X is for Generation X

I'm a member of Generation X, and I've always thought that belonging to this generation could be a serious blow to your self-esteem if you believed the majority of what the media had to say about it.

Supposedly, Generation X includes anyone born between 1965 and 1980. When I did a google search for Gen X, the main words that came up to describe us were "ignored," "forgotten," and, of course, "slackers."

Gen Xers were also described as nothing more than the people who came after the Baby Boomers, as if we were the younger siblings who could never quite measure up. Even the name is pretty sad compared to the far more colorful Boomers and Millennials. Generation X sounds like a bunch of clones or zombies from a science fiction movie.

When people do attempt to provide some sort of identity for the Gen Xers, it's never flattering. I saw this article from the 1990s, and had to laugh at this description of the Generation X stereotype:

"cynical, hopeless, frustrated and unmotivated slackers who wear grunge clothing, listen to alternative music and still live at home because they cannot get real jobs."

Well, okay then.

Except for the grunge and alternative music, which wasn't a negative, I never knew anyone who fit this ridiculous stereotype. The people I knew were going to school and working full-time jobs, and trying to make their way in the world just like young adults of every generation. I never knew any of these hopeless basement dwellers who played video games instead of working, and supposedly defined my generation.

Really I think the whole generation thing is silly anyway, and I wonder why it ever got started, and who came up with these names in the first place.

But even if I do find it silly, I'm glad for the Generation X label in this case, as I couldn't think of a single X word to write about for this post. I'm grateful to my sister for suggesting Gen X, and I'm very glad to be done with this letter.

Two more to go! :)