Are we doomed to be like boomers?
Posted by SpongegirlCS@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 94 comments
I’m seeing more and more posts here bragging about how feral and ignored we were. It’s not a bragging point. A lot of us were neglected, ignored, and in pain because we just did not matter to our boomer parents. It’s probably not a badge of honor but is definitely a badge of survival. Whatever.
Delicious_Bus3644@reddit
The pendulum swings, I am a parent to a Gen Alpha and they are the most pampered, overly coddled, medicated, anxiety ridden generation ever. Gonna be interesting to see how that works out!
aurelianwasrobbed@reddit
... which is what our parents said about us. "You guys don't know what hard work IS!"
Delicious_Bus3644@reddit
I’m trying not to judge, let’s see how it works out.
aurelianwasrobbed@reddit
I’m also a parent to an Alpha. If she's more coddled, it's because her parents have more resources than mine do. I think the worst thing about Gen Alpha is that they have such unfettered access to the Internet/social media ... which of course is not actually their fault. But it's messing them right up.
Careless_Lion_3817@reddit
Yes!!! So much access to that while not the understanding/experience of how that was built and why. So I’m taking on the role of let’s chill on the phone shit and get with experiencing real life shit and the lessons that teaches
aurelianwasrobbed@reddit
It's really hard to be "let's chill on the phone shit" -- I am trying with my kid, but it's not working. It's as addictive as heroin. I can take it away but then she gets the DTs. Smartphones: Not Even Once
truemore45@reddit
I have two of them 3 and 9 and I am 50. School is interesting to me. They don't really have much order in classrooms, it's like herding cats. But these Alpha kids are smart AF. My kid is in 3rd grade and his lowest test score for the state was 6th grade level. I thought oh it's just getting easier. How wrong was I.
We were talking about stuff falling and my son just chimed in with well it's not that bad because you reach terminal velocity within 10 seconds. I thought he was just being smart. Wrong again, he pops off the exact definition of terminal velocity in an atmosphere and why you reach it. I asked him how the heck he knew about the physics of a body falling in air, he say well dad I watched a video explaining it because I needed to better understand the physics in Minecraft. At that point I picked up my jaw and kept driving.
burghdomer@reddit
Your boy sounds smart, but let’s not confuse knowledge with intelligence or wisdom.
Careless_Lion_3817@reddit
Yes. My kiddo is so much smarter than me in so many ways…but I’m just trying to teach her the spiritual/relationship/developmental lessons now
Primary-Cattle-636@reddit
Test scores across the country beg to differ. Glad you’re little one having a good experience though!
pestercat@reddit
Pampered? Coddled?
You might not want to read recent psych research on the effect of the covid years and all online education on Gen Alpha. I'm an abstractor and it's across the board bad and bad in virtually every country.
Delicious_Bus3644@reddit
True I just go my what I see I’m my community and they are thriving. I’m lucky to have a great school system though.
Puzzleheaded-Ad-379@reddit
Look at the world they’ve inherited! No wonder they’re anxious.
Delicious_Bus3644@reddit
They are 12 and under they haven’t inherited anything yet.
Careless_Lion_3817@reddit
No, that’s just you projecting your own poor parenting skills…which is understandable bc we had poor parenting examples, but you also seem to lack self awareness which is the #1 issue today!! Imo
Delicious_Bus3644@reddit
Um …. Go fuck yourself.
porkchopespresso@reddit
First, Reddit is not real life so anything you see here is the highest concentration of narratives vs reality. A lot of people online buy into the storyline because it’s an identity that already has legs. Did I live on my own from the age of 8? Kinda, but not really. I might have had the freedom of biking through the woods but I still ran up the basement stairs like a bat out of hell because the darkness might grab my feet. I wasn’t a badass, I just knew how to do laundry.
People wouldn’t care about Boomers if they could afford to buy a house. Otherwise Boomers are the same as any old person who can’t relate to younger people, and vice versa. But shit is legitimately hard for Millennials and Zs economically. These are generations that are struggling to not just do better but equal previous generations. Some of us fall into that demographic and some of us don’t, but after us the dilution of opportunity gets more severe. It’s natural to look for someone to blame and to a certain degree it’s fair. Are we going to be like them? Probably, in that most Boomers aren’t actively trying to screw over anyone, they’re just doing what they need to do to live a life. They got in the system at a good time, and getting in now is tougher. I don’t blame the Smiths that live on the corner down the street. I blame the Kennedys or the Bushs and the people at the top.
What can we do the change that? Probably not that much. It’s hard for us too, we’re trying to support ourselves and family too, there’s no willful disregard for others, even if that’s what it looks like when you are the one struggling harder.
I have a rental unit, it’s a nice place and the other places like it rent for significantly more than I charge for rent. I want normal people to live there and I can charge less because it’s a cheap mortgage so rent covers what I need and the rent can be paid by teachers and young people just starting out. Is that making a difference? Fuckin barely. It’s one place and most of us don’t have rental units, so it’s not like there are so many opportunities to even be a part of the solution.
We’re gonna get blamed too. Not because it’s our fault, but because now that’s what people are becoming accustomed to doing. The next generation up will be responsible as the default and it won’t be fair to us but it’s also not fair that you can’t afford a house in normal places to live on standard salaries. They aren’t mad because we don’t like their music.
swigs77@reddit
you either die a hero or you live long enough to become the villain.
aurelianwasrobbed@reddit
Yep, exactly, we're already being blamed because the Boomers are dying out so we're up next. Millennials after us. May the circle be unbroken ...
zornmagron@reddit
it's funny you should mention this cause it just came up at the dinner table the other night with my adult son and his girlfriend. We were talking about parents and attending the kids sport events. I explained to my son I knew a lot of kids on my ball team that got themselves to ball on their bikes and got themselves home and their parents never showed up to a game. I am like parents were different in the 70's they gave birth to you feed you and threw in front of a tv and you were pretty much on your own. My son's response was well that sucks and I was like meh whatever. just the way it was.
MoeBlacksBack@reddit
I’ve had this conversation with my adult son and daughter so many times . My father came to one little league game .
zornmagron@reddit
yeah me too went to all his stuff. I for one was lucky my folks came to all my ball games. My wife on the other hank yikes had to beg to be in dance and her parents never went to shit.
SoCal7s@reddit
Mom & Dad went to one game each & oddly enough both did it on the sly; no cheering. I still don’t get that. But it didn’t register good/bad.
I played sports to hang out with friends and later to get pretty girls attention. Played in college too but never any pressure or concern - self motivated. Parents just needed to sign for permission & they’d done their job.
Think-Lack2763@reddit
And it really was that way! If I say anymore I'll sound whiny. 🤣
violaine95@reddit
My millennial brother and sister in-law do the exact same thing with their kids except instead of TV it’s an iPad.
Think-Lack2763@reddit
This is so true!!!
Zephyre777@reddit
They set an example - still to this day - of everything I have strived not to be. Barring an alien takeover of my brain, I don't see this changing.
Luke_Cocksucker@reddit
If only everyone was like you. Gen x voted overwhelmingly for the bullshit we’re seeing voted for right now. No regulating AI for 10 years. 10 YEARS? The largest transfer of wealth upwards in history through tax breaks for the wealthy by taking away things like medicaid. Is that what we need right now when people are barely scraping by and jobs are fewer? We’re worse than the boomers. White folks in their 50’s voted overwhelmingly for this shit. We should be ashamed.
Zephyre777@reddit
Being a leader takes a lot of something I don't have. Also, being a blind follower. I fall into neither of these categories. I didn't vote for any of what's happening these days, or the days before. I "see" a lot of manipulation and paid media and online commenters talking whatever they've been paid to say without disclosing information about the entities behind it. (Although you can probably figure it out by listening.)
I thank Don Henley for the "heads up" when I was a preteen.
So there is that. The Black pill.
This isn't to say that I'm not hopeful; I do my best to keep a positive outlook. I just can't devote a lot of my energy to trying to make sense of it all. It's exhausting and not worth the bandwidth, even if it makes for scintilating ~~arguments~~ conversation with people.
gggaze@reddit
Absolutely 100%!
Aeribous@reddit
Let the stuff that does not matter truly slide ~Tyler Durden
cybaz@reddit
I think it's bit overdone, previous generation were working in the mines at 14, having to heat up our own hot pockets and watch TV for 2 hours isn't so big of a deal.
ComicsEtAl@reddit
My friend, we all are on the exact same road.
Sixty years ago your parents laughed at old people and accused them of both ruining and doing nothing to fix the world.
Thirty years ago, you made fun of old people and accused them of both ruining and doing nothing to fix the world.
Today, your kids are making fun of you and accusing you of both ruining and doing nothing to fix the world.
In thirty years, your grandkids will make fun of your children and accuse them of both ruining and doing nothing to fix the world.
There is nothing new under the sun.
Cultural-Web991@reddit
I remember coming home from school, no key to get in the house so either standing on step ladders and climbing in the lounge window or taking out a few lats from the glass kitchen latted window to get in the house. Can’t ever remember my Mum being surprised I was inside
TimeAndMotion2112@reddit
I had silent gen parents and it’s made all the difference in the world.
I do get a little grumpy about technology and social media but wtf, I’m here.
Playful-Park4095@reddit
I don't get the question. You can be loved and still be given space to exist without helicoptering. It was just harder to keep tabs on kids when they played outside more than online, cell phones didn't exist, not everyone even had a home phone, etc.
What's that got to do with becoming like boomers? They are *not* just 'old people doing old people stuff'. Their parents did not become entitled asshats in their final days in such large numbers, nor were they so materialistic. I was raise by my grandparents, the silent generation, and they in no way behaved like the boomers do now. I hope to punch out with the same level of dignity they had and without the main character syndrome the boomers so often get.
TakkataMSF@reddit
It's taking back and controlling a source of pain for some. I joke about it too, but I'm in therapy because of that shit.
GenX is pretty good about laughing at ourselves and laughing at the shitty things that happen in life. It doesn't mean there's no emotional pain there though.
I've been unemployed for too long and it's stressful, killing my ego and pushing me into a deep depression. I still laugh at jokes about it though. Like my sister works for the government and is under constant threat of losing her job now. I told her I'd show her how to be unemployed because I've got so much experience.
It's life. It's stupid, painful and, if spun right, funny.
printerdsw1968@reddit
For me and my family generation of cousins it was Silent Gen parents, not Boomers. Very different patterns of dysfunction, a different doom.
BCsinBC@reddit
Some of the YouTubers who claim to be repping us seem more like boomers to me.
IllustriousEast4854@reddit
Some of will behave like boomers. Some of us won't.
BurtRogain@reddit
No. They have Social Security.
Living_Journal777@reddit
Yeah. My life was a mess for most of my almost 50 years specifically because I was not taught ANYTHING, nothing was modeled… especially healthy relationships, smart financial decisions, etc. I had to learn on my own, the very very hard way. It took me a long time thanks to ADHD and the fallout of childhood neglect. Am I tough and capable? Yes. Did I learn to make good decisions about people and life choices? Not at all.
RaggedyMan666@reddit
DITTO
JustAboutAlright@reddit
Yeah I think there’s a line where it’s good to be proud of whatever progress we’ve made growing up largely on our own, but you don’t become the kind of person OP is talking about where they get twisted into thinking everyone should grow up as neglected as they were or else they’re soft.
MorningBrewNumberTwo@reddit
And back then it wasn’t called ADHD, rather we were disciplined for “bad behavior “.😞
Living_Journal777@reddit
Absolutely! I was constantly shamed for being a “sped” or “defiant” and most of the time I genuinely did not know what I did wrong or what was going on. After a while you start to believe you aren’t worth anything because you’re either ignored, excoriated, or shamed. As an adolescent and teen, I had the insight to wish I had someone to take me under their wing. But there was just no one there. Had I gotten the help I needed earlier in life to learn coping skills it would have saved me so much trouble.
Puzzleheaded-Ad-379@reddit
Same
yothisismetrying@reddit
And being “hyper”
Lichenbruten@reddit
Right? God damned upvoted.
yothisismetrying@reddit
Well said. Same.
Think-Lack2763@reddit
Same. Same.
Spear_Ritual@reddit
Break the cycle. We can have our past, but we don’t have to continue it.
NowoTone@reddit
I feel that thinking in cliches, and thinking in generational generalisations is one of the worst in my view, is what dooms people.
OldBanjoFrog@reddit
I am in therapy (something I wish I had started earlier) to break the cycle and make sure it dies with me. The fact that we were raised to see therapy as a weakness has been detrimental on so many levels.
I will keep the love and support my parents gave, but I will be present in the life of my child. I am honest with her about situations that can be difficult, and how to deal with bad situations.
I will give her the chance to be a kid, but I will also give the space to grow.
Boomers definitely made their mistakes, and we are definitely making ours. But we will do the best we can with what we have.
NowoTone@reddit
I feel that thinking in cliches, and thinking in generational generalisations is one of the worst in my view, is what dooms people.
__Chet__@reddit
yea, definitely sick of hearing about it.
Technical_Chemistry8@reddit
Some of you, probably. I'm still going to be listening to punk rock and actually loving my neighbors.
I'd rather have community than wealth, any day of the week.
Careless_Lion_3817@reddit
Hell yes!!! But same with my Boomer parents
HippyDuck123@reddit
That’s an interesting question. I think some of us were feral and ignored and neglected, with lots of trauma that people unpack here. But I also think many of us were feral and mostly ignored but also tremendously loved. My parents were great: they were always available to give me advice, they didn’t make a lot of rigid rules that prevented me from leaning from my own mistakes, and kept us fed, clothed and housed.
They were also chain-smoking high school dropouts who had no idea how to counsel me about applying to college (but were insistent that I go), and never gave me “the talk” about sex so most of my sex ed came from trashy romance novels.
I think for most of us our parents were imperfect people trying to navigate an increasingly complicated world.
Mike_Hagedorn@reddit
We’ll make the mistakes we swore we’d never make. We’ll look foolish when we think we’re not. We’ll inconvenience others with our pace and mannerisms. But being a boomer? Fuck no.
SoCal7s@reddit
Some felt neglected.
Some felt free in a way probably no kids will feel again. Silly to dictate your feelings on everyone.
I wouldn’t want to exchange my youth for more parental oversight- ha ha.
Kids should get to run wild and figure shit out
Then mature into whatever happens on their teens
Then if they’re fortunate run wild again in college
Then mature into working stiff blue or white collar.
Then hopefully get out of that rat race able to walk wild into retirement.
I know it’s better to wear helmets & seat belts; to not roll down the highway in the back of a pickup truck & many other things our sedentary video game playing modern kids won’t likely ever do.
I could buy booze at 13, just say it’s for my parents. When it was 10pm they didn’t know where I was - ha ha. But most likely I was chilling with a gang of friends.
I get feeling neglected if you didn’t have a posse to ride bikes with & later to rock out and chase babes with. But I even loved you didn’t have to be Evil Kinevil (sp) or actually get the babes - it was an amazing existence that I think most of us thought was “just normal”
I’m happy as hell I can watch the Bad News Bears or Foxes and Animal House & Dazed & Confused and truly feel a bit of my childhood & teens reflected and know we fucking LIVED SOME ROCKIN GOOD LIVES lumps and all.
thehoagieboy@reddit
I don't want to be patted on the back, I want to be left alone. Stating facts is just that, stating facts.
Major-Discount5011@reddit
Not a chance. I know where I stand in this world. I'm just a blip on the timeline of life on earth. My opinions don't matter. I have no power over anyone. I'm still learning... in due time, it's over, and I'm just a memory. Once the last person that even slightly recalls me dies, I'm officially gone. Had a decent life, lots of chances, and lots of mistakes. I actually don't give a shit enough to really care what anyone else is doing.
ToddBradley@reddit
Yes. Almost all behaviors people ascribe to generations are actually behaviors of ages. When Zoomers are 70, they're gonna mostly act like Boomers did at 70.
Pinchaser71@reddit
I made a point to NOT be like my parents, specifically my dad. He was a selfish drunk. My 3 kids have be raised with two loving and attentive sober parents. Maybe not perfect but they know we tried hard.
I promised myself that my kids would not grow up reminiscing about their childhood saying “I’m glad that shit is over!”. It seems we were successful because they are grown up and have lots of fond memories.🙂
aknightwhosaysnope@reddit
I don’t think it’s a boomer thing, I think it’s an old people thing. As we get older and less relevant we have a desire to tell the world we were here and we mattered, that we made our mark and we want to be seen and recognized before the last of us were in the ground. Boomers only did it because they were old, and now we’re getting there.
I’m consoled by the idea that millennials are not far behind. Now get off my lawn.
23_sided@reddit
Perfectly put, and honestly I will probably be paraphrasing this comment in the years to come.
Plane-South2422@reddit
This is correct, but I think A lot of our generation held on to a lot of the boomer shit. What little history I see of our generation is that we all came from broken homes, walked ten miles to school, and wore Doc Martins and had blue hair. I was definitely free range, but I had two loving parents. My dad straight up told me about the "hot stoves" of life when I was twelve. Don't fuck the wrong people. Don't do the wrong drugs, and realize your actions now will have consequence in the years to come. I touched a fuck ton of those stoves, and I did have Docs and questionable hair. Years ago I was in rehab and we had a trivia night. I was paired up with a couple of guys who were also gen x. At one point a zoomer team, maybe young millennial team was talking shit about my team saying we were old and could only answer questions that were old. This is a rehab mind you so I told these kids "Maybe that is true, but statistically at least one of you will be dead before you reach out age and you won't be able to answer any questions. That is about as close as I get to get your ball out of my yard/Clint Eastwood shit. I have worked in restaurants and bars since eighty-nine. At work I am perpetually in the company of people much younger than myself. All I ever do is laugh. These kids are thinking the same shit I did when I was their age, the same shit I thought I was telling my parents. The same shit they said, felt with their parents. Down the line gen z is going to be having tge same conversation with whatever comes a generation or two after them. I didn't cone here to make a mark, my cultural relevance is irrelevant. I will be glad to be forgotten when I'm gone, just trying to enjoy this shit for the remainder of my limited coil.
erinna_nyc@reddit
This might be an unpopular opinion, but I find the whole “Gen X was feral” to be super annoying and disingenuous. My great grandparents hopped on whatever boat would take them out of Ireland or Eastern Europe in their late teens. They worked in mines and factories and rented beds to sleep on. I had to let myself into the house after school and made Steakums and Kraft Mac and cheese for my brothers. In just two generations it was a world of difference. If the next generation is a bit more coddled then great! This is progress!! Obviously there are issues to consider with screen time etc etc but all the kids I know seem great and I don’t know why we wouldn’t want anything but the sky for them
killroy1971@reddit
Yep.
StrictFinance2177@reddit
It's fun to call people younger than us, Boomer. Seriously, try it. Some complaining kid huffing and puffing, then you lay the smackdown by calling them a 'boomer'.
In all good things GenX, I just don't care. If I have something to bitch about, nobody is going to stop me. You'd think, limiting the things to bitch about would be the higher priority.
Former_Influence_904@reddit
No because we also adapt well. I still have to walk my boomer parents through tech stuff. Im fairly confident i can still learn and adapt and not be afraid of new tech and new concepts.
Dazzling-Bear3942@reddit
This subreddit has become insufferable. Every other post is someone trying to show how "bad ass" they are by talking down to younger people.
Ianthin1@reddit
That's the big problem IMO. So many "kids these days" posts and comments. "Ha Ha this 19yo didn't know who this obscure 80's performer that was only popular for 15 days was!" "Todays music sucks!" Even " Kids don't want to drive, the horror!"
I didn't like it when older folks ripped on things I liked, I'm sure none of us were thrilled with it. Why perpetuate that and not just sit back and let people live their lives? Want people to develop their own personality and independence like we did? Fucking stand back, shut up and let them.
Mysterious-Dealer649@reddit
Nailed it as far as I’m concerned. Like, who the fuck raised these under 30-35 year olds people are constantly bitching about? It was us, no fucking doubt about it. So we bitch about our parents and then take no responsibility for our kids? That’s beyond boomer shit right there. And yeah, I’d be a hell of a lot more worried about some teen that DID know about some pop culture bs from 40 years ago, it’s absurd it’s the equivalent of us knowing about some shit from the 40s, gtfo with that shit
Resident_Lion_@reddit
LeftoftheDial1970@reddit
The answer is both "yes" and "no". "Yes" because we'll one day be the oldest generation and need to be taken care of, just like boomers are currently experiencing. "No" because we won't feel as entitled or have accumulated the same amount of wealth as the boomers. In fact, anything the boomers will leave behind will likely end up in the bank accounts of the millennials and Gen Z's because we'll be too old to care or enjoy any of the inheritances. Boomers didn't pass on their parents' inheritances to us, which makes us even more indifferent and resilient when it comes to having money and things passed down to us.
ilikecats415@reddit
It's not a bragging right, but I think a lot of us deal with the trauma from our benign neglect, full blown neglect, and abuse through dark humor.
I definitely fall more into the parentified and benign neglect category. I sure as hell have done everything possible to not raise my kid like that. At 21, he's had a pretty charmed life and I am proud af that I have been able to remove so many obstacles and burdens from his life that I had to deal with. He is loved, cared for, known, and supported. I have zero interest in making his life harder just because I can or because my life was harder.
Cytwytever@reddit
If so, just shoot me now.
RogerMurdockCo-Pilot@reddit
Oh hell no! I go out of my way to be as un-Boomer as possible. The more I see them in public and their behaviors I can now understand why the Millennials hate them so much. They earn that angst
MaximumJones@reddit
This is reddit. Reddit is in NO WAY WHATSOEVER an accurate population sample.
First it is riddled with bots, more bots than actual users because reddit needs to drive up engagement to help its dismal stock price.
And second, reddit is currently the place where the outliers of society congregate (a place for negative people to find other negative people) so they get the illusion that their numbers are drastically higher than they actually are in real life.
Due to the hivemind and broken downvote system, the most extreme outlier groups are vastly over represented here.
aurelianwasrobbed@reddit
It's like Yelp. Barely anyone is going to go on to say they had a fine, satisfactory meal. They'll post if it was like above and beyond, but they'll also post if the salt shaker was too full...
aurelianwasrobbed@reddit
I was a helicoptered Xer child of Boomers. So I’m not doing that. I'm free-ranging my Alpha... except for the tracking watch ... never mind.
The-0mega-Man@reddit
We don't matter much to each other either.
hannygee42@reddit
I bought myself this bumper sticker feeling that it really captured my feelings good and bad!
nasti-moosebite@reddit
I hope not, but I agree there are a lot of pre-boom posts happening here.
Andrew: My God, are we gonna be like our parents? Claire: [teary] Not me...ever. Allison: It's unavoidable, it just happens. Claire: What happens? Allison: When you grow up, your heart dies... Bender: Who cares. Allison: I care. The Breakfast Club
JJQuantum@reddit
Not sure what you mean by how this compares with boomers, unless it’s the whining from old people. If that’s the case then yeah, there’s a bit of it.
MooseBlazer@reddit
I’m really not very familiar with the boomer “hate”,as my parents were from the greatest generation.
Between the 1930s and World War II, they had it pretty rough. They were good people who fought for this country. But they brought me up, kinda like a lot of your boomer parents. I was pretty much on my own, but I’m not pissed off about it. I don’t see the problem? It taught me Independence.
I have some boomer neighbors up and down my street, most of them are pretty decent older people, most retired by now . Maybe it’s because I live in a blue-collar neighborhood,…(no rich MF’s).They are actually friendly with the other neighbors. On the other hand, some of the younger people with children don’t seem to want to socialize with anybody, not even their own generation?
Ok_Schedule5017@reddit
My parents are boomers. My dad died in 2002. My dad was the youngest of 11; he was born in 1946 when his parents were 47 and 49. My grandparents born in 1897 and 1899. He grew up where you could see the ground through the floorboards in the home. My mom was the youngest of 2, the daughter of a SAHM and a letter carrier. They were a quiet modest family. They were born 1923, 1925 - some of my dad’s siblings were already born. No one taught me about money or anything about being an adult. I saw things growing up that I knew I’d never have my own kids feel. I don’t feel like I was abused or neglected even with being g able to look back and question why some things were allowed to happen. Looking back, there was some unhealed trauma in a a lot of people.
ONROSREPUS@reddit
I will not be like my parents, refuse to. I may bitch once in a while but I will not linger on it for life.
Tempus__Fuggit@reddit
I don't drive, watch tv, use Facebook, or smugly glut myself on the misery of the world, so, fervently undooming.
Xistential0ne@reddit
They’re battle scars. Something to brag about with others that went through similar shit.
SwerbX@reddit
My boomer parents were feral as well. Mom grew up dirt poor with depression era parents, like 6 brothers and sisters…survival of the fittest. We wouldn’t have gotten the hippie gen without them
MEB-Softworks@reddit
I have to laugh a bit at this, but with no disrespect. You see, my boomer parents did ignore me (dad traveled for work and mom was resentful and a recluse) so I was the quintessential Gen X kid (and tomboy to boot). Now…now they get all pissy with the attitude of “what do you mean you didn’t turn out ”expectation” like we wanted you to?” The switch flip and pearl clutching is what is maddening!