X,’ check out Bored Panda’s previous feature over here.
I used to fantasize about getting such an amazing job like she does on accident in this movie. If you think this movie is unrealistic, rewatch Home Alone and contemplate how a single salary afforded that house! Like, WHAT?
Lol, this is so true. There's so much from the 80s that is just absolutely bizarre, and much of it geared toward young people.
I had a shell suit. Atleast that's what we called them in the UK. I wanted one soooo bad. Felt really great when I first wore it
You could wait 10 minutes before eating it,foolishly thinking it would of cooled down,right until you bit into it and burnt your bottom lip and chin!
These were fun. Except for the child at the park who fell from the slide, and I took him and his mom to their dentist. But the round merry-go-round only ate one child in all my years playing on it. And it wasn't me.
when you say it ate a kid I thought - THE MERRY GO ROUND DEMANDS SACRIFICE... IT... HUNGERS...
Load More Replies...I have a scar on my leg from falling off one of those damn merry go round things. The goal was to go as fast as possible and then fling yourself off. I missed the fling and hit the edge of the merry go round instead.
We just tried to hang on. Especially, with everyone who flew off keeping it going.
Load More Replies...There was some sort of metal horse on a coil spring at my childhood playground. I busted my face on it after I rocked it too far.
It taught us that in life, fun always involved risks to avoid, if you didnt want to be the kid the ambulance staff was cutting your clothes off of and were finding out that, despite being told many times, you had NOT changed your underwear to a fresh pair that morning...
Load More Replies...When we were kids me and my friends would always compete to see who was the most rambunctious and would compare our scrapes cuts bumps and bruises to prove how wild’n’out we were from us having “fun”, because that’s what it was for us, fun 😂🤷🏻♂️ Thinking about it now I’m truly amazed I didn’t have a broken bone in my body up until I was 24
I would absolutely love to go on one of those old school seesaws, again (teeter-totters for my American friends). You know the ones that went up really high and you could hang off the high end trying to pull it down while your Dad sat on the other end? Or put your fried on the low end then do a running jump on the high end to send your friend flying? Or just lazily ride up and down with you best friend in a beautiful act of synchronicity? Love me a seesaw
The funny thing is that these are not so dangerous. The same kids that brag about playing on these now overprotect their own kids.
That’s hilarious; you’ve never seen the leg bone sticking out after someone fell from the Lazy Liz at the top
Load More Replies...or you put them back together. broken nose, split chin, cut up thigh... and all before 11 years ... at what point does it become mody modification?
Load More Replies...We still need these kind of things. They teach kids their limits and what happens when you try to exceed them. These days every sharp corner is padded and kids can't learn from their mistakes, and thereby avoid bigger mistakes in the future.
OOO the metal slide burns on the legs!!! And yes, we went right back up and did it again. Or swinging so high the swingset thumped.
*Stiiiick - screeeeech! Stiiiiiick - screeeeech! Stiiiiick - screeech - uses heels to drag the last few inches and then - feet down into the dirt - CLOMP!* Aaaaaand then around for another go!!!!
Load More Replies...My àss can still feel the burn of that slide... I'd still go right back up to slide down again though. Enough butts eventually cooled it off.
One of the schools I went to had a metal slide with a metal bar at the top. Never knew why it was there but I decided that I would flip over the bar onto the slide. Not sure how I ever lived long enough to be an adult.
When I was a kid there was one things at the top right (We called it a merry go round). There was always some bigger kid that has to see how fast he could it go, with kids on it. Centrifugal force made many kids go flying off of it; I broke a tooth on one of the things.
OK. I grew up with this type of playground stuff. It was extremely rare to see an adult when we played. Yes we fell off, yes we got cuts and bruises and an occasional broken bone. We knew we could knock on any door for help, whether we knew the people or not. Unknown adults were always treated with suspicion. 50 odd years later and we're still here.
Sliding down the 13 foot metal slide in the middle of summer without butt or leg protection was the worst. Used big pieces of waxed paper to make it slippery. Flying down the slide faster than anything, only to land face down 10 feet away from the bottom. Great times
Yessssss! And then when McDonald's made one out of a Police McBurger, and there was only enough room for one kid up and down at a time, so the kid that was at the top, hanging on to the bars, could play "king of the hill" if they wanted - but most kids were nice and scrambled down in order to give you a turn, too
Load More Replies...As a gen z, these things are AMAZING. It's super rare nowadays to find a merry go round or tall metal slide, but if I do, I'm SPRINTING towards it 🤣
This is the kind of playground that separated the kids from the weiners! This is what we need to bring back as a nation! THESE PLAYGROUNDS WEED OUT STUPID!!!
I've watched many friends fly off the Merry-go-'round. The worst part was if you didn't fly far enough and got smacked by shoes as we went around
Ah! Those were the days.Ripped my pants leg off, falling off one of those turntable thingies! It was fun though!
I came in all bloody and got yelled at because I tore my dress again. 😆
The touch of danger was part of the fun. Safe playground floors make me sad. I mean it's right that we have them, but where is the adrenaline rush of fear?!
Bumps, breaks and bruises were the norm. Neither kids nor playgrounds were padded into immobility. Heck, their parents played on the same things and climbed trees and short cliff faces without a thought. Modern parents have been raised to be super worrywarts.
We had a wooden slide at one of our playgrounds. We'd all take wax paper and sit on it to ride down the slide. Felt like 100mph!
Best playgrounds ever and we could be there without adult supervision. It was how we learned that we could manage things on our own. (We didn't have to worry about creepers or kidnappers most of them, sadly, are family members).
My dad let us make a seesaw out of a saw horse and a board with one end about 2' long and the other about 10' in the air. I fell off it one and blacked out for a few, woke up and my sister had bailed....
The witches hat was so fun-even into high school. Wasn't really for kids under 10 or so
Our local park had an actual size Locomotive for kids to play on. It disappeared quite a few years ago.
These were safe really, just ask anyone you meet "Did they die in a playground-related accident?" and they'll say "no". Those who can still talk, anyway ...
Knocked out my top 2 and bottom 2 front teeth running into one of the support poles on the slide. Great school pics that year. Any other time I got hurt mom would say are you bleeding? Then you're fine.
Because pain is a good teacher you fall down you scrape your knee you hurt you learn not to fall down after that
My elementary school put the teeter-totters on a slope. So there was an up hill side and a down hill side. If the kid in the low side bumped the ground too hard, the kid on the upper side (me) would do a face plant.
It's hard to believe that for a lot of us the most dangerous place to be was the local park🤣
And if we did get hurt, we'd brush off the dirt and continue with our adventures! If it was really bad and a parent was around, they broke out the Bactine or similar ouch product.
There should be some children climbing across the top bar as well and jumping down
Hey! This is MY playground equipment from the early 60s!
Frasier: I remember a slide that ended in front of the swing set! Niles: I don't. Frasier: Yeah. Sorry.
On a sunny day, you did not want to be going down that slide in shorts. Sizzling hot.
Na, we were always told that if it wasn't gushing blood, hanging off or broken then there ain't nowt wrong and just to get on with things.
One side of my leg is hairless because I fell in one of those wooden hamsterwheel tubs. The other kids just kept running to make it spin fast enough to make a loop while I was on the bottom getting skinned alive. FUN TIMES!
in a strained voice: It was the 70-s, man... S**t was wild...! /takes a deep drag.
I have not seen a pic of axl in a long while, wow he morphed into Benny
Note: this post originally had 131 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
This made me so nostalgic. Were we really that happy and carefree or have I just forgotten the bad things?
We didn't have internet. Our worlds were smaller. Less to no responsibilities. I think we were happier and more carefree.
Load More Replies...It is different depending on where you are from. This here is very US based.
Load More Replies...Early 1970's (20yo at the time). Unique mainstream fashions for men were longer sideburns and more lambchops, more moustaches, unbutton to second or third button with no T-shirt, and my personal favorite *** leisure suits ***. They did exist and went mainstream for a short time. Fashion gurus tried to push the men's short shorts but it never took hold.
Several of these are too old to be Gen X things. The Love Bug came out in 1968.
I'm the oldest a GenX can be, and I was 3 years old in 1968 so...
Load More Replies...Great fun, thank you. Though some of these seemed a bit younger for the post. Still a good laugh
Finally! Someone recognizing there is a generation between Boomers and Millennials!
I may be a millennial, but I'm close enough to the cut off that these resonated so beautifully. If not for me, especially for my oldest brother! Well done on this one, Pandas!
Fantastic post, laughed so much the dog got mad and got off the bed.
I remember going to high school when buffy and smallville were airing on tv and working to buy clothes so I could look like my favorite tv actors. Oh my gosh that was the life watching your favorite tv shows on regular tv no streaming are paying crazy s**t amounts of money to watch good tv. Working going to school, hanging with friends, no iPhones we just knew were to meet up, laughing, after school hangs, weekend work and then go shopping to look cute for new school week. Darn I miss those times.😥🤍 so simple, so pure and So So real.
Omg I was going to high school when buffy and smallville were airing on tv, I just remember working in the summer and trying to buy clothes to look like my favorite tv actors, I didn't care about nothing else no cell phones, no crazy streaming apps, no Facebook are instagram nothing no social media, just great television and working on the weekends and after school, so I could hang with friends and go eat out and buy cute clothes to impress cute high school guys.
The guys who tried to look like this in the 70s were nerds. Guys I knew wore cut off jeans or jeans in the summer. We all wore desert boots, year round, and tee shirts and flannel shorts.
This made me so nostalgic. Were we really that happy and carefree or have I just forgotten the bad things?
We didn't have internet. Our worlds were smaller. Less to no responsibilities. I think we were happier and more carefree.
Load More Replies...It is different depending on where you are from. This here is very US based.
Load More Replies...Early 1970's (20yo at the time). Unique mainstream fashions for men were longer sideburns and more lambchops, more moustaches, unbutton to second or third button with no T-shirt, and my personal favorite *** leisure suits ***. They did exist and went mainstream for a short time. Fashion gurus tried to push the men's short shorts but it never took hold.
Several of these are too old to be Gen X things. The Love Bug came out in 1968.
I'm the oldest a GenX can be, and I was 3 years old in 1968 so...
Load More Replies...Great fun, thank you. Though some of these seemed a bit younger for the post. Still a good laugh
Finally! Someone recognizing there is a generation between Boomers and Millennials!
I may be a millennial, but I'm close enough to the cut off that these resonated so beautifully. If not for me, especially for my oldest brother! Well done on this one, Pandas!
Fantastic post, laughed so much the dog got mad and got off the bed.
I remember going to high school when buffy and smallville were airing on tv and working to buy clothes so I could look like my favorite tv actors. Oh my gosh that was the life watching your favorite tv shows on regular tv no streaming are paying crazy s**t amounts of money to watch good tv. Working going to school, hanging with friends, no iPhones we just knew were to meet up, laughing, after school hangs, weekend work and then go shopping to look cute for new school week. Darn I miss those times.😥🤍 so simple, so pure and So So real.
Omg I was going to high school when buffy and smallville were airing on tv, I just remember working in the summer and trying to buy clothes to look like my favorite tv actors, I didn't care about nothing else no cell phones, no crazy streaming apps, no Facebook are instagram nothing no social media, just great television and working on the weekends and after school, so I could hang with friends and go eat out and buy cute clothes to impress cute high school guys.
The guys who tried to look like this in the 70s were nerds. Guys I knew wore cut off jeans or jeans in the summer. We all wore desert boots, year round, and tee shirts and flannel shorts.