Gen X: You're the Weird Ones-In a Good Way

[@mikewarren5004]

'71 model here. I couldn't be more proud of Generation X!

[@mojoschmee9320]

GenX embraced our individual weirdness as weirdness, as opposed to demanding that everyone embrace our individual weirdness as absolutely normal.

[@michellemoore4585]

This!

[@dbhoppy]

I’m part of the 1976 Gen X variant. I’m glad I had around 8 years before my father introduced our family to our first computer (commador 64) and I had a chance to live the Gen X life before technology entered into the equation.

[@adaskinir2029]

GenX Master Race 🤘

[@SkyCloudSilence]

lmao

[@Charlotte-dk5pz]

Both my parents were from the silent generation. They were born in 33 and 40. I'm an early Gen X....

[@haxio17]

I am Core. Born to Boomer and Silent Gen.

[@darkhighwayman1757]

I love being Gen X... We were weirdos and we love it.

[@isabellamaree1433]

I consider us normal everyone else is f up.

[@annettespizuoco1474]

Whaddya mean Were!?

[@moneyblue8466]

@@isabellamaree1433lol you’re funny

[@RogueReplicant]

Feral children 😎

[@seththomas9105]

I'm a Feb. 1970 X-er and my parents are 1940 and 43 late Silents. Dads parents were Lost Gen. 1890 and 1896 and moms were Greatest Gen. 1914 and 1918. So I had different perspectives growing up.

[@greg4795]

I can relate to the Xer's with silent gen parents better than Xer's with boomer parents. I think we were very very lucky to have silent gen parents. In a way the silent generation mothers helped raise all the children on the block as the boomer mothers bought more into feminism and convinced themsleves going to work was such a better way to live.

[@seththomas9105]

@@greg4795 A great example of this is the "burn the bra thing". In the Midwest the braless thing finally showed up with the mom crowd in the late 70's early 80's. Lots of my friends moms were early Boomers (46-50) and most of them let the girls run free for a while at that time. Made for interesting maternal interaction for a bunch of jr. high boys in 1982. My mom and the other Silent moms had NO part of that AFAIK. The Silent Gen moms just seemed more grounded in reality.

[@1jidion]

im a xennial, but i was raised the same way, i have gen x bro and sis, i had independence, i could go pretty much where ever i wanted, had to be home by the street light

[@blueyedmule]

Even my grandmother would do that to us. She'd make egg salad sandwiches and sweet tealoaded up in a Kool-aid canteen and kick us out on 700 acres until dark. We'd forage apples and plums and blackberries when the sandwiches ran out, drink from the creek, then fish in the pond for bluegill and bring them in for dinner.

[@jomaka]

Parents are mostly Silent Generation. Early GenX were not latchkey. Born '65-'68...mothers were still at home during our high school years.

[@avg1712]

My mom did that in the Summer, would lock us out during the day, and we always found something to do. Usually it involved my brother teasing me all day. Proud Gen X

[@mrBooker78]

I basicly spent most of my childhood/teenage years outside... i can relate;)

[@MiamiCoffee2023]

Oh, look at them, there so independent!!!! 😆😆😆😆 Ms. Karen, priceless always!

[@AnnaLVajda]

Yeah we were raised to take care of ourselves so do not appreciate people trying to dictate how we may live our lives now when we are middle aged since many of us were forced to mature early on. The millennials maybe want to be treated like children forever but I resent it. People talking to me as if they are my parents well they are not and my parents did not coddle me or speak down to me either.

[@trixie9777]

Our parents would be offended that she called them boomers! Our parents were from the silent generation!

[@JohnB-dr8sk]

Most Xer parents were Boomers.

[@greg4795]

@@JohnB-dr8sk not mine, and I'm proud of that. Boomers had latch key kids, silent Generation had mom at home. Generally speaking. but we were always out running around town, sometimes miles from home. but some of our latchkey friends with boomer parents would lock themselves in their house after school. it was kind of weird for them to have to do that.

[@mishka8559]

Made my day!!! 1969 model here...all original parts....

[@RogueReplicant]

I was 13 in 1980 and I survived! Yay!!

[@palaceofwisdom9448]

As a Gen X'er who had insanely overprotective parents, this stings. I wasn't allowed to go more than 30 feet from the porch because I'd surely become the first child to ever be abducted from our neighborhood. I'm not scared of every little thing, I thought my parents were paranoid.

[@thedudeabides3930]

Our parents were not Boomers, they were the Silent Generation. (Not In all cases, I stand corrected.)

[@KarenMcCullough]

Depends... Silent Generation and Baby Boomers are parents of Gen X- thanks for sharing! I am a boomer and have 2 Gen X children

[@thedudeabides3930]

@@KarenMcCullough I'll check my dates. Thanks. One thought for your research. We, GenXers, are thought of as being kind of "quiet" politically and elsewise. I think that may have something to do with being raised by "Silent" Generation parents. Work hard, keep your mouth shut, appreciate what you do have, we're not the captain of this ship, we are loyal crew members, don't get uppity with authority....

[@SouthernSkeptic]

@@KarenMcCullough I'm Gen X with Silent parents. My dad was a world war 2 vet. I was born in 71. My dad was 45.

[@tesseract2365]

@@KarenMcCullough '76 gen x here My Parents are silent gen '40 and boomer '52. Loved your video.

[@katndaisy3714]

Mine were. True.

[@MountainGirlwIPA]

I love being a gen X er! Breakfast Club captured it very well!

[@ACEDIAMOND666]

Yeah.....my dad hit the nail on the head there.

[@seththomas9105]

I'm class of 88 and TBH the Breakfast Club was a great movie that I didn't identify with at all. I grew up rural in Iowa; not exactly Chicago of 1984. It captures the zeitgeist of the mid 80's as a whole for sure. It just wasn't my reality. Cheers.

[@peterhoulis1184]

I basically had parents who had businesses and were busy alot so basically i would did whatever i wanted , catch the bus to the city , go watch a movie , i saw jaws in 75 i was 10 and i saw it by myself and they wondered why i didnt like the beach anymore

[@publicpitchblendeorg]

Oh the joy of analog television

[@MyHome7_Carla]

I remember we always used a pillow case, but man did we fill them up! As soon as we get home, no one touches the candy until our mom's went through every last piece! Imagine how long we had to wait! There were 5 of us!!!

[@Adam_K_W]

We were raised by Parents who smoked and drank non-stop and couldn't be bothered to guide or encourage us to be good human beings. We had to figure it all out for ourselves on the playgrounds, at the bus stops, in awkward moments in gym locker rooms and YMCA Swimming pools. We sat in mandatory silence (with severe penalties for breaking that silence) as we observed our parents getting utterly sloshed at "family" barbeques and other events. We walked off any and all pain, any expression of emotion or frustration was ridiculed and smashed, utterly. From our government, we were told that Russia might nuke us at a moment's notice, so "duck and cover" might save us. Our ability to relate to one another was taught to us, maybe by our older siblings (who were themselves often cruel), maybe by our friends, and certainly in part by schoolyard bullies. We learned as we went. *I vividly recall in about 1969-1970, being 4 or 5 and going trick or treating with my older brother, for what seemed like a several mile walk, in the SOUTH SIDE OF CHICAGO. My brother was 6 or 7, our parents couldn't be bothered to go with us. It is not surprising that our heroes were anti-establishment Rock Stars (We're not gonna take it!), and action heroes (Chuck Norris, Bruce Lee, Arnold, Sly, Bruce Willis) who all got a little collective payback from the bad guys on our behalf. Carry on Gen X! Carry On!

[@eddiev1548]

Amen I agree💯 I was raised in Chicago to.☠️🤣😭

[@missmiss40258]

My parents were amazing. They gave us so much insight, integrity and morals. When we did see them for 1 hour a week 😂❤

[@hazelrush]

One of the biggest differences between Gen X and today for me, is my high school experience..CLASS OF 85! First, we had a smoking area at my school. We'd run out between classes for a few puffs and a quick conversation. We also really Loved passing notes between and during classes. It was an art form. We'd draw pictures and write jokes and get very creative. Another very big difference is the fact that, as a stoner, we would share doobies, and pipes, and bongs, without ever thinking about germs. We would invite complete strangers to get stoned with us, and we would share cigarettes with our friends. We would play QUARTERS...by bouncing a quarter into a glass of beer and picking someone to drink it. They would also catch the quarter in their mouth, and we would refill that beer and continue. It was life without fear. It may sound insane to some, but it created a closeness among us large groups that kids today will never know.

[@jojomojojones]

The AIDS epidemic scared the shit out of me when I was a kid and probably kept me from having a normal teen sex life.

[@map3384]

Same here.

[@dreivonfunf9489]

Same!

[@sarahnorris872]

Oh my gosh yes!!! I was so freaked out!

[@hazelrush]

Me too, however not as a kid, but as a sexually active teenager. I was born in 1967. I first started hearing about HIV and AIDS in 1985. I was 18. It scared us big time!

[@davidsmythe7645]

Let’s use Mr. yuck stickers to teach kids don’t drink bleach. That’s what y’all did to us🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@davidsmythe7645]

I remember when you can go down to AGH Allegheny General Hospital and have your Halloween candy x-rayed and see if there are any pins and needles in it

[@sazonsongs]

One of my favorite things about being a Gen Xer is baby boomer’s music.

[@tjj5337]

OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS WERE BABY BOOMERS!! NOT PARENTS! My parents were THE SILENT GENERATION AND GREATEST GENERATION!

[@melodyseverything6999]

Yeah, I'm Gen X! I grew up as a latchkey kid in NYC. I'm not sure about other places but there was a PSA on TV that asks: "It's 10pm. Do you know where your children are?" And it was so creepy and scary that it made the kids who see that run to make sure that they were inside their homes well before that time, lol!

[@bethanykennedy812]

I grew up in the country. We didn't have street lights. We went a quarter mile to the next door neighbor's house to play with their kids. Or we went the other direction half a mile to our grandparents. But mostly the 3 of us just roamed our 16 acres. We still got up to some dangerous shit. I think that's why our kids got so much supervision. We knew what kids could get up to on their own. Our parents still don't know what the f we did.

[@jomaka]

We are resilient and adaptable. We are also very sure of ourselves.

[@mxgonzo]

Most of us Gen X were not raised by boomer parents. Our parents were the silent generation. The generation born just before or during WW2.

[@shoeshane6494]

Nope. Not in my neighborhood. Some kids had older parents (usually a remarried dad), but generally our parents were in their twenties during the 1970s.

[@rachelehosten1323]

A mix.

[@jameskoebel7816]

I'm Gen X. My parents were in their 40's in the 70's

[@reeftheseaforever]

pillow cases. yes my parents would check for blades ,screws and bad candy. we ride our bikes from beach blvd. 8th street to the beach . Good times .

[@infjjedi3335]

We Gen xers will ALWAYS BE the BEST.

[@7SideWays]

Enjoyed this. Funny now that it's been 40 years.

[@agrayer7104]

I actually think the death of optimus prime in the cartoon transformers movie from the 80's is very much how gen x was raised. The creators thought it was fine to kill the main characters in this 1st 10 minutes so they could sell more toys to us.

[@invisibilianone6288]

Being the youngest of FOURTEEN KIDS, yes, 14, one at a time, no twins, none adopted ( those were extra,,,lol ), my parents and older siblings used that " razor blades or needles" excuse, to plunder my Halloween plunder,,,lol

[@kristinadutton3259]

‘78 Gen x here with Millenial siblings from early 80s. I don’t see THAT much difference in the generations when you’re like me and my sisters. I could just as well be Millenial, they can identify with many aspects of Gen x.

[@rachelehosten1323]

No one noticed us…

[@TheKissyfer]

The only thing she's kind of wrong about is that most of our parents were the Silent Generation. Some of our parents were baby boomers but not a whole lot honestly.

[@pistachiosandpopcorn7146]

Yep. I was born in 79 and I happened to have silent gen parents though most my age had boomer parents. But yes..I was on the end of gen x so you are correct.

[@melodyseverything6999]

I agree. I'm an older Gen Xer born 1967 and my parents were definitely Silent Gen. They're a bit selfish too though, so some Boomer influence for them as well.

[@jwinter6105]

I was gonna say the same thing, I was born in '76 and both my parents were Silent Gen. Also I know tons of Baby Boomers and almost all of their kids are "Millenials" (born 1980-1996).The only Baby Boomers with Gen X kids were the ones who had kids very young.

[@trixie9777]

None of my friends had boomer parents, except one and that’s b-c she was 19 when she had my friend. Everyone else was from the silent generation.

[@daviddavidson4496]

@@jwinter6105 youre wrong Parents were born in the mid 50 I was born in 77 Most of gen x's parents were boomrrs

[@billmadison2032]

70 model here. You forgot we are raised by alcoholic Vietnam veterans, to be mean ferel tough kids.

[@Kevin-i6t5i]

My dad was Korean War veteran. Marine

[@avoiceinthewilderness9864]

The fact that kids started missing big time during Gen X childhoods should say how little we were parented.

[@sarahjrobinson9792]

🤣🤣🤣 I think I almost died twice

[@Sparklyeyedmisfit]

My dad was a boomer..my mom me generation..my parents were total opposites..my mom kicked us out all day..I had to babysit..my sisters were terrors..😂..

[@LisaH2472]

Many Gen Xers had Silent Generation parents, not boomer parents.

[@haxio17]

Both

[@tomschonborg439]

I found a piece of metal in one of my Halloween candy bars. It was a 3 Musketeers. Just threw that one away and grabbed another. Checked it, no metal? Good to go.

[@katndaisy3714]

Born in 65. Parents silence generation. Siblings 2 boomers and younger brother acts like a boomer.

[@jerrywinters6914]

Same here exactly!

[@map3384]

I was born in 65 and my parents were from the silent generation, both born in 39.

[@dianemurray6550]

We didn't come home til we got hungry.

[@clydeusa6596]

I never understood people supporting grown children. I am 53 yrs old and move out on my own at 17. Stop babying these kids.

[@missmiss40258]

Some cultures want to be families at any age. We are close and helpful. I don't live at home but if I did. My parents wouldn't lift a finger ❤❤.

[@wheelieblind]

As a Gen Xer lol I think my younger siblings who were early millennial did most of the same stuff.

[@sarahnorris872]

We are the Generation that everyone wants to be evev the boomers, leavd us the F alone 😂

[@DaveMiller2]

The early Boomers could be parents of the later Gen Xers but by and large our parents were the silent generation, not Boomers.

[@Stefan-]

Being born in the earlier half of the X generation in 71 my mother was a boomer and my father was of the late part of the silent generation so i would at least expect a big part of the boomer generation to be parents to gen x:ers.

[@drescorpio1114]

Missing child Kevin Collins on milk carton

[@georgina1848]

Im a gen x and remember that as clear as day the photographs of missing kids on milk cartons while i was eating my rice krispies at breakfast. I constantly had this fear of kidnappers as a child, but played outside till the street lamps came on.

[@BitcoinFootball]

I get advice from GenZers and Boomers every week. It's like they are so smart and I've never done a gawd damned thing. lol Life advice from 21 y/olds? Bro please.

[@angelwynalda3436]

Yesssssssaaa

[@ACEDIAMOND666]

I'm a Gen X. When I get called wierd, I say thank you.

[@Magi-Kell4Life]

I am proud of strange

[@MsDragonwitch]

Yup

[@jdandfriends6759]

Born in 72

[@springsource]

whatever you don't know me.

[@elipercival7354]

ride my bike till it had flat tires.

[@janeentumbao8690]

Gen Xers squad!!!! We made our way home before the streetlights were on and without GPS. We had chores. We either won or didn't. No participation trophy. We got spankings and or grounded when we acted a fool. Sometimes when we didn't but hung around the wrong people. We hate being micromanaged. Leave me be and let me do my job in peace. Especially remotely!

[@Eric_Von_Yesselstyn]

Not "WEIRD" they just don't give a $h!t about you, what you do or your opinion...

[@xtravert2012]

Yup, zero f*cks given

[@Kevin-i6t5i]

We don't want to hear your opinion cause we know it's wrong😅

[@paulinerulon2230]

​@@Kevin-i6t5iwe don't like your crusty old ass opinion. Gen X are drug addict losers. It's all been done before. So gross. 🤮

[@ct3po776]

Who are all these weirdos claiming Gen-Xers came from silent generation?! Boomers started 1946, so you may have a silent gen parent if born 1966-69, but 1970-80 you most likely had Boomer parents! My wife born 66 very beginning of Gen-X, so her parents were pre boomer, but me 1970, Mom 46 Dad 49, so both Boomers! Strange how that worked out! My Mom was first year Boomer, and coincidentally I married a first year Gen-Xer, funny how that happened.

[@haxio17]

Core X with BOTH

[@haxio17]

Plenty core xers have either Silent Gen or Boomer or Both

[@ps7348]

Born ‘76, had parents born ‘38. That was rarer, though.

[@merkury06]

Gen X with Silent Generation parents. And Greatest Generation Grandparents.

[@Kevin-i6t5i]

Not sure what Gen my grandparents on my dad's side would be, they were born 1893 and 1897

[@merkury06]

I think they would be part of the "Lost Generation" the main generation who was affected by the First World War@@Kevin-i6t5i

[@paulinerulon2230]

​@@Kevin-i6t5iLMAO. Case in point. Stupidly smart, still stupidly stupid 🥴

[@bcx1138]

😴

[@ps7348]

Unfortunately about half of us support the actions taken on Jan 6 2021.