Lately, you hear a lot about our Baby Boomers. Those in our population born between 1946 and 1964. And of course, we hear a ton about our Millennial population. Those born between 1981 – 1996. But, what about the Generation X group? Those of us born between 1965 and 1980. Generation X has the “been there, done that” mentality over our Millennial’s. We started the video game era. We suffered through the dial-up internet era. AOL discs anyone?
Generation X had the best and worst of what the Baby Boomers and the Millennial’s had. We were able to play outside without too much fear that we would be kidnapped. We rode our bikes without helmets. The streetlights were our curfew. We carried our boomboxes around like we were the bomb. Listening to Michael Jackson and Madonna. Some of our fashion choices we shook our heads at, but, they are coming back in style now. Ok, our aerosol hairspray to gain the highest bangs probably destroyed the ozone layer. I apologize thoroughly for that, from the bottom of my heart! But, our bangs and hair did look GREAT!
My Junior Year picture.
So, while Generation X doesn’t get a whole lot of recognition, I’m here to do that! We are probably the most adaptable generation. Started our education doing our research in the library and ended up being able to research online. We learned to fix things when they were broken by reading a book, but, now know that YouTube is the best thing ever for learning how to fix broken things. I’ve learned how to change my windshield wipers and brake lights from YouTube. As well as fixing my oven and microwave oven. Who needs a repairman???
Baby Boomers had the best typewriters, but, to fix a mistake? Ugh! Our electronic typewriters were fantastic, but, I love having spell correct on my computer! Road trip? Break out the maps in our day! Now, log into Waze and you’re good to go! Generation X learned everything the hard way. By trial and error. But, we wouldn’t have it any other way! It’s shaped us into the leaders we are now. We may not have the biggest population, but, we are definitely the more independent generation.
Technology? We gots that in the bag yo! While the millennial’s grew up with a device glued to their hand? 54 percent of Gen X and 56 percent of millennial’s reported that they are digitally savvy. Research by Nielsen confirms this finding. Revealing that Gen X is the most connected generation. Nielsen research found that Gen Xers use social media 40 minutes more each week than millennial’s. They were also more likely than millennial’s to stay on their phones at the dinner table and spend more time on every type of device — phone, computer, or tablet. Ok, so… We can’t really yell at our kids for this. They are following our unfortunate example!
In the workplace, Generation X are the most overlooked for promotion and have been the slowest to advance. It’s shown that the Generation X leaders on average had only 1.2 promotions in the past 5 years. This is significantly lower than our younger millennial counterparts at 1.6 promotions and our senior baby boomers at 1.4 promotions during the same period of time. In the workplace, regardless of the years in the workforce that Baby Boomers have, Generation X, I feel is the most experienced and qualified for leadership positions. Because we are so adaptable. Our younger minds were shaped by old-fashioned learning to technology and we learn much easier than our older and younger counterparts.
Read about my job search journey last year. As a member of Generation X, my lack of success in finding a job was very frustrating. Primarily because I KNEW I could do the job. Put me in front of something and show me the ins and outs and I got it down.
What do you think Generation X is overlooked for? Why are we experiencing the middle child syndrome when we are part of two generations? Comment below or share on my Facebook page!
As a gen xer, I love to read a wide range of books, from classics to young adult. If you’re the same, make sure to check out my book, Cavern Cove! Click the image to be taken to Amazon. It is also available at Barnes and Noble for your Nook and in Paperback! It’s also available on iBooks!
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Oh my gosh! I was born in 1980 and this rant so true! The hairspray, the library, etc… I am an 8th grade teacher and my students always ask me how we managed without cell phones. I was like it wasn’t even a thought. You just made sure you had 35 cents to make a phone call at the pay phone. They are like what?!?! So funny! I loved this post! One of my favorite reads!
I agree with all of this. My mother told my brother and I to go out and ride our bikes and not come home until the street lights came on,. We not only survived, we thrived. Oh and my fashion was the bomb!
Thanks, so much for the explanation. As a Baby Boomer, I was never really able to explain Gen X. But your post makes so much sense. You’re right in saying Gen X is the generation that should be leaders. And you’re also right that making corrections on a typewriter was awful!
Rebecca Forstadt Olkowski recently posted…What is Means to be an American – Make Our Country Proud Again