Let's talk about gen X because no other bugger does.

[Mach3]

Hail fellow X'ers.

We are never mentioned. It's always Boomers, Millennials or gen Z.

Why the fuck not?

We definitely exist, we were very cool people.

I have such good memories of my 70's childhood and teenage years in the 80's.

And all the goodness of the late 80s and early 90s.

It did happen didn't it?

@EricTheGardener name checks 3 of the best bands EVA! (Mondays, Stones, Primal Scream)

Thank you. Claiming ‘most’ were happy is a stretch. The 70s was a time of economic strife, and electricity cuts etc. post war period of real hardship. The idea it was just free rolling and wonderful is not entirely the full picture.

I loathe this labelling of generations but I'm in this group and yes, it was a great time to be born!

Same year as me. That was awful, wasn't it? Didn't know anything about it til we got home.

I was a really fucked up teen with MH issues (so before my time!). There was that book 'Prozac Nation' by Elizabeth Wurtzel, and some movies I think. But nothing in the way of understanding and 'open conversations' about MH/ little educational videos for primary schools.

On the plus side, the music was good, raving on E was amazing, and it was very easy to shoplift as there weren't security tags yet. (We called it sharking, and pregnancy tests in Boots were a particular target!)

That was my point, really. Although not a point that was meant to be taken seriously. I'm 55. I don't feel 55 etc.

Is that you Lynn?
You sound like my sis (also middle child) 😂

I was born in 1964.....am I a boomer or gen x. From the posts I definitely feel like a gen x.

This whole thread is about gen x getting validation 😂

I always forget what I am and have to look it up. Isn't it a marketing tool for target marketing, like the A1 B stuff? I don't like to label myself and can be slightly age fluid depending on circumstances 😃

I think the real loss for those who came along later (apart from having an Internet free existence in their formative years) was missing out on tribal youth counter culture. That sense of belonging. Experimenting with bands and styles (mostly) without consequence. Plus we all had the same wider cultural touch points as there wasn't obscure corners of the web to get siloed into.

Awesome growing up in the 70's and 80's, long hot Summers filled with waterfights, school discos/sneaking in to nightclubs, parents never knew where we were, rode everywhere on our bikes, had the best bunch of friends, probably thought we were the Red Hand Gang most of the time.

I too have said to {now adult} DS when he was a teen ''I really don't want to know what you get up- tell me when you are an adult''.....luckily he was a sensible {Ish} teen...nothing to frighten the horses {or else he isn't telling me}!

90's drugs were phenomenal.

A drugs project who analyses stuff says it's nothing like the 1990's.

My childhood was bikes, staying out all day, tv occasionally and lots of books. I easily got through the 6 books a week the library allowed. parents never knew where we were. Walked to primary school with neighbourhood kids.. I don’t think my mum ever walked me to school or knew where I was if I wasn’t at home.
We were independent and resilient. I’d love to know how other gen x’ers are raising their kids.
Are we raising cool gen z kids?

We’re the Martha’s of the current world. Under the radar and hard as nails - let’s keep it that way.

On a nostalgia trip, we were the last generation to get the good dope that didn’t send you loopy. God, I miss getting stoned and giggly. Wouldn’t touch the mind bending weed out there now.

I always mention gen X! I'm a geriatric millennial and I'm very aware that all the cool aspects of my youth were basically me clinging on to the coat tails of generation X before me, clutching my fake ID. And now I'm middle aged, it feels as if gen X has got here already and tried to sort some of the shit stuff out a bit, like menopause advocacy etc. I think of you as the really cool, brave older sister.

The freedom we had was wonderful {the odd flasher aside}..Out all day and phones were landlines and Dad would bellow if they were used before 6pm as it was more expensive before 6pm.

There is someone who has kept a 1990's strain going... {Allegedly}

@oakleaffyoh God the flashers. I saw 3 in my life. And a streaker.
The best thing was how easy it was to bunk a day off school. We used to skive school and travel up to London for the day instead.

I found myself trying on a shortish dress, the other day, over my (very current) wide leg palazzo jeans. Not gonna lie. It felt gooood.

I had the good fortune to be invited to an 80s party last year.
I had a magnificent evening dressed up in a ra-ra skirt, lace leggings and a black mesh top. I channeled ‘Madonna’ big time. Neon hair band, loads of pearl necklaces. (I’m 57 🤣)

🤣🤣 I just told my tail end boomer husband about this thread and before I could finish, he went on a rant similar to yours, then was surprised that the mood had changed. I pointed out that this is exactly what he does when he gets with his friend and reminisces, then told him about your post and the response. He laughed and said fair enough, but the fact that you’re both tail end boomers made me chuckle. The bitterness is strong here 🤣🤣

'Scuse me - as a '65 her I didn't eat bland food - well-travelled 'greatest gen' parents who grew/cooked everything from scratch!
I had the best childhood.

Funny timing for me to come across this thread, as I was talking to my mum about this yesterday!

Neither of us feel like we fit into one generation.
She was born in 1963, just at the tail end of the boomer generation and the start of Gen X. I was born in 1997, so end of the millennials, start of Gen Z.

My mum was saying how she’ll meet people born the same year as her/a couple of years before but cannot relate to their teenage years, childhood toys and memories etc and has more in common with the younger Gen X.
I feel the same, I sometimes have no idea what my cousin (born in 2000) is talking about half the time in regards to tv shows she used to watch, toys she had, the music she listened to. I seem to relate more to my other cousin who was born in 1994.

We did wonder whether your class/where you live/your family circumstances plays a part in this.
We both grew up on council estates, where things seemed to be a little more “behind the times” and perhaps slightly more care-free. My younger cousin was shocked when I told her that I spent a large part of my teenage years drinking a bottle of Strongbow in the park playing 90s trance anthems out loud from a Sony Ericsson. She thought “Sony Ericsson” was a football player… She even laughed at the concept of a walkman😂
Her face was a picture when my mum told her that I used to whinge when she needed to use the phone and would have to kick me off my online games…