Why GenX Employees Can Survive Without Training (But Millennials Can't)

[@mcmlxv9827]

In the 80's we weren't worried about CNN, we were raised on MTV. Gen X had to be adults as kids; work hard, play hard and learn to survive and thrive on your own.

[@timfool]

CNN was around but you're right we didn't pay much attention to it.

[@tubemarcus]

@@timfoolI feel like CNN really took hold on the news cycle in the early 90s.

[@jackiew6598]

@@tubemarcus True. A lot of people I knew in the 80s were still getting broadcast TV vs. cable. And even if you had cable, watching a lot of news wasn't a big draw at first. Most of us were still used to catching 30 minutes or less of news and moving on to something more interesting.

[@anaihilator]

FACTS

[@Christina-71]

And it was the best days of my life, besides the days I had my kids. It's time for Elon to scrap the rockets and make us a damn time machine instead! He's a Gen-Xer too, so I'm sure he'd love a few weeks vaca, back to 83' or 84'.😂

[@redfive5856]

I was a latchkey kid in name only. My father never gave us a key. I'd get off the bus, walk to my house and hope my father left the garage slightly open so I could crawl under the door and open the front door for my sister. If he forgot, which was invariably, I'd have to get on the roof and go in through my bedroom window, which I always left open, and then open the front door. Gen X is the last generation of free range kids.

[@FamilyManMoving]

I learned to pick the cheap lock on our front door. Forgot about that until I read your post. Thanks.

[@merrymaya]

I had to use a bathroom window that wouldn’t open all the way. I was nothing short of a contortionist getting in that window every day! Then when I got older, I’d use the same tiny window to sneak out at night.

[@BrianSmith-lo3mj]

Who here had to learn the ole credit card trick to get in their house when they were 9-17?

[@FamilyManMoving]

@@BrianSmith-lo3mj I made a custom shim that would pop the latch on our house, and my grandparents next door. Had to flip it over for one or the other door. I even learned to pick the deadbolt on our place. It was so cheap, I didn't even need skills.

[@k.stacey7389]

Gen X should be the B&E kids. We all knew a dozen different ways to break into the house.

[@DaveMiller2]

It didn't change like that in 1980. That change came later. We were still coming home when the streetlights came on in the early/mid 80s.

[@iahelcathartesaura3887]

YES!

[@stuiley424]

Spot on about the Xs however I do think she over simplified it far too much and to their credit I actually know a handful of Gen Ys that are like us Xers.

[@timfool]

I was 14 in 1980 and I went home to a empty house and cooked food, went outside, did my own thing basically. My Mom was going to college.

[@williamrussell2353]

CNN started in 1980, but it was a cable channel. There were huge amounts of households that didn't have cable.

[@JamieStLouis-tu9ml]

True but the channel had to start some where. So CNN might be a touch point worth discussing. Media Studies teaches you a lot.

[@radolfkalis4041]

When I was 9 I got to take care of my 4 year old sib while mom went out to take care of an hour or three of errands. If I had a problem there was a neighbor to turn to, arranged by my mom. This neighbor did not check up on us, if I had a problem I could not solve, I went to the neighbor. Today, parents do not trust their 14 year olds to take care of themselves without an adult in the house. They are going to fail when they become adults. Job training is showing me what I need to do, once, and leaving me to get things done. Newer generations have to be spoonfed everything because we raised them that way. I rag on millennials alot, but WE raised them to be the way they are. We did it because we wanted their lives easier than ours, but we have done them a grave disservice in the long run.

[@johnflorio3576]

As a Gen-X-er the advice I heard most often was, “Go figure it out yourself!” That’s why we rocked on homework. We, unlike other generations, have an innate ability to self-teach.

[@waynes9275]

“Go figure it out yourself!” oh my god so many flashbacks from that

[@PanduPoluan]

This reminds me of the time I taught myself how to install Linux and configure it as a router in just 3 hours. PS: It was back then in 2009. Linux was not as user friendly as it is now.

[@sorryociffer]

@@klinestill And by NOT being spoiled, we had to figure things out, largely on our own... hence, self-taught...

[@Kissed_by_the_sunmoon]

Yes, or go get a dictionary.

[@lalida6432]

Boomers were not sympathetic when I first started working in my 20s. I had to figure stuff out and fast.

[@FamilyManMoving]

The oldest of a five kid family got her driver's license a year ago and called her dad because she ran out of gas coming home. She had stopped at a station earlier in the day but was afraid to go in and pay because, "there were lots of people in the store." In broad daylight, in a community of literal million dollar homes. The parents asked if their kids could spend time with ours, to learn life skills and not be so afraid. Then other families did the same. My kids take public transport, ride bikes, go to libraries, stay home and go to stores and restaurants on their own. This started at ages 10 and 13. Just like we did. Except they have phones and GPS trackers. FWIW, some of these parents were among those who whispered that we were bad parents for not flying helicopters over our kids non-stop. They demanded to drive our kids somewhere, instead of letting them take the bus. But...this summer my house was at times full of other people's kids, all using us as home base for wanderings in the limited urban zone we live in. For the first time ever these kid were on their own for a day. Their parents are more freaked out than the kids. PS: funny addition: one woman heard my daughter was a great baby-sitter and called for help, without ever meeting her. My daughter declined when she realized the girl to be watched was also 15 years old. The woman was mortified. She thought my kid was older. I heard she said something to the effect of, "I think I messed this up a long time ago."

[@MagnetCulture]

Wow...thanks for sharing!

[@frotobaggins7169]

Growing up, I used to walk to kinder garden and first grade alone. In first grade I would also walk home by my self for lunch. My mom would already be home for lunch, we would eat and I would then walk back to school for the after noon. After school I would walk to the babysitters house until my mom picked me up after work. Later I attended another elementary school that had no cafeteria, so If you were buying lunch instead of packing lunch we would walk the 3 blocks by our selves to the high school and stand in line with the high school kids and eat lunch with them. No crossing guards, not chaperones. Then we would walk back. I often would walk down by my self.

[@wendiblount7022]

I just watched a video talking up the dangers of easy bake ovens (that are now recommended for ages 8 and up). Then I read lots of people’s comments expressing relief and amazement that they survived their easy bake ovens! Made me sick. I was cooking on a gas stove, that I had to light with a match, when I was 7. It’s not that these kids are incapable that bugs me. It’s that their expectation of an easy, pain free existence is unattainable. When they get hurt they act like it’s strange and someone is to blame rather than learning to do better and moving on.

[@FamilyManMoving]

@@wendiblount7022 A 14 year old friend of my daughter is _planning_ to fly in tomorrow - by herself - to spend a week with us. She was a little nervous doing it by herself; she has only flown twice before with her family, and not recently. My daughter does it, and walked her through it. No problem. Her parents though, are making this much harder. They now pretty much have worked her up to being terrified. I am 50/50 on whether they bail on the whole trip in the next 18 hours. There have been conference calls, emails, texts and strategy planning like it was D-Day. I finally told them, "walk her to the gate on your end, and I'll meet her on my end. It's a direct flight; she won't fall out of the plane in the middle." They would have cancelled by now, were it not for the fact we paid for her ticket. It was a gift. Parents need to understand our job is to train our kids to be adults. That means expecting them to adult, in small but increasing doses over time. But many won't, and then drop them off at college like it's extended daycare. Which, judging by what I see these days, is mostly true. Ugh. At least many of my kids' generation are over it. This young lady wants nothing more than to learn to do it on her own. They kinda despise useless millennials and don't want to be like them. They just need their parents to get with the program.

[@jackiew6598]

I've noticed some of those odd fears in younger people that you mentioned in the first paragraph. It has always puzzled me but this talk helps put it in context.

[@brotherbruns2989]

Gen X learned how to “figure it out” as a necessity of survival. Not all Millennials are a product of Gen X. For Millennials that are a product of Gen X, they were provided an easier life because of what Gen X experienced growing up. Every Gen X I know is appalled by a Millennial’s general lack of self-responsibility and not the fact a Millennial needs training to do a job - Gen X is more than willing to train, however they are not willing to train the same person the same thing over and over again until the Millennial takes on the mantle of responsibility.

[@lancekostecka368]

yea I am a trainer at work and yea Millennials suck. A job that I was shown at work once and expected to do it and I did. A Millennial I have to train that same job for 3 weeks 8 hours a day to do that same job.

[@jreyman]

Even worse, is the generations following the Millennials.

[@Jack-cc3qm]

Im Gen X. I used to run around the woods with a rifle hunting small game. Its was the stranger who was in danger because pedophiles trying to snatch kids would catch hot lead.

[@frotobaggins7169]

and everyone with a pick up at school had a gun in the window.

[@edstar83]

Gen X represent. I had a sling shot.

[@forakermm]

And don’t forget us first born GenX folks who also had to take care of younger siblings after school. ❤️

[@LilliLamour]

And I'm still taking care of my sister, who's a millennial 🙄

[@watcherwlc53]

Older generations had to do that as well.

[@barisax96]

I never thought of it this way. but I work for Lockheed and have for over 20 years. in my business area, they started cutting back on training about 15 years ago, and now it's practically non-existent except for compliance which is self paced videos. but hearing it like this i do notice a difference between the way I tackle things i don't know how to do, and say a new hire Gen Z. when I teach newbies, I usually have the hardest time showing them how to figure things out on their own, how to trial and error their way into things, but they never seem to grasp this idea of take a guess and see if that works, then adjust depending on your results.

[@AB-bc9tf]

I’m Gen X and we were out there by ourselves and taught stranger danger.

[@Todd.T]

And the strange neigbors to avoid...

[@Hackenberg]

That is Istophobic now.

[@annmarieknapp]

Yes, stranger danger was a thing.

[@KellyAlbright-tg9kz]

Stranger danger was something I never heard of in the 70's as a kid. That was younguns.

[@kittensugars]

We went home from school, and unlocked the door with a key we DID NOT LOSE under penalty of death....we ate, played, did homework, and were FINE. Our parents (sometimes) expressed pride in our abilitiy to hold down the fort.

[@robertmiller2831]

It’s not just millennials. I work with people in all age groups and they can’t handle having to learn on their own. Its not stupidity, it’s lack of drive. In this day and age you should be able to figure out most things on your own with Google and KZbin.

[@timfool]

Yes, Gen X is lost like Millennials. 😂😂😂🙄🙄

[@edward8297]

Yup.. Luckiest gen..they have google and youtube.. We have encyclopedias and libraries. 😅

[@frotobaggins7169]

The age of the easy answer and no failure.

[@rachelehosten1323]

Learning on your own is a skill. Spoon fed kids don’t learn how to overcome inertia or initiate without support, sometimes. It’s not as easy for everyone as for you, just saying.

[@rachelehosten1323]

@@timfoolGen X refused boomership.

[@pcs9518]

As a Gen X person I learned how to work on electronics and computers on my own excelling to lead tech positions and eventually opened my own company.

[@jackiew6598]

Computers were a new-ish field back then and training opportunities were scarce. As a software developer finding answers by myself was a big part of the job. It was stressful but I got paid so it was all good.

[@matthewcotterill7155]

I was born '74, by time i was in secondary education (age 11) i could clean every room in the house, do a weeks grocery shopping, pay bills, cook a sunday roast dinner and see to my own laundry amongst other useful life skills. I grew up in a single parent family as my mum died when i was six. I occasionally had to have time off school to look after my dad when he was ill and make sure my little sister got to school. Learned a lot af valuable skills.

[@LilliLamour]

Us 74 kids are built different 😊

[@DugrozReports]

I was a latch-key kid (though we had a hidden key in the garage 😄 - didn't have to wear one!) and all this is correct, except for the homework part. I just watched Ducktales.

[@Kissed_by_the_sunmoon]

I still love Ducktales and sing the theme song all the time ❤❤

[@jackuzi8252]

I wasn't a latchkey kid, only because my parents never bothered to lock the door. I just walked in.

[@rcud1]

I don't think our front door was locked the entire time I lived at home til I was 18. :-)

[@radolfkalis4041]

I remember back then. No real need to lock the doors, unless it was night and everyone was going to bed.

[@annmarieknapp]

I see a lot young people struggle with coping and critical thinking. Because of our current environment I feel like I have to be supportive, but when I was a student in their stage of life I would have been eviscerated by my professors if I spoke to my faculty with an attitude and entitlement.

[@karlar8648]

The kids that was TRUSTED with a house key. And was damn good at too.

[@busybumblebee9661]

I’ve had to learn with very little or no training in my job my whole career and it sucked. Yes, I survived and I’m successful in my career, no it wasn’t okay, I hope the next generation do get proper training.

[@zenseed75]

THIS! I made it but it wasn't without undue stress.

[@spiritof76forever81]

Too often I have heard "Nobody told me" or something to that effect. Very little training or figuring it out on your own goes on any more. Both are needed and valuable.

[@watcherwlc53]

@@spiritof76forever81 What do you expect people to say? How do you want them to know?

[@butterscotch2086]

I’m a millennial and I’ve had the learn with limited training as well. It’s not the most efficient way to learn. It takes longer to learn on your own, details can be missed and it can take a long time to catch mistakes. I take advantage of opportunities for more in depth learning when possible. It’s not laziness, it’s about efficiency.

[@MrBackslider1]

First year Gen Xer here Jan 1965!! We were feral!! Us first year Gen Xers were the parents to our younger siblings lol After football practice, I hand to do homework, cook and clean the house, make sure my brother did his, protect the house (Dad gave me a gun at 9yrs old a 22 Remington rifle) and made sure I got my mom her favorite pack of cigarettes so when she got home she'll have her unwinding time lol. Mom just write a note saying it was ok to buy them. All of this at 10yrs old. I remember having sign my brother's grade school field trip slip. I signed all of mine. The cool part was that after school I would have a few girls over for some juvenile sex lol. My younger brother knew what time it was. LOL Ya see,....Us Gen Xers were grown way before being grown.

[@raggeragnar]

1st year gen-x(-65). Dad got terminally ill when I was 7. At age of 9 I repared flat tires at the bicycle shop after school mondays and tuesdays and mowed a dozen lawns every week. Bought myself a bike , a skateboard , records and a lot of other stuff. I also kept the outside area around the local cinema clean for total free admittance. Step it up , figure it out , learn by doing and conquer.

[@FinnandMaxsMom]

8 or 9? I went home to an empty house at 6. I also had to start taking care of my terminally ill mother and myself by the time I was 10. Kids these days would have run for the hills if they had to deal with what we did.

[@davidcox3076]

Most of my jobs have been, "OK, you're hired. Now go to work." If I didn't already know the job or could learn it on my own, I was out of luck.

[@watcherwlc53]

Mmmhmmm, that's EXACTLY how they acted (employers) Like the minute they hired your you mystically had the knowledge to do the job in your head. Like it downloaded. Stupid of them. Do some damn training.

[@victoriawilliams2786]

That 1980 kidnapping didn't change anything in my neighborhood, in the suburbs of Sacramento. And we were all around 9-11 years old. There were around 3 or 4 of us who were only children, as well.

[@fflobcommish]

Other than the words, "I love you"....the three word combinations that I heard most in my life was, "Get over it", "Figure it out", and "Suck it up".

[@MichaelGeoghegan]

Employers need to make apprenticeship training a thing again.

[@radolfkalis4041]

The younger generations don't want to work for PAY, they sure would not work for KNOWLEDGE only.

[@MichaelGeoghegan]

@@radolfkalis4041 I never said internships I said, apprenticeships you get paid when you are an apprentice. Also, Canadian labour laws do not allow for unpaid internships either.

[@manfredkandlbinder3752]

She is very much on point with News playing a role in this. I am from germany and we did not have that kind of news until much later. Being born in `79 and raised in the 80s in germany i pretty much grew up like the Gen-Xers in america a decade earlier. Going out on my own to play until its dark or dinner, coming home from school on my own and being alone for hours sometimes. It stayed that way in germany until the mid 90s, although having no kids of my own i cannot tell how much germany also fell into this (wrong in my opinion) overly anxious style of micromanaging kids. EDIT : She fails to actually spell out what this is about precisely. It is not about a particular number of skills, but the attitude and confidence you learn and develop. Having mastered things without supervision many times over, makes you trust your own ability to not fuck up totally and still get some of it done. Never getting this opportunity does lots of harm to kids these days.

[@k.stacey7389]

It didn’t happen until later here either. CNN may have been born in 1980 but it was a cable channel. MTV was born in 1981, so I can for sure remember there was only one family in our neighborhood that even had cable, since they suddenly became the coolest kid in the neighborhood. (actually, since they were the “rich family” and also had a pool, they already were, lol!) It may have started in 1980 but it was a long slow snowball up into the 90s.

[@Todd.T]

I am technical and often purchase the equipment that I would like to learn and figure it out without the training. I get the training later and find it uninspiring or useless. I've spent tens of thousands on computing and network equipment and tools. I get paid because I can make it work, maintain and fix it. I get paid to go to locations and figure out what the tech support for the brand can't figure out. I've installed brand new products that supposedly require a weeks worth of training in a couple of days and configured them in an unheard of manner, all by myself.

[@CorvinusIratus]

Here, here! I'm a software guy but I've done the same thing with welders, lathes, milling machines and other heavy tools - i just buy it then figure out how to make use of it.

[@289hipo]

GenX'r with a Depression Era father & mother (whole lot more self sufficient than Boomers). Something broke you first tried to figure out how to fix it with what you had on hand - no luck? THEN you buy parts. Repairs too extensive? THEN you call the repairman. Again, "Figure It Out"

[@sorryociffer]

This is soooo spot on.Current kids are completely void of common sense or initiative.

[@kmbbmj5857]

I definitely started seeing that lack of ability to self-train with new hires in the early 2000s, when the first millennials were coming out of college and into the workplace. Gave one a very simple task and he came back with something unintelligible, mostly copied from Wiki. When I asked him if he looked up how to do it, he didn't know where to look it up. I asked if he tried the library, then I had to explain to him how the library works. A college graduate who had never used the library because he had just Googled everything. Guys, you're not getting paid to plagiarize Wikipedia; you're getting paid to create new and original ideas.

[@reneenordeen9447]

Yes, we had microwaves in the late 70s and 80s.

[@chelious1973]

I know right😄 This lady thinks she knows us. Too funny.

[@jenniferlynn329]

Only the rich ones had one early. We got ours in the late 80s on the farm.

[@williamrussell2353]

​@@jenniferlynn329same with CNN, we didn't have cable television either. That was what the 'townies' had. And couldn't ride their bikes past a certain intersection... I was told however far away you go, remember you have to ride back.

[@jenniferlynn329]

@@williamrussell2353 do you remember staying up late and watching the American Flag and hearing the national anthem, then staring at the multi-colored lines on the screen. And thinking "I wish this was on later, why can't the channel hire a person to work at night and continue playing reruns".

[@williamrussell2353]

@@jenniferlynn329 and now, at least here, there's ME TV which is nostalgia 24/7

[@SfromWisconsin]

The years that she mentions and her connections do not match up with Gen-X. Microwaves were commonplace in the 70's and 80's. That's how we cooked most of our food. And we were still kids and teens in the 80's and 90's. "Stranger danger" was very much a thing when we were growing up, however few people were actually considered strangers. Neighbors, friend's parents, and basically anyone you knew the name of and/or where they lived weren't considered strangers. That was before the data showed that most kids are kidnapped/ hurt by people they know. So these aren't magical points of time. Our society just became more aware that kids could be unsafe with relatives, teachers, coaches, and neighbors. We stopped trusting everyone, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. That led to Required Background Checks for people who work with kids. It's more likely that Millennials think/ behave differently because they grew up with the Internet, and they were sitting behind a computer/ game console instead of staying out until the streetlights went on.

[@carlameyer4203]

microwaves were not commonplace in the 70's and 80's. I only knew 1 person who had one, and they got theirs in the late 80's.

[@FamilyManMoving]

We got ours in 88/89. Only kids on the upper end of the income spread had them at home.

[@289hipo]

GenXrs got seduced by the way things became more and more convenient with computers, the Internet, and tech advances. At first it was a thrill not having to go to the library to do extensive research, or writing term papers and invoices with a computer/printer rather than a typewriter and carbon paper. They never saw the potential of it's effect on their physical habits. They mistakenly only saw the possibility of the more rapid advance of knowledge.

[@ikreer9777]

Microwaves were around, but most people didn't have them because they were expensive and very large standalone units. Same with PCs--most families did not have one until the 90s. They were expensive ways to type letters for most people. Most were not exposed to the technology and the possibilities of them. They were used by large banks and the government (including NASA). (I know there were probably some smaller businesses that jumped on them. The same either families, but MOST did not have the money to spend on the early versions.) I had one computer class in late college, and it was useless. I had to type one paper using the computer lab my last semester. I have learned all of my computing skills at work.

[@brianwilhelmsen8663]

I was born in 1977 at the age of 8,9and 10 I was still running around my entire neighborhood until the street lights came on . This lady is completely off on her years.

[@JamieStLouis-tu9ml]

She is a bit of but I think that the media di have an affecet on us and that cnn is a good thing to point out. Cnn may not have had a full effect in 1980 but years later changes in news sure id. And we got a microwave in 1986. We wer the last people I knew to get one.

[@majkishcze4116]

I honestly have a different experience. When it comes to something new, my parents and grandparents are unable to learn or understand it, because they are unwilling to give it a try for some reason. For years my grandparents are asking my dad to print something out, even if printing something isn't difficult at all. Also, my parents are asking for help with technology and other stuff, even if they literally got into settings and just went through it for a while they would have an overview of the features phones have and wouldn't have to ask me and my brother for help and could find it on their own, or they ask for things they can google. It's just not as simple, each generation has a tradeoff, but yes, I think each generation is getting worse in general, but not in every aspect.

[@DragunBreath]

This lady hits the nail right on the head. I've done everything I can to teach my kids how to figure things out for themselves. Thankfully, now that they are adults, I am finally beginning to see good results from my efforts.

[@decuevas244]

Hysterical. Because everytime i had training for a new job I'd call in sick until it was over. Then in 98 at 29 I got laid off 3x by 30 so I also started new jobs that were just bought out from other company. I was then incharge of teaching new departments to now communicate to other new departments. I was basically always a latch key even at work.

[@frotobaggins7169]

I worked for a large fortune 50 company. Once at a staff meeting, I was asked how I always knew the right answer and how to handle every situation. I said, This is the easiest job I've ever had and all I do is exactly what they told me to do during my first week of training. It's pretty simple. lol They stared back in amazement.

[@jenniferlynn329]

I picked up a 3" thick insurance manual and just started reading. I could manually rate an insurance policy still in the 90s and no one else (except for the two older women in the office) knew how to do that.

[@davidulmer9774]

Please, 9 years old we were on the other side of town playing until a few minutes before dark and then pumping on the bike to get back before the street light came on. Coming home with cuts, bruises, all banged up (usually from fist fights or doing something really stupid), and as long as it didn't require a trip to the ER, it was a learning experience. That last comment, I have to say this, it is their fault. They were not coddled, brought up with values, and when they moved out they got this attitude of taking the short cut so they didn't have to work like we did. You know that "I'm going to retire by 25" you heard them say often. It didn't take them long to figure out that way was wrong, and many of them are still paying for that today.

[@troytheman666]

I grew up on military bases. I was born in 1980. Kids on military bases didn't have to worry about being kidnapped.

[@davehackett8848]

when we left the house, our scraggly mutt went with us. nobody could get near without risking a rabies shot.

[@felicitydeikos5250]

As a Gen X, " figure it out and do it yourself" Self learning DJing was great. Come back, " after dark"

[@Ellex424]

1974 here. Every job I've ever had I was given training, but it was usually half-assed training from someone who didn't want to do it, barely knew the job themselves, and if there was a training manual, it was desperately outdated. So I'd take notes, write my own training manual or correct/rewrite the existing one, and within a year, I'd be the one training new people. And they'd be good at it if they put in the effort, because they'd have an accurate, up-to-date manual and someone who would teach them correctly and answer questions, and make sure they understood what they were doing. I was fine with this until my last job, where I was training millennials (once more I was doing training less than a year after I'd started). It wasn't that the newbies couldn't learn, it was that the learning took forever to stick. They didn't take notes, or use the manual as reference while going through the work. They'd rather ask me the same questions over, and over, and over again, rather than check their manual. They'd switch up the steps in the process for no apparent reason, then wonder why it didn't work, and even after I explained, repeatedly, that the software required things to be done in a certain order, would do it again, and again wonder why it didn't work. They weren't dumb, they just seemed to have a really hard time working on their own, or figuring out how to do a procedure they hadn't done before even with a manual that explained it, step by step, with screencaps. They couldn't extrapolate even the most basic things from what they'd already learned. I finally put my foot down and told my boss that I was burnt out on training people. Fortunately we didn't bring in any new people during that project, and I was moved to a different project where I haven't needed to train anyone. But I worry about the subsequent generations. I've spent my whole life figuring out how to do things I was never taught to do. The internet has become such a fantastic resource: if I need to know something, or how to do something, I can just look it up! And I keep encountering younger people (and older people) who are astounded when I say that I learned how to do something by Googling it.

[@kevinkrichie]

I must be a different Gen X. We had a microwave but as a 12 year old kid i had no idea how to use it. So I left it alone. I was a latchkey kid. Got home at 3:30, mom got home at 4:30, and dad got home at 5.

[@steventaylor2551]

I'm in-between the 2 I was born in 81 and raised as a latch key kid with 3 siblings!! It is their fault for not using what is in their heads! Don't give them the excuse to not to! The same things were said about gen x back in the day and they learnt and so can the millennials and the gen zer's. I saw it happen to my parents aunts and uncles then me as an early millennial!

[@annmarieknapp]

Older Millennials are closer to Xer mentality.

[@dennisyannoutsos9689]

As a Gen X'r we also had the go play outside and walk it off learning situations which were great lessons on how to be aware of stupid things and how not to do them again in case it hurt

[@VMSelvaggio]

I ALWAYS walked home from school, almost 2 miles each way, and was one of those kids. My Sophomore Year, only 1 High School teacher had internet in her classroom, because she paid for it out-of-pocket. She taught AP European History, and her Baccalaureate Students found it easier to write research papers with in-classroom access to the internet.

[@tonym6854]

GenX here. Always alone after school. Almost blew up my house a few times. Drank with friends. Had girls over for.... ya know. Got into lots of fights and trouble. Learned a ton of good and bad and it has served me well.

[@tonym6854]

And didn't have cable TV until I went to college. Had first vcr in my hood. Watched porn. All true.

[@tracymatthias1295]

It’s amazing what children can do when their given responsibilities.

[@ankavoskuilen1725]

When I was 10, I really thought I was a grown up. My mother was ill and my dad, my 11 year old brother and me kept the houshold going and take care of my 6 year old brother. At least that is what I was thinking. But my father got us a nurse to take care of us all. That was in 1967.

[@John-ct9zs]

Every generation has "Karens". The tactic of demanding to speak to the manager is a customer ploy since the dawn of civilization, Gen X didn't invent that, and Millennials and Gen Z have them too. Gen X learned that customer behavior from older generations like Boomers, Silents, Greatest...etc, etc, and they saw it often works. It's only in the last 5 years or so that this type of customer behavior has gotten scorn/ridicule. It will probably lessen with Gen Z, but I know a Millennial chick, she's 33 or 34, and a total Karen, she even brags about how she fought with people at some store over what she thought was rudeness/unfair prices.

[@scanadaze]

Born in 1970. I grew up with zero TV. Same month I graduated is the same month my town got cable TV. May of 1989. I didn't really get into TV unit somewhere around 2002. With getting into the internet. My Gen X lifestyle never ended my whole life. I still have to do everything on my own. To ask or pay for help is not an option. You have to get the public to talk to you first. Your lucky people say hi. Society is very cold-hearted and self-centered. It not you want to be alone. You're forced to be alone. Yet. Those who refuse to talk to you are also those who can not stay out of your business. I personally give our planet an F-. Very unfriendly and hostel environment.

[@wyogirl5648]

My brother and I are gen x at the time I was 12 and he was 9, and everyday during the summer we would get on our bikes and ride what we called the loop. It was nine miles around you would leave the highway at one point and then it would come back to it and we would ride back up the hill to our house. We might be gone for hours or all day depending on what side adventures we took then we would stop at this little store and put a treat on our parents tab. It was great we were rarely in the house, our neighbor got this old school bell the big one you pull a rope to make it ring, if we heard it we had 20 min to get home. Sometimes you were a field away and other times you would drop everything and run your ass off to make it in time. My brother and I could run equipment and drive by the time we were ten, I could drive a fully loaded hay trailer and black it in place to unload because my dad didn’t want to pay a guy to drive he needed them loading hay. It was an amazing life one that taught me that there wasn’t anything I couldn’t do I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

[@drhandle4498]

At university and then at work, GenX learned to use IT when it just appeared in the workplace, and we were told that we'd figure it out.

[@bobbyjohnstonmusic8260]

one of my best buddies is an old school Gen x'r and kind of taught me the ropes. He told me, he tells me, and will continue to tell me, "Don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see." The generation after us have zero concept of this.

[@racheladkins6060]

I did my first hike at aged 8 , I did 11 miles here in England. My mother stayed at home, but I did get a key young. Gen Xers were the same in the U.K. kids in the 80s came home by themselves. I did alot by myself.

[@tigertiger1699]

Another thing is.. we had full employment in the 80s, imposed around @ high school, left @ 16..had 3 different apprenticeships to choose from.. nowadays kids have a degree and can’t fine a decent permanent job that’ll look after them..

[@stanbarnes7284]

I was told to use that thing between your ears for more than holding them apart. You figured it out, I was operating heavy equipment by12 years old. Large chainsaws by 14. Worked as a man at 16. I rebuilt my first engine for a car at 8 years old. I helped my father rebuild vehicles since I was 6.

[@BDO-og9xp]

I was about 9 when I saw a microwave for the first time. That was in December of 79. My aunt got it for Christmas. I swear that thing was as big as a Zenith Television, and heavier. I think a lot of us didn’t have them because they were just quite expensive for average folks in Louisiana back then. I don’t remember what she said it cost, but I do remember thinking she was rich for having money to buy one. For the record, she also had an intercom system in her house, which I thought was WAY Cooler than the Microwave !

[@sdsurfgirl60]

My parents left the front door locked but not the back door so we just walked to the back yard and let ourselves in. Children have seen the fastest jump in rights than any other group ever.

[@mikekilburn3552]

Us gen x also couldn't wait to leave home on our own. We ran away every second😂. This new generation won't leave. 😢. I left at 15 .

[@emmyt9304]

My first professional job I was told I'd have a supervisor. Nope, didn't happen , I had to figure it out on my own. To this day I do not want to be micromanged, but I also make sure that the essentials for the job are set up for anyone coming in to help out.

[@bigdaddypiggy]

Myself & im & sure quite a few others around my age (52) also had to be baby sitters & watch our younger siblings as well as ourselves ….at like 10-11 years old

[@radolfkalis4041]

Yep

[@scrunch8403]

You can't win with Employers as a Gen Xer all I wanted, at work, was to use my skills, qualifications and brain to work independently but most of the Managers I worked for were Micro-Managers which felt like hand holding to me. Now, they are saying Employers just want someone that can come in and do the work without too much training but more training is now the key?

[@doug18d50]

Born in 1940, I never had the chance to become a latchkey kid because 1) my school was local, not consolidated, so I could walk unescorted to and from school; 2) my mother worked (housekeeping) at home; and 3) hardly anyone, anywhere locked their doors.

[@kevinbenoit7167]

My first day of kindergarten my mom told me. There is your alarm clock, food in the fridge for lunch, here is a key to the house, and see you when I get home from work. Then I walked a mile to school on my own. Btw I am hearing impaired. Hearingaids are soooo much better now..

[@lalida6432]

I think she meant 1990, not 1980 (CNN).

[@stevenkmiller]

I guess my mom didn't hear that story. I was a latchkey kid til 84. And I didn't know CNN started in 1980, my first recollection of it was my dad telling me he was watching it 24/7 when I was in the Gulf War.

[@charlesgutzwiller5988]

Man those gentle words of encouragement make me well up inside

[@dawnpeterson3215]

Ugh. Never thought of it that way. I've trained OODLES of people. My patience wore thin at times. Good video. True

[@kathieharine5982]

Good point. Crime goes down yet fear goes up.

[@alanj9978]

I've been paid to work on computers since I was 16. I have never received training at work.

[@SalAvenueNJ]

It's Ten PM, Do You Know Where Your Children Are ?

[@westleyanson]

Great! You nailed the point in time when parenting radically changed. Nightly News constantly scaring meant more ad revenue, so scare everyone made economic sense.

[@DLYChicago]

We also had to socialize are selves with our peers. We learned how to form groups and establish group norms.

[@elmobolan4274]

Yes-my mom/dad were at work...Mom told my sister and I to NOT call her unless it was an emergency.....my little sister used to threaten me, saying if I didn't do what she wanted me to do she was gonna call mom....when she did, it was the highlight of my evening watching her get in trouble when my mom got hm!! 😂

[@justincase1919]

We've taken initiative away from people with compliance training a "policies".

[@JAB671]

Well, we DID have national news. Don't forget well known, national news anchors like Walter Cronkite. Where I live local news was on at 6pm and national at 6:30pm. The local news at 11pm was usually just a re-broadcast of the 6pm newscast. The difference was they had 1/2 hour to hit the high points. They didn't have time to go into intricate detail about every bad thing that had happened over the past, two weeks. They didn't have time to bring in fifteen analysts to discuss each incident and they (we) certainly didn't consider Geraldo Rivera to be an actual, serious newsman.

[@lalida6432]

From about K-8 I would do all my homeword during the day when the teacher was not teaching (which was pretty often). The minute they assigned homework, I would do it right there and then and finish it while they were still gabbing. Teachers were very laid back back then. By the end of the day, I didn’t have any homework and would go home and do what I wanted to do or read books I wanted to read. I watched alot of TV, which my parents just didn’t understand, and I was a straight A student. By middle school, I was so bored, I started skipping every now and then. Everyone at school thought I was a genius. Go figure. Gifted schools wasn’t a thing yet. Nobody assumed their child was gifted. Then later, apparently, all the parents assumed their kids were gifted. Weird.

[@lv67890]

They just made me a lead at work. Haven’t been trained for anything. I’m just figuring it out. Like I figured out how to make dinner when I was 12.

[@joeborromeo8693]

Even Adam Walsh didn’t change things. Our parents didn’t care what kid went missing. They all figured, if you take my kid, he/she will be returning one way or another. Probably with an apology note from the kidnapper

[@ShawnHall]

1980 abduction DID NOT change if we could stay outside all day. Stranger Danger? Yes

[@na918]

We also had to get our self and siblings to the bus in the morning. Also start dinner when we got home because mom got home later.

[@archiedpatterson1292]

10years old I was running through the woods by my self with a firearm and my dogs some times not coming in till daylight miss them days

[@k.stacey7389]

My millennial (almost gen Z) daughter was fussing over her homework being “hard” once, so after telling her that no, it was “difficult”, a rock is hard, I leaned in with the old lady perspective. “You know, you have ALL the answers online. When I was in school we didn’t have google, all we had was the encyclopedia at the library.” She shot back with “Well when you were in school a D was a passing grade.” Hmm. Well… ok. Point to the millennial.

[@FamilyManMoving]

"When we were in school, they still gave out D grades." Truth. My kid goes to school with kids who do no work, and straight up dare the teachers to give them failing grades. They say, openly, "you cannot give me a bad grade because..." And you know what? They are proven correct, every time.

[@annmarieknapp]

A D wasn't a passing grade when I was a kid. Gen X here.

[@radolfkalis4041]

My first thought after her kid smarting off about the D was, "If I said that at your age, I would be doing my homework standing up."

[@radolfkalis4041]

@@annmarieknapp It was everywhere I went. It got the same reaction as an F by my parents. I only did that once.

[@powderriver2424]

We had it good in the 80's if you did that today, the school bus driver, the neighbor, and anyone else would call the police or call CPS the School System they would all punish you for neglect, and abuse of your child.

[@watcherwlc53]

I don't get it. I'm Gen X but I really, really, REALLY HATED not getting training at work and being expected to "figure it out" You can't just figure out everything. Every workplace is unique, and almost no workplace has the patience to allow you the time it would take to intuit or re-create all their procedures. Why can't they just tell you? Oh, because that would be training and that is inconvenient.

[@Kissed_by_the_sunmoon]

Heavy on the “don’t burn down the house”. 😂

[@franknunez7204]

Are companies expected now to compensate for lack of sufficient parenting and preparation for the workplace?

[@shutterchick79]

It's the management that's enforcing the handholding, demanding documented training for everything. If it's not on paper that you know how to do something it's not believed that you know it. Don't blame employees for management's stupid policies.

[@amyjt35]

That’s why training professionals. should be consulted by management before they take on the task of saying who needs what training and what measures actually confirm successful transfer of knowledge. Unfortunately, most think that anyone with subject matter expertise is a good training professional to analyze, design, develop, implement, and evaluate training courses for employees. If training doesn’t seem to be working, that’s usually the issue !

[@DeepThought77]

Yeah we always had to figure things out out for ourselves. That’s what we was always told. Plus we grew up in a transition period of technology from analog to digital. From having no computer/internet to having both computers/internet and cell phones our late high school years early 20s. So we always have a nitch of just adapting to changes and figuring things out.

[@sunreallife5048]

We were poor and didn't have cable. I had a friend who had a satellite dish and we'd watch HBO and CInemax. I didn't see CNN until I went off to college in the 90's and if someone DID have cable (rich kids) we'd watch MTV. Different times!

[@retheisen]

Nobody ever fails on their own merit when someone else can be blamed.

[@mikekilburn3552]

I was given the only house key and if i lost it oh boy.. still dont lose my keys

[@Hackenberg]

"Bread is there, peanut butter is there, knife is in the drawer. You figure out the rest."

[@MusicaTexas]

I was a latchkey kid all through the 90s. But yes she is accurate that more training is actually a better means for you employers. And it's not just Milennials that need or want it. Gen X has bitched for years about lack of training.

[@8180634]

Saying "it's not their fault" is continued inspiring them to fail. The correct answer is, you're an adult now, too bad you didn't learn it as a kid, now is the time to figure it out, go get to it.

[@jennifer-fk3eh]

That was me. What school bus though? I walked.

[@TacShooter]

We had microwaves as early as 1981, about the time we started (computer) programming in BASIC. I saw Compact Discs for sale in 1986, possibly 1985. That's the thing that gets me about movies set in the 80's-era. So many anachronisms. Fashion was marked by variety and high turnover. The t-shirt and torn jeans that is so common now year after year would have screamed "low effort" in the 80s. CNN? It existed, I guess, but I don't remember it much until Desert Storm in 1990/1, when its 24-hour format was well-suited to round-the-clock coverage of the war. We had both national news and world news on the three major networks during the 70s and 80s, but at set times of the day.

[@Mr.chickensoup]

Interesting 🤔 never realized this. I never heard this latchkey kid thing till I started watching these Gen x videos ,then realized I was a latchkey kid when it was explained i thought it was only my sister and i that had keys to let ourselves into the house after school.