10 Ways To Know if you are Gen-X
- You know what a latch-key kid is. You probably were one.
- You can name at least 5 kiddie horror movies in addition to Rosemary’s Baby that all came out while you were a kid.
- You are certain Obama is a Gen-X’er.
- You know at least 5 people who were laid off in the last month.
- Friends your age call you an optimist because you don’t believe in Peak Oil or other doomsday scenarios.
- You shot Coca-Cola out your nose the first time you saw a “Baby on Board” sign in the back of a car
- You think the designation “Generation X” is stupid.
- You’ve had more jobs in the last 5 years than your parents had in their lifetimes.
- You don’t trust your kid’s teachers, especially if they are over 50 years old.
- You remember riding in a car at age 6 without at booster seat!
What term would you use if not generation X (which is a very strange term. does it come from the x files?). i love the coca cola out of your nose… mom
I think the author Doug Coupland popularized the term “Generation X” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X). The authors Strauss and Howe called us simply the 13th Generation (because according to their system we were the 13th distinct American generation). The Baby Bust is another name that was kicked around. The point of not liking the name “Generation X” is that we, as a generation, don’t really go for such categorizations. As staunch individualists we have trouble seeing any value in being a group. I think this is changing as we age and we now long for a cohesive community but, for the most part, are unsure how to achieve it.
You hit the nail on the head with this one. #2 is my favorite:
The Omen
The Exorcist
Firestarter
Children of the Corn
Carrie
I think you can also add movies that aren’t horror films where the children are portrayed in a devilish manner (i.e. Little Darlings, Meatballs, Bad News Bears).
-www.generationXpert.com
is the web one way to achieve a larger community? so, it works to have community small, i.e., waldorf, and then big, such as the world wide web. other kinds of communities between those two. love, mom
Very impressive site – did you design it yourself? With what? PHP? Ajax?
Anyway, let me see…
You know what a latch-key kid is.
Only because you told us in class.
You can name at least 5 kiddie horror movies in addition to Rosemary’s Baby that all came out while you were a kid.
Nope.
You are certain Obama is a Gen-X’er.
I think he is. But I'm not sure. He could be a boomer.
You know at least 5 people who were laid off in the last month.
Fortunately, no.
Friends your age call you an optimist because you don’t believe in Peak Oil or other doomsday scenarios.
What's peak oil?
You shot Coca-Cola out your nose the first time you saw a “Baby on Board” sign in the back of a car.
I'm not a Coke fan.
@Dave – The site is WordPress, and I modified a template to create the design. Peak oil is the theory that we have reached the peak production point for petroleum. That means that from now on it will be more difficult to get oil out of the ground and the world-wide supply will dimish rapidly. It's a controversial theory, and you can read more about it at the Wikipedia entry.
Your games site looks cool. My 12 year-old (also a Waldorf Kid) loves games. Would they be appropriate for his age?
—the first one was too long, apparently. Continuing—
You think the designation “Generation X” is stupid.
I've heard the Millenials called "Generation Y", which is worse. What's the next generation? ZX? Then what? Go Greek. Generation Alpha?
You’ve had more jobs in the last 5 years than your parents had in their lifetimes.
I've had none.
You don’t trust your kid’s teachers, especially if they are over 50 years old.
I don't have a kid.
You remember riding in a car at age 6 without at booster seat!
I don't recall ever using a booster saet.
So, no, I guess I'm not a Gen-X'er.
Dave.
@Dave – Yeah, the name Gen Y is silly. Shows that people are missing the point if they think Millennials are just Gen X + 1. And you are definitely not an X'er!
You know what a latch-key kid is. You probably were one.
————-
Many of my friends were latchkey kids, but I (technically) wasn't. My mom (Boomer) worked, and thus was almost never around (and when she was, her head still wasn't). My dad (Silent) ran a company out of our house, so he was physically present even though I never had his attention. I never had to come home to an empty, dark house like the latchkey kids, but I understand their loneliness all too well.
You can name at least 5 kiddie horror movies in addition to Rosemary’s Baby that all came out while you were a kid.
————–
I can only think of four, but that's still a lot.
You are certain Obama is a Gen-X’er.
—————————————————
Here's the thing…Obama isn't an X-er. Oh sure, he had a chaotic childhood and has some MAJOR, World-Class daddy issues. However, he's also one of the most ideological Presidents we've had in a long time. I find it instructive to pay more attention to what politicians do than what they say. Obama talks a pretty good line, but his actions have been pure Boomer over-reaching and idealistic paralysis all the way. He's turned out to be much more of a Hoover than an FDR (or Buchanan than Lincoln). It's interesting to note that Obama's campaign and administration are BIG fans of generational theory, and use it extensively to spin their message to the American people.
Also, be careful about using Strauss & Howe's bracket years for Gen-X uncritically. Most people born in 1961 consider themselves Boomers and act like Boomers. Generational cohorts are defined by shared experience during key periods of life. That's why, as a general rule, I draw the line for the start of Gen-X at 1962-63. If you graduated from high school before the Reagan administration, you are NOT a Gen-Xer.
You know at least 5 people who were laid off in the last month.
———
True. A lot more than five, actually.
Friends your age call you an optimist because you don’t believe in Peak Oil or other doomsday scenarios.
You shot Coca-Cola out your nose the first time you saw a “Baby on Board” sign in the back of a car
———-
Nah. I just thought, "why advertise?"
You think the designation “Generation X” is stupid.
————-
I think it's demeaning, but never stupid.
You’ve had more jobs in the last 5 years than your parents had in their lifetimes.
————
Nope. I've had one, and as a senior manager no less.
You don’t trust your kid’s teachers, especially if they are over 50 years old.
———–
Absolutely true. But more importantly, I don't trust the institution of public education…PERIOD. It's inherently corrupt.
You remember riding in a car at age 6 without at booster seat!
————
We had an old station wagon and my dad would put my sister and I in the back with the dog with the middle seat folded down. That left a giant metal plane for us to slide around on when he took corners.
[I was born in 1968]
I know that Obama is X. He's opposed to Boomers. The rest I'm really too young to be sure. I did see Damien trilogy, Carrie but I was already in my twenties in the 2000's when I found the movies. I saw Ordinary People recently.
I was born in 1979.