Ahh, Gen X—they’re the “middle child” of generations, aren’t they? Sandwiched right between the larger-than-life Baby Boomers and the tech-savvy, meme-dominating Millennials. Gen X is like that red-headed stepchild sibling who mastered the art of blending into the background while rolling their eyes at everyone else’s drama. Latchkey kids? Yep, you bet. Actually, they invented that. Cynicism? Uh huh, they perfected it. And now, Gen X is watching Boomers discover TikTok while Millennials complain about avocado toast prices. The struggle is hilariously real.
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to exist as the world’s most forgotten generation, buckle up. Let’s go back to the future and drive head-first into the quirks, complaints, and straight-up relatable moments that make being Gen X both a laugh riot and a huge ol’ eye roll.
1. Dial-Up Patience vs. Instant Gratification Showdown
Let’s just start with this: Gen X lived through the glory days of dial-up internet. That sound of modem screeching was basically their theme song. Waiting for a webpage to load gave them time to grab a snack, read a magazine, and maybe solve world hunger while they waited. Now, Gen X watches Millennials and Gen Z rage-quit when Netflix takes more than 0.02 seconds to buffer. Patience? Yeah, Gen X invented that too.
Gen X Superpower: The ability to calmly wait for things while every other generation loses their collective minds. Buffering? No problem. They’ll just listen to some mixed tapes.
2. Music: From Mixtapes to Spotify Playlists
And speaking of mixed tapes, Gen X grew up making those carefully curated masterpieces of emotion, heartbreak, and too much time spent hovering over a radio with a tape recorder. Meanwhile, Boomers were rocking vinyl, and Millennials just drag-and-drop on Spotify. But nobody knows what effort is quite like a Gen Xer. Trying to explain to a Millennial what it’s like to spend hours making mixtapes—only to have the radio DJ talk over the song intro—is like explaining calculus to a puppy. Not gonna happen.
Gen X Superpower: They know the value of a playlist because they had to work for it. And yes, they’re still emotionally attached to that dusty old Walkman. Anybody got some extra triple-A batteries?
3. The Social Media Struggle: Being Too Cool for Facebook but Too Old for TikTok
Gen X basically invented cool. They survived without social media, and they’re really proud of it. But now they’re finding themselves a bit trapped in this awkward limbo where Boomers rule Facebook with political rants and Millennials and Gen Z dominate TikTok with dance challenges and life hacks.
Meanwhile, Gen X is lurking in the background, kind of wanting to join the fun but mostly just cringing at everyone else. We’re too jaded for TikTok trends, and honestly, Facebook is just a giant digital family reunion we never wanted to attend.
Gen X Superpower: The fine art of ghosting social media. They see your post but aren’t reacting. And no, they don’t care if you “like” their last update from 2014. They secretly want MySpace to make a comeback.
4. The Work-Life Tug-of-War: Boomers Won’t Retire, Millennials Want Faster Wi-Fi
Gen X grew up with the golden rule: hard work = success. Boomers? They took that to heart and never really retired. They’re still clutching their corner offices—and their Blackberries, like it’s 2005. Meanwhile, Millennials are waging war for remote jobs and the elusive “work-life balance,” while Gen Z is out here hustling for side gigs, passive income, and anything with Wi-Fi. And Gen X? Well, they’re stuck in the middle of the madness. Half are grinding away like Boomers, and the other half are side-hustling their way through midlife crises, wondering why health insurance costs more than rent and why they need three jobs just to keep the lights on.
Gen X Superpower: They’ve mastered the art of working hard while secretly dreaming of that beachside retirement where they sip piña coladas and get caught in the rain, while laughing at the chaos they left behind. And honestly? If anyone can figure out how to pull it off, it’s them—because if Gen X knows one thing, it’s how to make the impossible happen.
5. Technology Trauma: From the Commodore 64 to iPhones
You probably don’t remember the Commodore 64, but Gen X sure does. Gen X grew up with computers the size of small countries, and their first mobile phones came with actual antennas. No, seriously, huge antennas! Boomers, on the other hand, still marvel at Google like it’s a magic 8 ball, and Millennials can’t imagine life without Apple products. But Gen X remembers a time before screens ruled the world, and they’re just slightly freaked out by how fast tech has taken over.
Gen X Superpower: They’re not “digital natives,” but they’re absolutely digital survivors. They learned to adapt to every wave of tech, from floppy disks to the fluffy clouds, and they’re still side-eyeing new gadgets like, “Okay, how is this gonna break in a week?”
So, there you have it—Gen X, the true red-headed middle child of generations. These 80s warriors are stuck between the eternally working Boomers and the endlessly scrolling Millennials, navigating a world that expects them to be tech-savvy, patient, and somehow still cool. Sure, they may be the forgotten generation, but honestly, they prefer it that way. After all, being a little overlooked means Gen X can sit back, sip an overpriced pumpkin spice latte, and laugh at the chaos going on around them.
And if you’re a Millennial or Gen Z reading this and thinking, “Wait, that sounds kinda familiar…”—just remember: Gen X was rolling their eyes at all of this before it was cool. Yeah, they also invented the eye roll.
Till next time, be wickedly wonderful.
Most of the tech you give to GenX belongs to Boomers. I am a Boomer and grew up in the computer age (in my 20’s) of Commodore64, cassette tapes transferring to CDs, transferring to flash drives. I dealt with punch cards, punch tape and magnetic tape for programming and data storage. Boomers INVENTED that stuff! BTW, the “eye roll” was invented even before the Boomers, although the Xers may have perfected it, along with the heartfelt deep sigh.
There’s bound to be some overlapping of the different groups. You seem to be at the tail end of the Boomers i’m guessing if you were familiar with these things. I doubt the majority of Boomers as a whole had to use, or be familiar with little, if any of this on any kind of regular basis.
As a whole though this would be true for most of Gen X. I think that’s what the author is getting at here when making these observations.
Oh puh-lease. Any boomer not familiar with and part of emerging technologies is already dead. I’m 75…computers were in wide use by my 30s, though they were the size of refrigerators. I bought my Gen-X kids a Mac desktop when they were in early high school and I am the one that taught them how to use it.
You seem to have boomers confused with our parent’s generation. Do your homework. BTW…if we aren’t retired, it’s because we can’t afford to or we can’t find a replacement willing to work our normal 60-hour weeks. I’m not faulting Gen-x for that…they were smarter than we were…and just said “no.”
MYSPACE and AOL were X-Gen’s online communities, and it no longer matters, just like X-Gen. The PC was developed when the oldest X-Gen was 15 years old, they did not participate in the development. The internet was also developed by DARPA before X-Gen was 20 years old.
Struggling to find where the article claims they developed or assisted in the development of the pc or the internet? Gen X grew up with everything electronic from Pong and Apple 1 until now, and the vast majority of boomers were completely computer illiterate until post 2000.
Boomers were using computers in the 80s and 90s. Get your facts straight.
Thank you! Author must thinks his generation invented computers and they spontaneously sprang forth full grown. Hilarious.
What BS. We boomers were in the workplace as computers emerged. We were the first to use them…we taught our Gen-X kids. I bought a 128k Mac desktop in 1985. Don’t be ridiculous.
True, I am a very old X’er (apparently we’re called “cuspers”) and Algore did not invent the internet, correctly stated, it was conceived and designed by boomers.
I prefer the term “Free Range” kids, as compared to latch-key kids.
At least you got to be kids. Boomers not so much.
Gen X:
All true. Gen X rode in on the coat tails of the Boomers. Technology was still primitive enough at that point where Gen X still had exposure to the culture and entertainment of the Boomers, while being at the right moment in time at the right age where technology started to boom, and thus transitioned right into the new technological age without missing a step.
Gen X still remembers all of the new gadgets and gimmicks as they first hit the market, as well as all of the previous movies and tv shows at the time. They had no choice. There was no cable, and entertainment was limited as such that everyone was basically exposed to the same things. Not so today. That’s the irony of it all when it comes to those after Gen X. They have so many more media venues, and opportunities to experience the entertainment culture that we experienced back in the day, but are less likely to do so because even though they have more opportunity now to do so – they’re less likely to do so because of the overabundance of information and technological choices that there are out there to be had. Gen X had the best of both worlds. Being at the tail end of one way of life while being teetering on the cusp of the technological and cultural transformation of another.
If Gen-X got exposed to technologies, where did that come from? Oh wait…must have been from their boomer parents who bought them for the kids and knew how to use them because boomers used early computers at work. Big eye roll.
Generation Jones, 1954-1965, in between the Boomers & the Slackers, get along with both but are distinct in their own right.
I was happy with nobody noticing us.😄
Genx didn’t invent being latch key kids. Plenty of kids had to do that in the 60s and 70s.
Yes, we boomers were sometimes alone, but not playing PacMan. Chores kept us too busy…especially if we lived on a farm.
I’m one of the Older GenX people (born 1966). This article made me smile. I remember everything you talked about. Dial-up and the sound of the Modem. Mix Tapes…..I had dozens of them. Now I have Mix MP3s on CDs and on my computer. I’m on Facebook but not Tiktok. Tiktok seems a waste. Never did Myspace. Commodore 64 was my 1st computer.
I own a Mom & Pop Shop that converts Old Media (VHS, BetaMax, Hi8mm, MiniDV, Regular/Super8mm Film, Slides and Photos, Old LPs & 45s, even 3.5 Inch Floppies to Digital Format (LegacyBox but far smaller). Yes, I live between the Old World and the HighTech World everyday.
I’m way older…and still knew all the above.