Generation X

January 18th, 2023

I am from Generation X, the generation that was born between 1965 and 1981.       

We didn’t and don’t use pronouns to describe what we are.  We rarely write or type that we are a “she,” a “he,” a “her,” a “they,” a “them,” a WHATEVER.   To be honest, we don’t care.  You are either a he, or a she in our world.  You are trans, straight, bisexual or gay.  You’re Polyamorous?  In other words, you like to sleep around and you tell the people that you sleep with that you are sleeping around.  We accept gay folks, straight folks and bi folks, but we don’t need to talk about it.  We’re not into rewarding you for things that you didn’t do.  We were punished for bad behavior and failing classes and we weren’t praised for our accomplishments unless it was a major accomplishment that was worthy of commending.  We did a good job at something because it was expected. Most of us were spanked at some point in our lives and guess what?  We lived to not talk about it.   We weren’t talked to like we were a little adult when we were children because no meant no, emphatically.  

Generation X consisted of listening to music that is angry and full of fury and yet we would smile while listening to it.  Many of us had a parent that asked if we were listening to devil worshipping music.  “It sounds awful.  All I hear is noise!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntcBfzJ89JQ  I wore steel toe boots, and watched my friends dive into mosh pits and end up leaving with broken noses.  I still wear steel toe boots.  Alice In Chains played on our five disc stereos and we would sing, “Bleed The Freak,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xQQzi0IdLY and “Welcome To The Terrordome.”  It was a time of goth, Type O Negative, pleather and movies named “Heathers.”  People were nice, but skeptical.  Axl Rose bellowed out our favorite expletives as we laughed in, “Get In The Ring.”  We weren’t worried about other people’s feelings, or hurting them.  Our parents didn’t care about what we wanted, unlike Generation Y and Z’s, they bought us what they could afford.  They wouldn’t take on another job just so we would have a new iPhone (there were no iPhone’s) to make videos on Tik Tok.  Most of us hate Tik Tok and phones came with cords and no cameras.  We rode our bikes from dawn til dusk and got dirty in “cricks.”  Games only existed in arcades unless we were lucky enough to have Atari.  

The generation that is “now” is an interesting crew.  I wish we could transport them back in time so that their shell would become hardened and they’d know what we knew.  But whose fault is it that you are the way that you are, Generation Y and Z?  It’s Generation X’s fault.  Generation X, why have you failed us?  Stop giving Generation Y and Z a medal when they’ve failed a class, or lost a volleyball game.  Stop saying you shouldn’t hit your kids.  Sure you should.  I turned out just fine.   Don’t hit them.  Ever.  Be the commander in chief that you are, but do it with love.  You don’t need to go to every single game they play in, trust me, they’ll be just fine if you don’t.  Generation X had parents that worked and couldn’t make it to every game. Allow them a sip of whiskey every now and then to put some hair on their chin and clear their sinuses.  That was an ode to my dear ol’ dad, Frank D. Thomas.  He told me if I wanted a beer, I could have half of one, I’d just have to ask.  He made it so that I didn’t feel the need to sneak around for alcohol, or even want it.

Generation X, a time and a place with a bunch of people that cracked jokes at your expense.  A bunch of kids who wore trench coats, Dr. Martens and at some point in their existence, had a mullet.  If we said we loved you, we didn’t say it because it’s what society taught us we must feel for our neighbor, but because we really did love you.  A tough bunch who still listens to Depeche Mode, REM and Iron Maiden, but loves Dave Matthews and Rusted Root just as much.  We’ll kick your ass into shape in no time if you let us.  Just tailgate with us at a Rage Against The Machine concert.  That saying, “I’ve got you,” well we don’t have you, but you’ll make it out alive just the same and you’ll be tougher for it.  Generation Y and Z, your fake eyelashes and your pronouns and your need to seem so enlightened is really annoying, but we were annoying to. All generations think they are enlightened, including my generation.  ‘Cause, I’m talking bout my generation.’  Why don’t you all just fa-fa-fade away….https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjN5uHRIcjM  

Truth is, I feel sorry for your generation(s.) So many of you are confused in these times and that’s something that Generation X didn’t feel too much of back in the day.  We knew who we were and we didn’t have social media to entice us into thinking, or believing something that is utter bullshit.  In the end, brothers and sisters, we’ll hold our hands out to you when you need us so, I digress, we do got you.  If you need us.    

With candor, sarcasm, skepticism and love,

 most of Generation X.

“For Xers, there’s one silver lining in all this. From everything we know about them, they’re savvy, skeptical and self-reliant; they’re not into preening or pampering, and they just might not give much of a hoot what others think of them. Or whether others think of them at all.”  Paul Taylor-Generation X: America’s Neglected ‘Middle Child.’