GEN Z Kid Reacts To How Gen X Got Things Done In silence Without The Noise! (SHOCKING!)

[@erickalear7609]

We're going to be honest with you, that love of DIY was instilled in us by our grandparents and great-grandparents. We have no claim to their crown. THEY were the masters, having lived through WWI, a Great Depression, and WWII. They made MacGyver (who's another big part of it) look like a Cub Scout in comparison. We are but apprentices to this day.

[@mouse122809]

The silent generation. I think it's called.

[@hunnorarose3695]

Oh the things MacGyver could do with a paperclip and a stick of gum. My mother had a crush on that man. I just admired the creativity.

[@amigapelit]

MaGyvers popolar tv in 80's like

[@randompixels6237]

​​@@mouse122809The "Silent Generation" refers to people born between roughly 1928 and 1945, while the "Greatest Generation" refers to those born between 1901 and 1927. The Greatest Gen are typically Gen X's grandparents. They were young adults dealing with the great WW's, great depression and post WWII created the Great Baby Boom/'Boomers' who are the parents of Gen X.

[@jackr1734]

You're to blame for ww3 mf

[@JoeinAlaska]

Gen X kids were treated like little adults.

[@RobChurch-s6s]

Yes we were as children should be. I am a genxer. I raised my children the way I was raised and now my children are successful adults, living and thriving on their own. As parents, we have only one job when it comes to our children and that is to get them ready to be adults. To get them ready to navigate life on their own.

[@clairedeluna3585]

@@RobChurch-s6s First year Millennial here, raised at taught by a first year Gen Xer mother. She helped me learn to be a strong person. Good work ethic, and had chores as a kid, like, I can't with all the whining over things. I was a latchkey kid. I watched my siblings, since both parents worked. 1 graveyard shift worker *dad*, dayshift *mom.* It was a pain in the ass to teach my younger siblings the mantra don't get caught, you won't get an ass whooping from mom and dad, and no snitching as long as you aren't hurting each other and animals I didn't give a shit. (Half raised my siblings, I have to say. My parents tried babysitters, but they didn't last for reasons.) Though I will say, mom helped me with that, if someone started something and mom heard it, and didn't know who it was, we all got an ass whooping... so they learned 🤣

[@RobChurch-s6s]

@clairedeluna3585 nice, i bet that no matter how life knocked you down, you get right back up and keep it moving. That is what I was taught and that's what I taught my children. I was abandoned by my parents at age 14 and was making six figures by the age of 28 without even having a high school diploma. I am 57 now and still making six figures but in my 40s, I did get my GED and a degree in computer science. Paid for it all out of my own pocket. In 2010, I went through a divorce, lost everything and was left homeless, having to pay my ex 4k a month. By 2016, had everything back and was done paying all the supports to my ex.

[@clairedeluna3585]

@@RobChurch-s6s Damn, yeah no matter how life tried to kick my 🍑. I just got back up, and kept going. Life is too short, to stay down. Thing being first year Millennial is, I knew college was a joke by the time I graduated highschool, and I'm glad I waited - because of my decision to wait, so I could pay it is I don't have that college debt people still have 20+ years later .... and got myself a career that covers myself in case I ever split from my spouse. I ain't the type to put someone through the wringer like that. Sorry about that, glad you didn't stay down. But damn man, from your short story about yourself, I can see you did go to school, just the hard knocks one but you sure as hell got yourself up and did what you had to do. Respect. All these why young folks whining over the stupidest crap, I don't even know anymore. 💩🤣

[@gilbertbrown4828]

We really were!!

[@L.U.-og5nd]

Slackers? Many of my friends and I were not only latch key kids, we were our younger siblings nannies daily. I remember being 11 and responsible for feeding yoinger sibs AND cleaning. The older sibs were either at work or away for sports. There was no complaining, no slacking. You did your part. Internally, yeah it sucked at times. But all these decades later? I'm grateful for the experiences. Being self reliant and resilient are gifts.

[@jamesgoesoff1992]

if you are not bragging and pointing out everything you have done, people think you are slacking.

[@WorthlessFemale]

😂 my Big brother was supposed to be in charge while our mom was at work and or taking care of our grandmother, he cooked, I cleaned, we both took care of pets, fixed stuff, did the yard work, I generally did the laundry because I liked hanging it on the line and I did the dishes in the middle of the night because it was quite, our mom never had to ask us, we just did it. Also, she was scary AF when she got mad so that was probably a factor in that 😂

[@amagab2346]

I used to think I was the e only one who did that. Now I know it was more a generation of us doing it. Cooked my first meal at 6

[@dawndefalco385]

We did it all without supervision. If we wanted to learn something, we went to the library. Slackers we are not.

[@DawnBarry-r1v]

Right on the oldest out of 9 kids both mom an dad worked we were military brats so we were known lmao 🤣 70s an 80s kids lmao

[@Ancient_Drummer]

As Gen Xer, this video is spot on. We also had sayings like, "rub some dirt on it" when you got hurt, or "stop whining, you'll be fine". We were taught to be bold and if you fail, dust yourself off and hop back in. Kids nowadays are taught to be fearful of everything, that is a big reason why there are so many kids with mental health issues, they never learned to cope with the trials of life.

[@cowlevelcrypto2346]

Just remember that Gen Xer's were taught to be bold by their Boomer parents... GenZ kids are being taught by their GenX parents. So who is the problem here?

[@1BuFo]

gen x is also the gen that was suppose to fix up after the boomers and secure our (future gen) future but you squandered it all instead. Also gen x is the least adoptable gen for technology that is still in the working class..

[@jonmore6921]

@@cowlevelcrypto2346 I'm X and can agree a lot with that statement. Not fully, but yeah, it's the females in our generation

[@RobChurch-s6s]

​@@cowlevelcrypto2346I am genx and I taught my children just like my parents taught me. The problem is, when my children went to school, all their friends and their teachers tried to tell my children that I was abusive and mean. That I didn't have the right to treat them that way. There was a ton of pushback and my oldest daughter even called CPS on me because I made her stand in the corner too long. I can see why many parents would just give up. But, I didn't. My children are now grown, every one of them are living on their own and they are successful. Just look at your response. Even now, you are trying to blame parents. If a genz person is now an adult. Blame time is over. It's time to suck it up buttercup and be that adult.😊

[@genorem]

@@1BuFo till recently boomers were still leading and in charge. Its actually a big problem. Our next president is a boomer.

[@Nimbus1701]

I actually respect Millenials and Gen Z quite a bit. I am a Gen X, and I would offer just a little humble advice to the newer generations. It would benefit you all greatly to learn how to do things if technology was turned off. It isn't a dig at all. Very recently there were two hurricanes that hit Florida. The only way to get help to some places was to use horses and mules when roads were destroyed and it also meant having to navigate easily, safely, and efficiently with electricity and communications down. I know everyone just always expects "the internet" and technology to work. A couple of things to consider..... First, regardless of how robust technology becomes, we can't (yet) deal with a massive problem if the sun has a problem. There was a situation in the 1850s when a massive magnetic problem destroyed the current telegraph and burdgening electrical grid at that time. I'd hate to see what a similar event would do now. Second, you must at least consider that the people in government and corporations that essentially control the internet (or at least access of information you have) may not always have your best intentions at heart. What happens if they limit the access to information by making it so expensive people can't easily access it, or by the flow of information to where you don't know if what information you are getting is correct? It will be better for everyone coming up after my generation to consider those possibilities and at least learn some skills that don't require constant digital access. You may and hopefully will never have to use them, but if you do, it could save your life.

[@WorthlessFemale]

Would like to add in, collecting old books are helpful in having access to information when there's no Internet. 😊

[@user-rd6vl8sv1w]

Yes, for my entire life I have always tried to learn valuable skills. I think this is important. I don't think we will always have THIS life. As a kid we were building literal primitive houses in the woods. By the time I got to college my professors were impressed with my "engineering" and design skills(that we simply figured out and learned as kids), and encouraged me to become an engineer. But its not just that. I have taught myself things like knitting, crochet, masonry, carpentry, and can also cook a pretty decent meal, I make cheese, alcohol, and know how to do things like mill flour and even grow many things including peanuts, and do pretty well with farm life. One thing I cannot do is sew but am trying to teach myself how to do this now. I don't know if other genX are like this, but for myself its a lot of fun. Some of this was just part of life for us.

[@kayleighllyn8253]

...1701 ain't no gen x that's dinosaur!!😂

[@hpstrunkiii8056]

​@@user-rd6vl8sv1w yes indeed. I can garden, can, work cattle(yes got a concussion and broken brest no e when a cow got made a steer took her stall and put me in a post(had to watch TV out 1 eye for almost 2 weeks cause I got double vision at times, just glad she didn't kill me), raised a bull I could sit on he was so tame, have had to pull calves, ride a horse, have a open air buggy and sleigh, milk cows or goats, make cheese, see, crochet, can, cook, smoke, make sausage, kielbasa, filet fish and shoot, gut, hang, skin, and process a deer. I am teaching my grands American history as I learned it and collecting every old historical book, even some old cookbooks that have info to water glass eggs so they stay fresh over winter months when chickens stop laying. I'm also teaching them how to process and cook the deer for survival and because I want them to see exactly the damage a gun could do to someone so they never ever pick one up in anger. Defense yes, anger never.

[@kriegstenicht3502]

@@kayleighllyn8253 Well, might be the registration of starship Enterprise....

[@tdstellar5218]

An example of the way Gen X mind works: When asked a question, we think through everything we know, reason out loud why we came up with the answer, then check to verify online after. Keeps mental acuity strong

[@HistoricMetals]

Or as our bumper stickers used to say "Question authority!" unlike now, where they seem to bow to "Obey!"

[@mycroft16]

This. I literally start running through options and scenarios, combinations of things, recalling facts and similar information. I'll start getting a list of possible solutions and I'll start dropping those that don't match the requirements, or timeframe, or whatever. Whittling the list down to 1 or 2 options. And I'll be doing it talking to myself, like both parts of a conversation. People give me really odd looks lol. But it is extremely effective. We have a really good ability to make connections between disparate bits of information rapidly. Seems to be a very common Gen X trait.

[@richardcarte]

@@mycroft16 that is nothing to do with the generation. There are plenty of people who do that then and now as well as before then and it is a personal choice to do so. It depends on the person.

[@mycroft16]

@richardcarte oh, you misunderstood. Ofncourse every generation has people who do that. No one is suggesting otherwise. What IS being stated is that a significant majority of Gen X do that, which IS outside the norm for generations.

[@homesteadgamer1257]

Yeah pretty much same here, except I've never reasoned anything aloud. It's just all in my head.

[@backcountryme]

The DIY part hit home. When I was 16 my dad helped me buy my first truck. It was an old, beater farm truck. On the day I got it he handed me a Chiltons manual on that truck and said “the rest is up to you”. If it broke, I had to buy the parts and fix it. I had to pay for the insurance and gas as well. No insurance, no driving. I did have a head start because he was a racer, and I had been working on race cars since I was walking. But he never helped when it came to working on anything I had from bicycles, motorcycles (which I had to buy), to my truck. But it served me well. I can rebuild an engine in a weekend if I need to.

[@ArizonaMartín-v6h]

You had a great Dad

[@juxtaposebeauty247]

And my son thinks I'm such a boomer for expecting that of him 😅

[@tonycardone990]

I still have a few old Chilton books and binders around in boxes somewhere.

[@mathish100]

Right on, my friend ! If you wanted something, you had to work for it. Learning how to be independent.

[@willowsverge3046]

@@backcountryme im an Xer female and those chiltons are worth more than gold! I had one for an old beater van that was 15 yrs old. After that one went off to the crusher, the next two were bought simply because they were covered in the same chilton as the predecessor! Never made a move without it! Lol

[@sarikaclark3676]

GenX rocks. We got to see how our technology grew from 8 tracks, vinyls, cassettes, cds,mp3s, Apple computer w/ Dos(green screen), dial up internet.

[@Tee-cl6dc]

@@sarikaclark3676 The first video games, .first rap song , .first cable box , drive thru fast food . So many things it's crazy when you think back .

[@KrazyIndeed]

Yeah, gonna disagree with that one.. You didn't invent music, the instruments used in the music or even the way it was recorded... GenX is proud to buy the same shit 20 times just to say 'hot new tech!'. CD's were promised to last FOREVER.. Where are they? GenX are the original sheep that buy the same shit 20x and have no problem with it.

[@OrondeBranch]

When I explain Dos to youngns they’re just like 😮. 😂😂

[@RobChurch-s6s]

​@@KrazyIndeedfirst of all, OP never said anything about inventing music or inventing the things that music is made with. Reread the post. It said we grew up and watched the technology change. I was there and it was fascinating to see. I was there when home computers didn't exist and cell phones were only for the extreme rich. They also didn't work half the time once we did get them. When I bought my first home computer, there was no internet. The thing was practically worthless. When the internet finally came out, it took as long as ten minutes just to make a connection and sign on. Then it cost around 2 dollars a minute to be on it. It was terrible but kinda fun. AOL had these free minute disc's and we would trade them like they had cash value. It would give you anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes of internet time. But, you had to also buy an internet search engine like netscape. Now they are built into phones and computers. Such as Google and internet Explorer. They weren't back then. Of course nobody knew this so we would sign on and then couldn't do anything. I remember a few years later when my buddies and me figured out how we could carry our voices over an instant messenger. Back then, nobody had cell phones and if I called my buddies house from my house, it was long distance. We only lived about 15 miles apart. So if I called him too much, my phone bill would be 250.00. I didn't even have my first cell phone until I was 32 years old. It was just a weird time.

[@marlafowler3543]

AND WE HAD NO CELL PHONES OR AUTOTUNE!! I hate them both lol.

[@williamjacob885]

Gen X dad with a gen Z daughter. Raising her like a Gen X kid, and she's killin it!

[@Robbynne-k7b]

I remember in 1977 in 7th grade....got my first skateboard. BABYBOOMER MOTHER bought the most suped up one, and very off handedly said...."don't ride it down the hill". Of course, that's exactly where we headed when my friends and I got home. An hour later, and me catching SPEED WOBBLES on the third try, WIPED OUT and now covered in bleeding cherries all over my body........ Walk into the house expecting "oh my poor baby"..to.... Hysterical laughter and....I TOLD YOU...😂😂😂😂

[@BreakerInc]

Yah, sounds like my Mom XD

[@jreyman]

This is the parenting that kids need, again. Society has become far too weak and sensitive. We need to toughen up future generations.

[@mycroft16]

My mom usually added, "don't you dare get blood on anything, I just cleaned." We did our own first aid. If you weren't dying, you knew where the bandaids and Mercurochrome were. I've got plenty of scars to prove it. And as soon as we were done, we got kicked right back out of the house.

[@solomonkane6442]

I did the same thing but on a push bike without brakes and smashed my face up knocking teeth out and scraping my face up ( I was 8 years old)

[@MsAubrey]

If you were in 7th grade in 1977, you’re a late boomer. Your parents are probably Silent Gen (like my in laws).

[@Just1Opinion-l5e]

Firstly, I like that you're taking the time to understand our generation, not many do. There's a couple of things I'd like to clarify. We understood the dangers (ahead of time: broken bones, gashes, falling, crashing, etc), we chose fun, over those fears. Plus we became skilled at avoiding those outcomes. Other than things like running through clouds of poison, we understood our peril, and chose it anyway. Your generation wouldn't be suffering as much mentally and emotionally. If your generation had listened and learnt from us. Seen our comments, as advice, rather than criticism. Sucked it up (like we had to!), rather than got moody, I think your generation wouldn't be so vulnerable to mental health issues, if you'd given us the respect of having some valuable information to share.

[@MsAubrey]

Some of these GenZ kids have listened though. I know many that have.

[@fairenough7984]

Spot on 👏👏👏

[@hallyudoinfam5524]

Most of Gen Y (Millennials) and Gen Z's parents are Gen X. You think they collectively in a general sense, decided to ignore their Gen X parents wisdoms? Why would they do such a thing if we assume Gen X kids did not do so to their parents? Is that a failing of GenY/X or a Failing of Gen X parenting? In reality I think it's not so black and white, just factors of both those and the changing world. I just find your opinion to be too sweeping in generalization.

[@Just1Opinion-l5e]

@hallyudoinfam5524 Firstly - as my name says, it's Just1Opinion. Secondly - name me an opinion that isn't generalised (that's applied to, and agreed upon by all). Thirdly - I'm sorry, if you don't think this applies to you personally, but as a gen x, the majority of those I've grown up around, complain about similar behaviours in younger generations (so there's a truth to it!). The DIFFERENCE between how we behaved around and treated our parents. Compared to how parents (in general) are treated now, is VERY obvious to us (we experienced both!). I agree, the over protective, P.C. world (that SOME foolish, well meaning people in our generation are responsible for), with it's cotton-wool mums and participation awards etc... Add in social media, self obsession and many other factors. Certainly did your generation no favours. Wait until you're older, and all the knowledge you've accumulated over a lifetime, gets dismissed in a second, by those you've provided for and invited into your home. Gen X is possibly the first generation in history, not to be treated like elders (JUST OLD!).

[@hallyudoinfam5524]

@@Just1Opinion-l5e I appreciate the discussion. I don't entirely disagree with your general premise, just that it is too broad of a premise. As a child of Gen X'ers there is a lot of things I should have listened to, however I wasn't particularly rebellious nor ego driven to be "unshackled by parental control". On the other hand, my parents were neither helicopter parents or absent. Sometimes there were things to listen to or from observation to consider, but there were times there wasn't any of that. Btw on the note of Elders. While I do think no one deserves true personal respect without earning it, I do think society has lost respect it has for others in general and with their Elders. My grandpa is a piece of crap as a person, so I cannot personally respect him, however I can and have respected his wisdoms. Now everyone "old" is just Boomers to ignore.

[@donk1821]

In School, we had Wood Shop, Metal Shop, Home Economics, we Learned HOW to make a Screwdriver, how to Heat n bend metal to make candle stick holders, soldier things, to cook from scratch and sew, by hand and machine. We learned how to mold clay, and use spinning wheels to make useable pottery, Dangerous things these days 😂😂😂 We wandered around town, by ourselves. Be home for dinner then be home by the time the street lights came on. And yes.. suck it up.. Don't come running to me if you break your leg. 😂😂 If you're not bleeding, then you're not hurt. Want money? Take out the old ladys trash for a nickel, rake leaves, mow lawns, study, get good grades, Nobody helicopter parented us. Those were good times. They need to Bring back practical studies in school. Kids these days have No Idea How things are Made, or how to make them. 😮

[@No_Prob]

Ash trays in Art class! Band saws without guards in Wood Shop!And wood burning kits!

[@AgnesMariaL]

When my son went to high school, I asked about auto tech... "oh, no! we don't offer any kinds of classes like that, they're too dangerous!" 🤦🤦🤦🤦🤦🤦🤦🤦🤬 I then asked, "well, what can I expect him to learn for the practical world if you don't offer auto/metal/wood shop?" "oh, well, he'll get a good foundation for colleges etc" 🤦🤬 Thankfully, stuff happened and my son wound up expelled, where he was then able to take a job with a roofer and actually LEARN SOMETHING!!!

[@hgoodin1013]

They literally had to put a commercial on TV to remind our parents that we existed. "Its 10 o'clock do you know where your children are?"

[@Thurgosh_OG]

@@hgoodin1013 Ah yes. A very US thing. For everyone else it was make sure you get home before they come looking for you. If they've come looking it was very late. In my Summers in the Highlands of Scotland, it was still daylight (not full but still bright enough to read a book by, in a mostly clear sky), so we didn't pay attention to the darkness but to whomever had a working watch on, to get home before trouble.

[@hgoodin1013]

​@@Thurgosh_OGi always wanted to visit the Highlands. Looks like such a beautiful place.

[@SanFranita]

I’m 5 mins in and you should know more than half of those clips are boomers. Even a vid *about* Gen X forgets us!! 🤣

[@adrianaflores4510]

My thoughts exactly. those pics are from my parent's generation 🤷🏽‍♀️

[@CarlAyers-x8h]

Well, that's because they don't question. And in those pictures those people didn't have kids until the eighties. Making them about 23 years old when they did. So GenX starts in the late 70's early 80's. I was there and i'm 67. I Never had kids. I was a soldier. I didn't boon anything.I got a piece of dirt 75 feet wide by 125 ft. No water no power out in the woods. I didn't boom that. I lived with, and off the land. All I know is, I was born into this world, and I had to come to grips with what was in front of me If I wanted to survive.

[@TBrown6589]

I'm Gen X. We were self sufficient, resilient, had a strong work ethic and basically raised ourselves with little to no parental help. We are the greatest generation since The Greatest generation.

[@lynnes1864]

Yup, we sat in rows of desks and did classwork in total silence (although we did pass notes to each other but atoeast it didnt disrupt the class.) We took notes most of the class. If anyone was disruptive in class they got sent to the principals office and then got in trouble with their parents. Parents didnt try to rescue their kids from teachers just doing their jobs.

[@nekoti.8-2]

You forgot that alot of the time you might get the paddle in the principal's office.

[@HistoricMetals]

@@nekoti.8-2 Corporal punishment was largely over by the 1980s, but I do recall the year it was banned in my county in Virginia, because I was in 5th grade and it was 1979.

[@richardcarte]

The people who make these videos as well as yourself are only saying the same thing about the generations after them that has been said about generations since the beginning of civilization. Being that generations after there’s represent change and people are terrified of change. And psychologically speaking there are usually two primary reasons to this. Change means that their ways and ideals will no longer be the dominant ways and ideas within society. Also, with newer better technology comes newer discoveries in medical science as well as psychology and if any of these newer tools in medical science and psychology, say that any of their ways of doing things are their ideals are negative to any extent, especially when it comes to the way they parented then they wouldn’t be able to deal with the guilt that would come with accepting that what they were doing turned out to be a mistake.

[@Thurgosh_OG]

@@HistoricMetals Think a bit bigger than just the little ole USA, mate. In the UK for example some schools didn't have to ban the Belt, till as late as 2000. In Scotland the bans began at local levels, as early as 1979. My school banned it in 1985, where I am the last pupil on record to be given the belt there.

[@HistoricMetals]

@@Thurgosh_OG I actually don't live in the USA, and was married for 14 years to a Brit, and have a dual citizen half British daughter. lol, that said, I did grow up in the USA and took this video in context, as its about US people all the way through. Besides, we all know regardless of birth year, everyone in the UK is Gen Victorian :P

[@HelfersRC]

💙 great video. I'm an American, born in 1978. Grew up a few hours south of Chicago, in rural Illinois. By 1988, at the ripe old age of 10, got my first summer job walking beans. Basically consisted of walking up and down rows of soy beans and picking what ever weeds you see. Did that because I wanted a Tony Hawk pro skateboard, and I knew my dad wouldn't spend $150 on the parts to build one. A few years later, I started detasseling corn. It involves walking up and down the rows, pulling the tassels off of the tops of the corn stalks to prevent self pollination. Did that over a couple summer breaks, when I was 14 and 15, to pay for school clothes. It's not that my dad wasn't a great provider. I just felt that if I wanted to control what I wore, I should be the one working for it. Kind of sums up how my generation was raised to approach most situations. If you want it, work for it.

[@richardcarte]

There are people like that in every generation.

[@psychedelikat]

My older siblings (who are technically young Boomers) got their first jobs at the age of 14 because our parents wouldn't buy the fancy, expensive clothes they wanted. So if they wanted the good stuff, they had to work for it.

[@vendora1]

@@richardcarte not as many as you think gen x was the last gen that actually lived the diy and you want it work for it mentality

[@waziyata]

I'm a Gen X and was a "latchkey kid" along with my lil sister. But we spent weekends and summers at our grandparents. "Stop crying or all give you something to cry about", "Rub dirt on it or walk it off" were common saysing from adults. Winter ,we would hold on to the city bus and sled behind it..other people's parents would discipline you and then tell your parents and you'd get disciplined again. I babysat for neighbors to make money until I was 13 then I got a "real" job. I was told many times "life isn't fair so get use to it".

[@Cocreatewithus]

We were called Generation X by the elders in 90s, because they didn't know how else to define us. We confused those who came before us. But, it wasnt very long before we became the forgotten middle child...again. Millennials took the spotlight very quickly.

[@jreyman]

Gen"X was the "unknown" generation. No one was sure what kind of generation we were going to be. Millennials were first known as Gen-Y, as in Generation "WHY?"(aka useless mistakes) it wasn't until the late 90's that they became known as "Millennials" It also seems that "Centennials" have now been reduced to "Gen-Z," and the following them, is "Gen-alpha." Not even dominant leader "Alpha," but weak poser "alpha" (that is more beta than anything).

[@richardcarte]

Because the millennials were the generation after you.

[@richardcarte]

@@jreyman The people who make these videos as well as yourself are only saying the same thing about the generations after them that has been said about generations since the beginning of civilization. Being that generations after there’s represent change and people are terrified of change. And psychologically speaking there are usually two primary reasons to this. Change means that their ways and ideals will no longer be the dominant ways and ideas within society. Also, with newer better technology comes newer discoveries in medical science as well as psychology and if any of these newer tools in medical science and psychology, say that any of their ways of doing things are their ideals are negative to any extent, especially when it comes to the way they parented then they wouldn’t be able to deal with the guilt that would come with accepting that what they were doing turned out to be a mistake.

[@TonyMontanaDS]

Millennials took the spotlight but not for the right reasons.

[@FunkyLittlePoptart]

Actually, we were named by one of us, the author Douglas Coupland. He wrote a pretty good novel about a bunch of "slackers" that was published in 1991.

[@DeliaHale-oy2vh]

I grew up helping my dad repair cars since I was 5. I replaced a water pump on a car all by myself by the age of 9. No guidance or repair manual. I used to wear t-shirts with the words No Fear on them. It was an actual clothing line. From the time I was in 4th grade until I graduated High School, we went from simple calculators to graphing calculators. I’m very innovative, troubleshoot on the fly, change directions in mid project without missing a beat. I’m very resourceful and make friends easily. We went from landing on the moon to the Challenger disaster. From Vietnam to Desert Storm. No generation has been more impacted and impactful. We are the bridge of macro technology to microtechnology. We have gone from dot matrix printers to laser printers to 3D printers. From having 3 tv channels and manually changing channels to thousands of channels and voice activated remote controls. We have seen a massive change in technology in our lifetime. No other generation will have this experience.

[@macbolan8566]

Hell my dad had a voice activated remote in the early 70's. It was hey kid change the channel or turn up the volume. Willing to bet your old man had one of those as well.

[@DeliaHale-oy2vh]

@ Oh my gosh, I had the same experience! I thought my dad was a genius! Lol

[@CopperKerfuffle]

Gen X here. We learned to do things for ourselves because our parents were not home. Both parents worked. We had no cell phones, so our parents didn't always know where we were and often didn't care as long as we were home when the street lights came on.. Looking back, I am amazed that we all are not dead from things we did. Many of our parents were so self-involved (boomers are called the "Me Generation" for a reason), that we were only to be seen and not heard. We solved our own problems, because no one else would do it for us. We had to earn everything, nothing was handed to us.

[@hawkuser604]

Yep, amazed we survived, but we traveled in packs of feral children all over the neighborhood, to keep the creepy predators away. Plus there were always the random Moms at home to keep us in line. Walked to and from school together, played together in the streets and yards like wild animals and any adult could yell at us to keep us within some kind of limits and we respected that. But the gas station would sell us cigarettes for our grandma because she sent a note saying it was ok. Greatest time ever to be a kid.

[@Ash.Crow.Goddess]

"The ability to thrive under risk." Yes!

[@richardcarte]

There are people like that in every generation.

[@amigapelit]

old use sayed f*** flowerheads anuts

[@user-rd6vl8sv1w]

@@richardcarte Yes but a majority of us are this way.

[@torbnymublous4403]

I'm 50 and I'll be bringing sexy back when spring comes and I get my first electric skateboard 🛹 🤪 move over mcfly I got my groove still in 2024. Never let the adventure end people these kids got all kinds of toys to take advantage of.

[@malibuStroker]

As a gen x, this is spot on. I feel sorry for the kids growing up today knowing all they’re missing.

[@r.deanmcknight136]

Gen X here, born in 70. We are the FAFO generation. We do however have our slacker groups as well, just like other generations past and present, that didn't follow same paths as most of us took (and yes, I grew up around a lot of those We called rejects of society, they were your hippie deadheads that followed the propaganda of "peace, love and microdots"). Aside from learned from our grandparents, aunts and uncles, we became self sufficient. As kids, our moms would kick us out the house and told to be home minutes before the street lamps came on or it would be a butt lashing. We grew up with the phrase "sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me". We insulted each other for fun, but when it came time to throw down, we threw down. No bs talk, just fists flying and but kicking. At the end we made new friends and greater respect. We had winners and losers, no participation trophies. If you lost, you either work/train harder or just quit. Gen X in the 80's redefined music. We took Rock into a different era. We took Metal and formed Thrash Metal. We took conventional rap and made gangster hard-core. We also fought against a corrupt government infringing on our 1st amendment of free speech by trying to take away our music. VP Al Gore and his cronie wife Tipper Gore created an organization called PMRC to ban Rock/Metal/Rap music due to being ( in their opinion) too offensive, aggressive and explicit, that it promoted sex, drugs, violence and satanism. In the 90's we eventually beat them and the rest is history. There's many YT vids of that, I suggest you check it out and discover why Gen X was the most rebellious generation the government deemed as 😎👍🇺🇸

[@rupp420]

The people making the videos like to poke fun because they know Millenials and Gen Z are so sensitive. The reaction is funny.

[@eonisone]

That must be the reason 99.9% of Karen's are X, just to see reactions.

[@rupp420]

@eonisone Karens are Gen X mutations. They were the minority group of Gen X with super controlling parents.

[@mouse122809]

Especially trying to convince themselves And everyone else that they're still beautiful regardless if they weigh 300 lb😂.. I was just explaining the facts. Maybe one or two fat kids an entire high School existed. Now you have 10 fat kids in every classroom and the parents are trying to say it's normal

[@kayciel3268]

@@eonisone Nah - 99.9% of Karen's are Boomers, aka the ME generation. Nice try though.

[@HistoricMetals]

@@kayciel3268 This is correct. Gen X would mock them, egg their cars and put a burning bag of shit on the Karen's doorstep, then knock and rock.

[@lisabarnum2374]

Gen X grew up with integrity were your word and a handshake meant something.

[@CjJohnson-kf1oz]

@@lisabarnum2374 pshaw,yall didn't invent that. It came over on the first boat. Well maybe not the first boat. Don't know a lot about the Viking sense of honor. And they didn't stay anyway. Couldn't make a go of it. If 80s gen had a strong sense of honor I don't recall. Weren't they the ME generation? Correct me if I'm wrong ...to lazy these days to look it up. I'm thinking that handshake thing you remember was from "wagontrain" reruns on tv. But I'm glad you can recall a good childhood.

[@BBStyles777]

​@@CjJohnson-kf1oz a lot more honor than now. In fact I think gen Z may have more honor than Millenials. We will have to wait and find out but the Millenials were just awful. All my friends are Millenials, most (not all) are complainers, gossip a lot, and have a 'woe, is me' attitude. Very Marks ist thinkers, just complaining about everything instead of making things better through their actions.

[@waltergilstrap346]

Our grandfathers were stronger than our fathers our fathers were stronger than us and we are stronger than our offspring

[@richardcarte]

It depends what you mean by strong exactly.

[@ZERO-th6dd]

Lol kids today you look at one with a side glance and they running looking for a safe room or safe space 🤣😂🤣

[@TimesUp8888]

I think Boomers were always weak AF. Never respected their weak characters, esp compared to my grandparents (Depression and wwii gen) That being said, are GenX men weaker than Boomer men? I don't really think so, in general. Same with Elder Millenials. Seemed to me like the mass weakening began with younger Millenials and their coming of age during the social media boom, among other things like the insane # of childhood vaxxes they got vs us. Srsly - We had ZERO kids with autism or peanut allergies in my area in the 70s and 80s.

[@vi-r22]

I am not sure about that but, I do remember grampa had a heart pacer that with the technology being new, it was bulky and we all got to experience grampa faceplanting dead at our dinner table a couple times till they could emergency get it going (dont even know what grandma and dad did to do that) or get an ambulance.. Grampa never complained about it, always cracked "bah humbug type old man jokes about it or anything" his hobby was stone jewelry making and he and my dad made their own equipment (grinder and saw to cut the stone and polish) he lived till 99 and died slipping off a freaking ladder he was climbing up to fix the garage door. Dad was military and he and my mom and his military buddies, built our first house and a two stall barn w/feed n tack section, and all the fencing on the property. None of them went to school for any of that stuff but, they figured it out and of course Dad did go through proper inspections and all for the electrical and plumbing . lol

[@waltergilstrap346]

@@vi-r22 my great GPA was plowing with mules running a farm all alone at 89

[@charlesvincent4127]

The fact that parts of the video are blurred out is what separates GenX from millennials and GenZ

[@melissakardos3715]

KZbin is blurring my entire childhood. Lmao. 1972 here WTF ?

[@annemiller8227]

Me too!!!😂😊

[@Exile-exe]

They want us lame and stupid. Then the new gen’s are easier to control…

[@amandas.6500]

Imagine what the younger kids will have to blur out when they get older!

[@derekcooley5832]

'67 here. Almost everything about my whole childhood is now illegal and will get child protective services called out if not the police.

[@vi-r22]

@@derekcooley5832 Yup, just read that a mom was arrested for allowing her 10yrld walk to the corner store alone in some state.. I just cant... with some of what's going on today.. my gosh. I remember once out sliding on a frozen lil pond (at about 10) and colliding with a barbed wire fence.. what did I do.. ran to the house to get my dads big chunky polaroid camera.. and a glass of water to wet the cuts on my hand and knee to make them look way more gory that it really was and took some cool pictures of it to show off to siblings and friends. lol it stung like crazy but, meh.. just another random oops and cut.. nothing to cry over.

[@Archmage_74]

I was born in 1974. this video brought back so many memory's for me.

[@truthseeker-999]

1978 here. My GRANDPARENTS both lived through the great depression they were the BEST TEACHERS.

[@timvandenbrink4461]

I loved my Greatest Generation Grandparents. I got along much better with them than my Silent Generation parents. I related more with them too in so many ways.

[@truthseeker-999]

@timvandenbrink4461 same.

[@jackray333]

Not to mention. Our Grandfather's and father's, were combat veterans of WW2, Vietnam, and Korea. They were tough men married to our mothers, an did not put up with our bullshit. We were taught, you wanted something, earn it.

I'm a Gen Xer ... practice always over college... I'm 57, I work as Software Architect at a Banking software company, and I don't have any regulated title, never went to university... I learned coding at home, without internet by buying computer magazines and looking at product manuals... found a job as junior developer and started climbing... always learning on the go... most of the traits portrayed in the video are totally true, at least in my case... (I'm also Spanish, but I learned english also by myself .. no language schools, no language training apps :P)

[@Luva_PoliticsnMagic]

Same same.. I'm about to retire (early) from my 6th career, starting in database programming and ending in what would be data science if I had the actual credentials for it. I make 6 figures and not a single degree. Multiple certifications and directed learning paths. But none of that fluff they try to pad their tuition fees with. Still write my journals in cursive so no one can read them now.

[@seanhanratty9494]

I became a network engineer the same way. I dropped out in 8th grade and did construction and learned networks while doing so. I received my GED, and at first i was a building engineer, but i started doing network engineering when the engineers weren’t around in tight situations, then they posted a job for a network engineer and i swapped. Never looked back. I did get my degree from University of MD after id been doing the job for 15 years. I was around 48. Im 55 now and retired

[@RamonaFulmore-js6uy]

Gen X is anything but slackers. You have the a lot of the things you enjoy because of Gen X! Slackers came after us!

[@nekoti.8-2]

Slacker was a term coined by older boomers who thought unemployed Xers (because there were hardly any jobs ) were "slackers". The boomers sucked up the good jobs. And, the first year Gen Xers graduated into the height of the recession. Highest unemployment since the great depression.

[@richardcarte]

@@nekoti.8-2 sounds a lot like what they’re saying with millennials and Gen Z.

[@richardcarte]

The people who make these videos as well as yourself are only saying the same thing about the generations after them that has been said about generations since the beginning of civilization. Being that generations after there’s represent change and people are terrified of change. And psychologically speaking there are usually two primary reasons to this. Change means that their ways and ideals will no longer be the dominant ways and ideas within society. Also, with newer better technology comes newer discoveries in medical science as well as psychology and if any of these newer tools in medical science and psychology, say that any of their ways of doing things are their ideals are negative to any extent, especially when it comes to the way they parented then they wouldn’t be able to deal with the guilt that would come with accepting that what they were doing turned out to be a mistake.

[@nekoti.8-2]

@@richardcarte There's a tendency to over generalize each generation. I was glad to be born no later than I was. The thing that Gen X had was our numbers were very low versus the mostly older boomers I was working for at the time (since I am first year Gen X). Since we didn't have numbers, we didn't have power. We were treated very poorly in the workplace and I didn't understand how much of this was generational until much much later. But, on some level I knew it intuitively. I was anything but a slacker. I was working 10 to even near 14 hours days at times. When I wasn't, I was leaving to do 4 hours of school after work nearly every night, then study to sometimes 12 when I got home. My weekends were spent either going into work on a Sunday or to labs or library at the college. Sometimes both. I've seen a lot of hardworking millennials but I think they took maybe a little longer to grow out of their partying years. There are things I noticed about them. They are very group oriented and seem to thrive most when in a group. Whereas, Gen X are ok to go it alone. You might see us out in social settings by ourselves. Versus more rarely will you see a millennial by themselves. I think this goes to childhood where Gen X was left alone in childhood alot. Versus millennials that had organized play dates. We really couldn't have imagined someone organizing a play date for us when younger. Boomers were a kind of different breed. It's difficult to understand unless you lived it. I genuinely liked the silent Gen (my parents). They were a lot like Xers. They just did and never heard one complaint ever from them. Hence, the silent part of silent Gen. All generations complain about other generations that's true. But, there are some truths in the stereotypes as well. Boomers aren't horrible people. Many created beautiful things. But they were very hard in the workplace to younger staff.

[@oneeyecat6886]

Gen X here. I think we are a bridge between the OLD and the NEW. Helpful

[@kbaylor123]

Man, I sure enjoyed my childhood! I was born in 1970, and what I remember of my childhood, it was mostly playing outside after school until the street lights came on or until I heard mom or dad yelling my name.

[@StoptheInsanityofRegressivism]

We were daredevils. We played hard and played risky. We got bruised, broken body parts, needed stitches, and all from just having a great time and enjoying life. We used our imaginations and found ways to do things we wanted to do without whining about hiw others were in our way. We found away around those who were in our way. We still do! We still work hard and still are diligent and we do respect authority, but not blindly.

[@mycroft16]

Most of the modern world was built by us as we went through our 20s and 30s. Everyone told us you can't do that. We said, "screw you, watch us" and we did it. We're the exact right amount of insane and crazy to believe completely in ourselves no matter what anyone else tells us. We jumped our bikes across rivers, built rope swings over the edges of steep cliffs. We jumped and fished off train bridges. We had roman candle jousting tournaments on bikes and actual rock fights. We got in fist fights and then shook hands as friends.

[@richardcarte]

Every generation has people like that.

[@richardcarte]

@@mycroft16 every generation has people like that.

[@hpstrunkiii8056]

​@@richardcartebut not every generation had almost the entire generation like that. We looked down on the safe set, so there were very, very few of them

[@j.m.3460]

Definitely saw the shift in technology, all in high school💙 My Freshman year we took typing classes on manual typewriters, but by Senior year we were taking a computer programming class.

[@MsAubrey]

Same. It’s kind of amazing the things we watched occur in our lives.

[@animaloverload7465]

Same here. Long live Dot-Matrix printers!!!!

[@annemiller8227]

As a Gen X myself I appreciate the praise. But it is only given with HALF A CENTURY to look back upon. This IS glossing over how "we" were talked about in the 90s... not quite so kindly at the time. We were considered coddled bc we grew up with TV, VCR and cable tv which were unimaginable luxuries by our parents and grandparents. Walkmans and boombox radios and portable tv were also amazing as well as the desktop computers and cellphones that were available to the general public and not just the ultra elite We were scoffed at for our "wealth" of luxuries and our evident ingratitude for it. I often forget this until I hear something like this that make Gen X seem amazing. We were amazing bc we were kinda pushed off a cliff with a spool of rope, told to hang on tight and good luck. Those who survived the fall get to nit pick at their kids bc they didn't fall off a cliff too. Thats ok. The kids can do something like (*culturally) survive a tsunami or 10 pt earthquake The survivors tell the story anyways

[@misskyle3908]

1968 here- I’ve watched a a few of your videos now, yes, I have subscribed. I like what you do here, and I think it’s awesome that you are researching the way you are. I will say, the videos, at least this one that you are reacting to, a lot of what they are showing, is older than Gen X- I wish they had used more true Gen X pictures. It’s a little distracting when they’re showing black-and-white, more stuffy old men when I feel like we had more diversity when we were working and had entered the boardrooms. It’s very true what they said- things like DIY or die trying- that sums up the majority of us. And I can tell you honestly, I made plenty of decisions, still do, without asking. I figure my employer should trust me to make the best decisions for the practice, or business I am working on, so if I spend a little extra money upfront, making a decision that I know will save or even earn us more money in the long run, I have every confidence that I’ve done the right thing. Get in trouble later- Or hopefully recognition for doing the right thing. Great stuff you’re doing here, There are many people I know who should be following you. I’ll be sharing your videos. One last thing - we used to get in trouble for jumping off a one-story building into our grandparents swimming pool. That was a hell of a lot of fun!

[@sandrad9695]

My husband and his friends jumped off the roof into pools whenever possible. And I know a Gen X KZbinr who talks about standing on the roof of his house when he would get home from grade school and falling head first into the overgrown juniper bushes with his friends. If you fell out of the bush, you lost. If the bush caught you and you got stuck, you won. 😂😂😂 A more Gen X thing I have never heard.

[@user-Danswife]

1968 here too. Loved it!

[@timvandenbrink4461]

@@user-DanswifeClass of ‘86 Rules!

[@richardbast7243]

O M G Got a strike for showing what Gen X did? What a difference between then and now.

[@BarleyMonster]

How crazy is that?!?! That was real living!!

[@Jewels0007]

Gen X far from being Slackers my brother first job working in a bike shop at 15 and i was a nanny for 10 years from 10 years old till 20 years old and raked yards and Cleaned my dads car and waxed it inside and out without him asking and had to clean house too

[@MrEliasdl]

The slackers label didn't come from Gen X being lazy. It came from our commitment to explore and go after what we wanted. Our parents called us slackers because we wouldn't listen to them after we figured out young that we were on our own. It's comical that our parents who left us alone to raise ourselves called us slackers.

[@Capthowdy098]

I hear that, I was put on a rough in construction crew as the clean up and "board b!tch" during my off summers starting at 12 😂. Had 2 or 3 jobs by the time I 16 and football practice games. Carpenter, lifeguard, auction house ringer/book keeper. I decided that all that wasn't for me and I decided to take what I thought was the easy route... I became an Airforce Jet Engine Specialist. 17 yrs later, I was forced into medical retirement and broke my lower back tore my shoulder and some mental health crap. So, with yrs of experience, I became a field engineer. The company was behind schedule, and I was not needed, so I became a Project Panager. That's where I have settled. The motto for me was always the lights are on and the AC is running, so I am happy!😁

[@lucasgraham5353]

I feel sorry for kids growing up these days. Growing up in the 80's was so much better than it is now.

[@tinaslouisianakitchen8963]

Don’t be fooled. Boomers were the toughest. My daddy was a welder for an oil company in Louisiana. He used to bog through the swamps to do welding on drilling rigs. While he welded, someone else held up a piece of tin to contain the sparks so that they couldn’t spark off an explosion. He used to leave for a job and mama said he always told her if he died to sue the company for everything she could get. Thank goodness it didn’t come to that. Lol

[@jessechaskey7205]

"Rub a little dirt on it!" RIP gramps

[@billsturm9225]

Another aspect that the video literaly just glossed through was diversity, (especially in the United States). With segregation ending in the late 50s and the Civil Rights Act in the mid 60s, Gen X was the first generation that all races/colors went to school together. Where all races/colors were friends with each other.Its not that we didnt see or know about racism, its that we just didnt care. That wasnt who we were. We knew who are friends were and it didnt matter what color they were. This is why many Gen X ers get upset when these young kids start talking about racism or calling them racist. We were the first generation to really embrace diversity and now we have younger generations who never experience true racism attempting to bring it all back. Leave racism in the past where it belongs. Sure, there will be the odd racists but the best thing you can do with them is ignore them (unless they get violent) its mostly for show and attention anyway.

[@coldsteel865]

100% Being a Gen Xer, it pisses me off how the younger generations latch onto all the BS being spooned fed to them via the internet and mainstream news. No wonder they are so desperate for people to be genuine and authentic. Ask a Gen Xer how you know the racist in the room. They are the ones talking about race all the time. If younger generations spend more time hanging out with each other than glued to their electronic devices looking for an authentic connection, they would be much happier. I would love to see what would happen if the internet and cell phones went MIA for a month. Gen Xers would be cool. We get a break from all the nagging text messages and emails from work and the dam robot callers calling our cell phones 24/7. Millennials, Gen Z, and Alpha would have a complete psychological meltdown. Probably call it the next apocalypse moment for humanity.

[@susanfisher2581]

Amen to that❤

[@RobwLPOC]

We grew up with movies like Blazing Saddles which did more to end racism than all government at any levels combined efforts. Not to mention comedians like George Carlin and Richard pryor so we had not only a understanding of twisted humor, we had Carlin who was a philosopher that had a sense of humor who taught us a realistic way to look at the world

[@billsturm9225]

@@RobwLPOC you are correct. We were desensitized to the stupidity of racial division.

[@CupOJoeGeez]

I’m still fearless I got my skydiving license at 55 still jumping regularly at 57.

[@Jewels0007]

We worked on cars and bikes and lawnmowers and electronics and guitars

[@FunkyLittlePoptart]

Worked? Past tense? I don't know, I think a lot of us are still working on those things. I'm not saying there's a guitar with all its electronics torn out on my desk, but there might be...

[@IIICitizenSaneIII]

1971 NYC here. We had to grow up in (and adapt to), a world that was designed for adults….with A LOT less supervision. Our secret weapon was having the “Greatest Generation” for grandparents.

[@TrueFork]

I walked to and from preschool by myself, which today is probably illegal

[@AbsoluteApril]

Deff strong work ethic, learning early in things like selling cookies in girl scouts, than 10+ babysitting and recycling cans for cash (since small or no allowance), got job at 15-1/2 as soon as I could qualify for workers permit, driver license at 16, it's just what a lot of us were doing :) have a great day (

[@davidantell2855]

"Dad, my arm hurts when I bend it", "Don't bend it then"

[@djpaeg1]

Yes, we were not allowed to be slackers. Farm kids had a lot more chores than I did, but I had to clean every thing in our house weekly just to earn a measly $5 per week from my parents. I had to babysit constantly for my much younger sisters, starting at the age of 11. And I didn’t get paid for it. By the age of 12, I was doing household laundry and cooking for our household of 7. And I would babysit for pay at several other houses as well, all throughout my middle school and high school years. That’s how I was able to afford new clothing for myself, without having to get secondhand clothing. I also learned to sew so I could make my own clothes. My first job was at a fabric store doing book work, retail sales, and alterations. As soon as I graduated high school I got factory work every summer to support me through college. I had on -campus jobs while in school for my miserly expenses. When I graduated college I couldn’t find work in m area of expertise, so I got more factory work to pay off my college loans. I saved my own money for my wedding expenses and kept working. After kids I worked at home to raise them Myself and worked from home to support us. I didn’t expect someone else to raise my kids. I did it all. Even homeschooling them. We raised our own food in the garden and stored it up in freezers and jars. We raised livestock to have meat in our freezers for the whole year. Now that the kids are grown and moved out, both my husband I work full time with as many overtime hours as we can get, and there is no retirement in sight . We will probably work until we die. That’s okay. I wouldn’t want it any other way.

[@AgnesMariaL]

Hard life, but a good one :) I was the eldest of five myself, cooking and cleaning since about age 5, baby on the hip at age 7, then raised my sister when she came just before I turned 13 because mom was tired of being a mom after baby #4 :) Parents bought a business when I was ten, had to help with the books, baked bread to sell, grew gardens, fished for food, split wood... Spent most of my adult life in the city, but that grew tired, then my mental health told me that's not where I'm meant to be. I'm now back in the woods, out of the rat race, and building a homestead in order to provide a secure, healthy future for my grandchildren :)

[@richardcarte]

So you enjoy your feudalistic slavery ? Because that’s exactly what the 9-to-5 job system is. It is unconstitutional. Our founding fathers would’ve thought we’ve lost our fucking minds.

[@richardcarte]

@@AgnesMariaL it’s sad that you enjoy your feudalistic slavery. Because that’s exactly what the 9-to-5 job system is. It is unconstitutional in our founding fathers would’ve thought we’ve lost our fucking minds for participating in it willingly.

[@MsAubrey]

You got an allowance? 😳

[@AgnesMariaL]

@@MsAubrey I never did, as my parents were on welfare until they sold our suburban house and bought an extremely rural business, but all my peers back in suburbia during the early 80's got an allowance. It was a token sum of money, often given weekly, as appreciation for them looking after younger siblings, taking care of household chores, things like that. Most kids spent it on candy, skateboards, the latest Atari game, things like that... But the SMART kids saved it up, bought lawnmowers etc and had their own businesses by the time they were 15! :)

[@rickm3779]

Gen X created the world we live in today and we pass that ball on to our kids today. The generations that follow us is our children. I’m so proud of this younger generation. Stand up for your rights… and this censorship of information… that’s something Gen X taught you never to put up with. You guys are the future and Gen X has taught you well. I’m very impressed with our young adults and youths of today. I don’t appreciate the media keeps censoring you guys… you’re not a soft bunch.

[@mycroft16]

OMG, sledding behind a car. I'd forgotten that one. Oh hell yes. I already know my wife is gonna be pissed off, but my daughter is gonna love this.

[@latrishabledsoe7766]

Hokey Bobin😂

[@iamswell]

You were lucky; you had a sled! We hung onto the bumpers and slid on our boots.

[@iamswell]

@@latrishabledsoe7766 All these years I never heard that term. We called it "skitchin' "

[@Renkk17]

You should watch - That 70's Show! From beginning to end, they did a good job and that's what it was really like!

[@TexasbyStorm]

That 70s show were teens in the 70s, they would have been Boomers. The oldest GenXer would only have been 15 by 1980. Most of us were younger, still in elementary school into the early 80s.

[@sharonflowers66]

​@@TexasbyStormYou're right. I was born in 66 so I'm an older gen X. While I remember some of the references on the show like the death of disco, I was certainly not a teenager when it happened

[@psychedelikat]

That 70s show is about Boomers as teenagers.

[@Renkk17]

@@psychedelikat I'm at the beginning of GenX and it's about the 70's and I lived that, so I should know!!

[@scoobysnacks]

We also had the best music. I miss that government cheese. It was amazing. They need to bring that back. They don't even have to give it away. I'd buy it. I can remember when we got our first VCR with a remote control. The remote control had a 25' cord that you had to plug into the VCR, so we never lost the remote control.

[@mycroft16]

YES! I remember ours too. We thought that was the most incredibly cool thing EVER.

[@carlgentry7878]

Dead on... born in 79... end of the X. We solve problems, not whine about them... and got scars to prove it

[@SunhairSpiralmind]

We've gone from *DIY* to *DEI.*

[@Jewlietoo]

1967 from Michigan. If we weren’t bleeding, we weren’t having fun yet!

[@jenniferclark8051]

Free thinkers for sure! We survived the worst of the best

[@chyannehainstock7842]

We wanted to run our mouths! But we were not allowed to - unless you wanted to be grounded or get spanked. 😂

[@kbaylor123]

I’ll give you something to cry about WAS and actual threat 😆

[@kookiekris]

As a Gen X, I honestly believe that these new generations wouldn't be so 'bad' if Facebook wasn't invented. I think it ruined everything! Also there is a difference between growing up in the 60s, 70s, 80s & 90s in my opinion. I grew up in the 80s. Everything was much different than the 90s and so on.. Way more lenient. Freedom, fun and just experiencing life. Of course we had Mtv, The Goonies, no seatbelts and Rock n Roll. Everyone was friends. If life could be stuck in one decade forever, I'd totally pick the frizzy, big hair, floresant socks, cordless phones, ghostbusting badasses that was! 🤔

[@amybourdeau5311]

Those were the days my friends we thought they'd never end 🎶 🎵 ~ Dolly Parton 🤠

[@mycroft16]

"Those were the best days of [our lives]." ~ Bryan Adams.

[@johnmitchell7914]

I was born in 65 and started working at 14 from 6 am to 1 am no complaints and yes that was 5 days a week. I did that job for 14 years

[@amydameron3928]

Since I live on a mountain off grid. I'd say we're pretty resilient. 1968

[@AgnesMariaL]

likewise :)

[@dirtyd1398]

This is 100% accurate. I am part of Gen X, "i'll give you something to cry about" is why a lot of us are so fuqd up.

[@molonlabe2645]

You had to blur out drinking from a garden hose?! If KZbin would flag you for that, then they need to put their big boy pants on.

[@susanfisher2581]

Seriously???

[@GrandmonsterRandom]

And shout out to you and your curious mind. I've been watching since your first reaction videos! I love that your curiosity brings you closer to things, increases your understanding and empathy. I bet this has put your parents in a new light as well.

[@Cocreatewithus]

Well, we weren't perfect. Many did talk back to their parents...but they got in deep trouble for it. I didn't really talk back, because i saw my sister get in trouble all the time and i learned from observation lol. I just kept that stuff to myself and vented in my journals. There is no generation that doesn't talk back at some point, it just depends on the type of punishment (or lack thereof) you get for it.

[@misscakes9995]

We are the smallest generation because we got taken out in accidents or ended up on milk cartons from abductions.

[@unixdiva]

Early GenX’er from the US here. I have to let you know how I impressed I am with your approach in these videos (just found you yesterday). So very much of what you have talked about is spot on for me… so many stories…

[@terrimartinez6922]

GenX: Our "mobile phones" were two Dixie cups and a piece of string! 😂 And yes, we DID learn DIY tasks from the grandparents -- because most of us had Boomer parents who pretty much neglected us. I learned to drive a standard stick-shift when I was 11. Drank from the hose. Rode my bike everywhere without helmets & such. In the late 70's when skateboarding became a "thing", a few of my friends got ticketed by cops for exceeding the 55 MPH speed limit on their skateboards going down the mountain highway.

[@KestralWolfe]

That sentence..."suck it up', 'I'll give you something to cry about'..." etc? Those weren't things we said. They were things our parents (the people who were supposed to be protecting us) said to us. They were, indeed, threats. We had no choice but to grow up faster than we should have had to. "If you want something, work for it" wasn't one of our mantras, it's something our parents shouted at us. I'm not sure who made the video, but good gravy.

[@psychedelikat]

"I'll give you something to cry about." My mom tried that line on my TWO-YEAR-OLD. I shut that sh*t down fast. She tried to play it off as a joke, but I insisted that she never say that again to my kid. She never did, but I never trusted her to watch my kid for any length of time after that. I wasn't about to let happen to my baby what happened to me! My kid's a teenager now and very well-adjusted. We have a great relationship.

[@vi-r22]

You sound jaded, lol.. we all lived by that same mantra it seems. "Walk it off" and only if you find you can not walk (because your leg is actually broken) then we take a trip to the hospital to get a cast put on but, if you do get up and limp a lil but, then they catch you out running around an hour later after causing a scene, you be in trouble for it so, you just did not complain. You learned to test your body out after every bad fall.. to make sure it still worked before, you spoke up about it and you self learned to be freaking careful when needed. I see NO problem with children learning the responsibilities of working for something, even now, I respect that. I feel that too many just expect things now and they dont care if they break it, they just demand a new one. That NEVER happened when I was a child and young teen and we respected our things what made us learn to plan ahead if we knew we wanted something and to figure out how to go about getting it by often working odd jobs to save up and as adults it carried over to purchasing a small house, cars or what ever, we planned our finances in advance and saved for things and that is why most of us have anything now. Families had more children so as adults, anything parents had is/was always split between many so it is not like most of us got handed our homes or wealth, we WORKED for it. Not so much for the mega wealthy of course but, the wealthy are only a small percent of the total.

[@vi-r22]

@@psychedelikat You as well sound like you turned out just fine. I got along great with my mom once I was an adult myself and I get along great with my now, adult children and my grand babies though, miss em, daughter is trying to get me to move across country to live near her again, bless her heart.

[@Tee-cl6dc]

The toughest self reliant generation with the best music and toys America has ever seen & never will again 😊 1966

[@barrywalker673]

69 dude!

[@debrasamaha3896]

1962 here 😊

[@CanEHdianBobtoo]

Tonka ftw

[@tarverr.mcknightjr4439]

You must be talking about FREE LOVE & birth control!!! Woodstock. All of us from the 1960’s on have been getting weaker & weaker!! I watch myself & the younger gen’s…. Most of us & ALL THE CITIES would STARVE without the Gov’t. People make fun of the country folks, WV, mountain kin folks. Well I for one understand the song : COUNTRY FOLKS WILL SURVIVE!!!

[@Tee-cl6dc]

@tarverr.mcknightjr4439 I now live in Princeton West Virginia

[@TrueArchon]

Internet anonymity also changed person to person communication. Any pipsqueak with a big mouth can talk shit all day every day, zero consequence. Back in our time, talking shit had to be done in person, and even the toughest of us risked a black eye or missing teeth. Because "Come say that to my face" initiated the conversation in which the shit-talking lasted maybe two minutes then someone got punched in the face. That was the end of the shit talking. Conversation closed.

[@christiansolid1702]

The SKEPTICS AT HEART mentality is a very true thing… we take everything with a grain of salt 😂.. its probably why they call us “Conspiracy theorists “ 🤣

[@HomerSimpson514]

I quit high school in 88 with 9 weeks until graduation. I decided I was gonna tour the country in a hardcore band. Best decision I ever made.

[@dalehammers4425]

You gotta keep one thing in mind for us Gen X. If we ran our mouths about someone, they only lived a few blocks away and were 100% willing to walk them few blocks (or more likely ride their bikes) and throw hands in front of everyone. There was no anonymous nothing, you say something, your ass better be able to back it up, because the rest of your body will if it cant. But unlike today, once the fight was over it was over. Best friends would throw hands and once the winner was decided, they went right back to being best friends, there were no grudges. We respected that, because win or lose, you fought it out, you didnt talk and run. There was honor in that.

[@tyseemahbishop6123]

That cheese made the best mac and cheese and grilled cheese sandwichs😂

[@mycroft16]

Good old Kraft singles, and a hunk o' velveeta. Remember the old commercial about Velveeta vs Cheddar and how cheddar was lumpy and dripped onto your doily? Damn, now that jingle is in my head again. "Make it with Velveeta it cooks better!"

[@RosieRosepeddle]

I'm a gen X kid and I really like that video. You needing to block some of the video just makes me tired of how easy and faster the younger people get upset.

[@MellyGoodrock]

Gen X Aussie lady here. Agree with ALL of this! Love my Generation. Appreciate you having an open mind about it. Some of your Generation like to talk $h!t about us (You don't. You're respectful, which I like 😊) but good thing about that is.... We're Gen X and we don't care! 🤣🤣

[@darrylmuse9948]

As a Gen Xer I agree with this video 👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾

[@TheDoctorsDancer]

Millennial here! I think there is a decent amount of over-lap between gen x and millennials born in the first half of the 90's... There are definitely things that gen x does BETTER than millennials, but I feel like a lot of the same mentalities apply. Work ethic was a huge thing when I was growing up, but there had definitely started to be a switch to focus on higher education over practical experience, but it was a bit of a double standard, too. It kind of depended on the field you were working in, and the age/ generation of your boss. We were also the last to have an education that didn't rely heavily on tech in our formative years. We almost grew up alongside the technology as it was developing, rather then have it come after or before we finished our primary education. We learned how to write papers by hand and in cursive in grade school, and then in middle or high school (depending on where we went to school) we learned how to type in a word processor, and how to access the internet, which was still considered to be somewhat unreliable. We had to be flexible, adaptable, and independent in a similar, but distinctively different way than gen x, or even the later millennials, resulting in a different kind of grit and world view than the generations before and after us. We're like... the Goldilocks Millennials. There aren't many of us, but we don't quite fit within our generational labels.

[@christypriest30]

As a generation x’er I’ll never understand why young people are so shocked that we drank from water hoses! It’s not a big deal

[@RobwLPOC]

And we always tried to remember which houses had the vinyl or plastic type garden hoses so you didn't get that horrible rubber taste 😂

[@bahnsidhes]

I'm 56, born in '68. I've never been someone that willingly glamorized my generation. Every generation has good and bad things about it. I know the short comings and failings of mine. I saw it first hand and weirdly I'm seeing it more so now. I am also not someone who immediately jumps on the generations that came after me like so many of mine and the previous generations do. Coming from where I did, I understand why the generations want change and aren't willing to go through what we did. A lot of us had to put up with a LOT of unnecessary bullsh*t. Yes we were tough. Because we had to be. My kids are also tough. And so are my grandkids. But I raised them differently then I was raised. My daughter, end of millennial, is one of the toughest people I know. She also beats anyone from my generation in emotional intelligence. And has zero tolerance for putting up with crap that I put up with as a child. Kids tried bullying her.... and it didn't work, because as she put it "why should I care what they think, they aren't my friend".... and if they tried to escalate by getting physical, she stood her ground and gave as good as she got. Me, being bullied, made sure she knew how to fight. It came in handy. She never started it, but she also didn't back away from it. As for cybor bullying.... well, let's just say she honestly didn't care what they thought and she has a very quick wit. She was never the one walking away with emotional scars. lol The thing about these generations after us, is they've seen the results of how we were raised first hand. And they either take it and learn from it, or they reject it and say we need to do better. And although my generation did that also, we had it harder because many of us didn't realize what an amazing tool the internet could be for finding/trying different and better ways to do things. I have high hopes for Millennials/Gen Z/Gen Alpha.... yes they will make mistakes, because we all did. But they have something we didn't. A whole, wide world of information at their fingertips.

[@susanfisher2581]

When I was bullied my Dad taught me how to fight. Believe me, even as a girl, there were many times it came in handy. At least back then we only used our hands. Bullying was tolerated in school to a certain point but kids didn't tell on each other so we were on our own.

[@samuelmcneely1157]

If you'll notice in each one of these videos not one of them is playing a video game and there were no cell phones to carry around and bury our faces in. there was work to be done and Gen x got up and did it. when the parents said to do something they didn't mouth off they just got up and did it.

[@newgrl]

"Just rub some dirt on it." - Ok, mom. "No you can't use a calculator. Do you think you're going to be able to carry a calculator everywhere with you when you get older?" - We didn't have MTV; we didn't have cable at all. Or air conditioning. Summers were spent outside, with our bikes, near the closest water (creek, lake, pool, or garden hose), not cooped up in the hot hot house with the irritated parents. We are the F* around and find out generation.

[@omga14]

A phrase I remember was " but did you die though?".

[@stevebojo4378]

Very true. Gen X here. I was born late 1967 and graduated HS in 1986. If I wanted something I had to earn it. My first job was being a paperboy at age 12 and I had to get up at 4:30 am to put together the papers and get them delivered before 7am. Plus I had to collect payment weekly from the subscribers. Did that until 15 then I worked at Taco Bell till 17 and bought my first car (67 VW Bug) at 16. Then I worked as a dishwasher at a restaurant until I graduated.

[@Jewlietoo]

I’m November ‘67 birth, we lived parallel lives! I was babysitting at 12 then at Arby’s at 14. My best friend had the neighborhood paper route and I would go help with putting everything together and folding each one (that satisfying tri-fold!) I graduated in ‘85 (my parents put me in school at 4 so was 17 when I graduated) I had attended our Vo-Tech for cosmetology during 11th and 12th grade and had my license before I turned 18. And my first car was a mustard yellow, 1967 VW Beetle that I often had to jump out of at stop lights to prime carburetor if it died! Take care my friend!!!! ❤

[@swcoder]

One thing that's missing, is Gen X were probably the main generation that created the internet. While the groundwork was there, we kind of ran with it. That's why Gen X is in the unique before/after with technology. Now, we did get old and not follow it as much, but we get it lol.

[@rowdyparks6770]

You can tell youtube is not run by gen x.

[@The_Original_Nosferatu]

Born in 1970 and agree 💯 with the Gen X video.

[@Rachel_M_]

I'm a British GenX. There are similarities between the US and UK, but also differences... Just 3 words. The Rave Scene.

[@kerriniemi9525]

We had raves here in Canada 💞

[@heidi7649]

We had Raves in the USA. They were normally in the city. In the country we had barn , field and beach parties that moved around from Thursday to Sunday. We worked hard and partied harder. I remember going to work still drunk from the party the night before. Good times.

[@erickalear7609]

Oh, I miss raves! Abandoned buildings turned sweet party spot, one night only.

[@gracefulLily7710]

GenX from Rural Canada.🙋🏼‍♀️🇨🇦 We had Bush Parties once all our chores were done… well, in my case, they were never done!🤷🏼‍♀️ Most of my friends went. I never did get to “experience” one though…🤷🏼‍♀️😂

[@GradyBroyles]

I spent the entire 90's making raves and House music events in San Francisco with the dudes from UK's Tonka. Come-Unity, Wicked, Basics, Funky Tekno Tribe, Mr Floppy's Flophouse and the legendary SF Bay Area rave that was unnamed officially but was called locally the "Wicked Full Moon" The thing that got lost as the UK Rave laws forced some crews to the US was that raves, by definition, were illegal. The official definition of what exactly a rave was, was set by the UK government in it's criminal laws. If you think you've been to raves, but none of them were illegal, you haven't actually ever been to a rave.

[@GimmeOo-mox]

I was unfortunately born right in-between Gen X and Gen Y but luckily I received the lessons of gen x.

[@Casper-qs4pp]

My motto: if there's a will, there's a way. Also don't like whining or complaining.

[@kamikeserpentail3778]

Yeah. Things will go my way. Which will be a bit like a nicer version of the Borg, but no I'm whining

[@susanfisher2581]

Whining and complaining NEVER worked for us, instead it got you in more trouble. Kids were seen and not heard. In the summer we were kicked out of the house and stayed out all day. It was great bc your friends were out all day also!

[@irodney47]

I kept a dime in my shoe for the phone. Had to be home by dark.

[@Ash.Crow.Goddess]

I'm proud of your journey.

[@carriebradley7634]

A gen-x'r here! This video is absolutely correct, and it's great that you are gaining an understanding and appreciation for our generation! To sum it up.... We learned skills from our parents and grandparents, and through trial and error! When the Internet and social media came on the scene, we knew to use it as a tool.... But it does NOT dictate our opinions, paths, or our lives! It's a tool.... Not a crutch! We are not afraid to turn off the digital....and live! And we certainly won't let the Internet convince us that we are sheep!!! 😊

[@robynhurley5119]

100%

[@AnyaMidkiff]

Core Gen X'r here, this resonated big time. And a lot of us think more highly of GenZ than we did millennials btw. 😉 Just your statement of wanting people around who "give it to you straight"? You could have hung with us. 😁 But yeah, those of us who had older boomer or - even better - Silent Generation parents/grands raising us were lucky. They passed on crucial survival skills and problem solving attitudes. We didn't have so many distractions (unless we chose to) so family and friends weren't so 'disposable' as it seems now. You kind of hit on the down side of tech, that can often be amazing, but it does seem that the more we become digitally 'connected', the less solid our IRL relationships. You had to back up what you said, and you had to get along with the people in your community because you'd have very few outside options in daily life. Which i think was a good thing, really. But we see a lot of hope in people like you, so keep on keeping on, as we would say. ☺️👍❤️🙏

[@sFOREVERJAVKSON]

Gen z has to go back to our childhood movies and pop culture from the 80's. Enough said.

[@BrentArcher-iq4xb]

Love your gen x reactions. Was born in 1976