It feels weird
Posted by Woop_Pow@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 45 comments
I come here and feel kind of weird. It’s like I belong with a lot of the things people say here, but with a lot of other things, I don’t.
I may have a sense of what people are talking about, and I may even know exactly what they mean, but I don’t necessarily identify with all of it.
There’s no way I’m having an identity crisis at my age.
thewatchwinder@reddit
im a '72 model and i can say a ton on here seems like my parents (boomers) posted it. its the "early side of the arc (pre 1970). theyre older and more similar to the late boomers than to the Gen-x'ers discussed when we were kids in the 80's.
its simply that the world was a completely different place pre-70... while the flower children era of the boomers was taking off, you still had the super "normal" polo shirt and khaki shorts kids.
there's a new sub gen called "generation jones" that was coined to explain this group of people, but most of them havent seen it yet or started using it.its SUPER accurate in its description of them. i think its because our part of the generation got soo much attention. its like a big/little sibling thing...it is what it is. my logic is, its cool...whatever. sure they point fingers and are all...its too dark/ too noisy/ too this/get off my lawn...but theyre part of us as a group.
but i am 53 and NOT as old as they are. kinda like how the golden girls were "our age" (now) back then, and they were essentially like our grandparents. its just a different range.
Automatic-House-4011@reddit
As a '67 model, that's a pretty good analysis.
thewatchwinder@reddit
thank you
niff007@reddit
Also 72 born and feel the same. There is a noticeable difference btwn younger and older Gen X. I dont identify with the older. They sound like my parents. 🤷♂️
Woop_Pow@reddit (OP)
Wow, I’d never heard of "Generation Jones" before. Interesting.
thewatchwinder@reddit
its like...in my head...when the brady bunch went from black and white to color. the years it happened arent exactly the same, just the "feel" of it. i remember when i saw those episodes the first time. i saw all in reruns, cause they were off the air when i was a toddler, but...once you see how different the same show is. wow.
in my head, the 2 different periods of our generational arc are like that.
Ute-King@reddit
I’m 52 and I read some of the posts in the sub and think, “damn you people are old”
thewatchwinder@reddit
hahaha. i agree. its like listening to my parents sometimes.
ZebraBorgata@reddit
I’m a 68 and I can’t relate to a lot of content in the generation jones sub. GenX is absolutely more fitting.
thewatchwinder@reddit
thats cuspy...makes sense. my boss is a '69 release. shes more my side too
ZebraBorgata@reddit
My folks are silent gen.
thewatchwinder@reddit
cool
Icy-Astronaut-9994@reddit
68 as well.
In some ways I identify more Jones then here, but only because of hand me down clothes and toys.
Did you have a Cox Funny Car on a line at 4 y/o? Using Nitro Methane?
Or a Real Handgun?
70's were kinda wild.
Flaky-Debate-833@reddit
There is no possible way you could identify with all of it.....none of us do. My experience in the Midwest will share some similarities of someone who was in SoCal, but it won't be the same.
LayerNo3634@reddit
It's a lot of years. Those of us born in the 60's had a very different experience than those born in the late 70's or '80. It also has to do with siblings. Husband was the baby of his family born in 1965. He relates to his older siblings much more than Gen X.
Alternative-Law4626@reddit
I was an only child born in late 1964. Spent most of my time growing up with same age or younger kids. Not much contact with older kids. So, I think you are right it has a lot to do with who you spent time with.
bene_gesserit_mitch@reddit
The generation has its own gap. I identify more with 70s-80s, and when the 90s kids chime in, I meh out.
Taco_El_Paco@reddit
I tend to identify more with the Xennial crowd than the Boomer-lite end of the generation
BluesGraveller@reddit
My identity crisis happened from my teens through my 30's. I'm in my 50's now and got myself figured out. I'm an asshole.
rsint@reddit
Dennis Leary wrote our anthem.
slowtreme@reddit
lol. We are asshole!
NateNMaxsRobot@reddit
OMG. Exact same!
More_Law6245@reddit
At the end of the day you could have 100 people look at one thing and guarantee you will have 50 people see white and 50 people see black, we are all different because we all have our own biases and filters and that's okay because that is who you are. But the great thing about being this age is you now get to say "you can kiss my arse" because I don't care.
MrBones2k@reddit
Yes, and we all have belief systems as well, which many never challenge nor bother to consider: “Why do I believe this? Where did I learn this? Who told me this is the “right” thing? How come other people believe different things than I do? Does that make me right, and then wrong (or vice versa)?”
AbraxasMayhem@reddit
Bicentennial baby here, my question is why do you care? It bears zero impact on your life so, whatever. You don’t need to slap a label on yourself. The world does that enough for us as is.
Woop_Pow@reddit (OP)
I don’t care about the label itself. That wasn’t really my point. I imagine this is something that happens with every generation.
AbraxasMayhem@reddit
Bicentennial baby here, my question is why do you care? It bears zero impact on your life so, whatever. You don’t need to slap a label on yourself. The world does that enough for us as is.
It happens only if you allow it to happen.
gideonsean@reddit
There's nothing more gen-x than hearing some gen-x people taking about something and thinking, "yeah, I get it and I even identify with some of it, but I'm not much of a joiner..."
Left_Connection_8476@reddit
There's a lot I don't connect with about the Gen X experience. For example, I was raised by late Silent, not early Boomers. That's a huge gap in parenting style and values.
What I do connect with is the common thread of being dismissed as a relevant generation.
Woop_Pow@reddit (OP)
That makes sense to me. My parents were late Silent too, so I think that probably shaped a lot of what feels familiar but not fully “mine” in the Gen X experience. And yes, the “dismissed generation” part is one of the things I do recognize.
ophymirage@reddit
If you're GenX, the last thing you should be doing is giving a fuck about what anyone else thinks or says. 😉 go find your "whatever" again, grasshopper.
Woop_Pow@reddit (OP)
Fair enough. 😄
VolupVeVa@reddit
In my opinion, most of what feels "relatable" in our generational cohort has more to do with your social class growing up. I was raised in a mostly blue & white collar family and have more in common with those folks from all generations than I do with folks raised amongst, say, surgeons, lawyers and financiers.
Ivotedforher@reddit
What color collar do you think lawyers wear?
ophymirage@reddit
on wednesdays, they wear pink?
Ivotedforher@reddit
What color collar do you think lawyers wear?
VolupVeVa@reddit
White collar to me means bureaucrat/manager without necessarily having to have obtained a specific, highly specialized higher education (though ofc you can). Maybe my interpretation is wrong though.
SergeantChic@reddit
There's a pretty wide range. I was born in '79, so I'm on the younger end of Gen X, sometimes separated into about a 4-year "mini-generation" that I originally saw referred to as the Oregon Trail Generation (and then later "Xennials" because people have absolutely zero creativity). I can see eye to eye with some of the posts here and that's good enough.
mtcwby@reddit
We're not a monolith and have different experiences. I never felt neglected by my parents. They cared and paid attention but didn't hover and we had a lot of freedom. Life has also treated me well coming from humbling beginnings to a good place now.
Wellby@reddit
I’m a 1964 baby. 26 of my graduating class of 123 were the youngest of 5-8 children. Yes it was a catholic high. We are caught between baby boomer siblings and genx/genjones friends. There are a lot of events from the 60’s that my oldest brother and sisters were part of. The oldest 2 girls graduated in 69 and 70. My brother graduated in 72 and had a draft card but it was cancelled a week before he was to report.
MaximumJones@reddit
Think about all the different cliques in high school and college.
Did you fit in with all of the? If so you are an outlier. Most people did not.
The internet is no different.
For example, I completely identify with most people here, but the rest of Reddit can be a real cesspool of the worst human beings on the planet. I am quite thankful that I do not identify with most of Reddit. 😁
DadBodZawa@reddit
It's almost as if you lump 60 million people under one label you will actually end up with a broad range of life experiences, opinions and feelings.
Retoromano@reddit
We‘re not exactly a cohesive group. We were born over a span of 15 years, were exposed to drastically different realities depending on socioeconomic backgrounds, cultural differences, geography, etc. Don’t sweat it. Every time I see „we came home, when the streetlights turned on“, I think „Haha, we didn’t even have streetlights!“.
kapshus@reddit
Also the spread of Gen x is pretty wide. Then u have regional and cultural differences. Be surprised if many completely align with all posts.
renegade7717@reddit
ya but being individual is sorta great. There are many things I “get” but others i’m like nope that’s not me or my thing. All ok. Just have ur own identity- it’s better anyway 👍🏼