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This is one of the reasons why I consider we GenXers to be very independent. We realized that NO ONE else was going to take care of us. So we did what we had to do, but we made it work for us in the long run.
My post-college experience was a little different from yours, though. When I graduated in the early 90s, my neck of the woods was in a pretty deep recession. Jobs weren't exactly plentiful, though I was always able to get a job. The economy did around by the mid 90s, and then we entered the next boom.
That's where I have two minds about it. I think in the end the Xers trumped the bbs. In that, most of you found a way to live your life and not be slaves to work and from what I can see, in my area, Xers will eventually get to retire. Yet, I feel guys were jipped out of the highs the bbs hoarded. It appears like the bbs had more "success", because you can calculate who had the bigger house (with money), but can't put a number on things like who had a better retirement.
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As a gen x'er, I think we are independent, flexible, realist survivors. No one paid much attention to us, we always knew we were on our own, and we quietly forged our own path. We're going to be the generation that re-writes the rules about retirement and work/life balance. We're going to find new solutions because we have to. We would never compete with Boomers because there is no way we'd ever want what they have.
As a gen x'er, I think we are independent, flexible, realist survivors. No one paid much attention to us, we always knew we were on our own, and we quietly forged our own path. We're going to be the generation that re-writes the rules about retirement and work/life balance. We're going to find new solutions because we have to. We would never compete with Boomers because there is no way we'd ever want what they have.
I'm not trying to be funny, but how old where you when you had computers? My mom is a gen Xer and she always used a type writer and had to take a course in computers as an adult.
As a gen Xer, I first started programming in 4th grade when I was 10 (~1983). By 6th grade, I was programming on a C-64 in machine code using peeks and pokes. At 14, I had my first IBM XT clone that I had built from parts. I had a high school typing class, but I also had English classes that required word processed papers. For the most part, the rest of the world had not caught up to what Gen X kids were doing and was still very analog.
But my experience and your mom's experience were both typical ones for Gen Xers, it all depend on where you grew up and what your family could afford.
That's where I have two minds about it. I think in the end the Xers trumped the bbs. In that, most of you found a way to live your life and not be slaves to work and from what I can see, in my area, Xers will eventually get to retire.
That's consider the generational hallmark of Gen X, Work-Life balance.
One issue is that, unfortunately, every generation has a small number of doormats who ruin it for the rest of us who want to stand up for ourselves, and want a better quality of life (or at least the same quality of life) as past generations. Especially at performance evaluations, all we ever hear is "Bill is here at 6 AM every morning, 7 days a week, including most holidays, he never expects to use his vacation time, and he never expects any extra compensation. Why can't you do the same?" And that pressures everyone else into being a doormat.
The other issue is that generations aren't as neatly defined as the media makes it out to be. I was born in 1979. What generation am I? In some ways, I'm generation X, in some ways, I'm a millennial.
One issue is that, unfortunately, every generation has a small number of doormats who ruin it for the rest of us who want to stand up for ourselves, and want a better quality of life (or at least the same quality of life) as past generations. Especially at performance evaluations, all we ever hear is "Bill is here at 6 AM every morning, 7 days a week, including most holidays, he never expects to use his vacation time, and he never expects any extra compensation. Why can't you do the same?" And that pressures everyone else into being a doormat.
The other issue is that generations aren't as neatly defined as the media makes it out to be. I was born in 1979. What generation am I? In some ways, I'm generation X, in some ways, I'm a millennial.
That's probably the biggest problem with all generations. It's hard to define them. Secondly, the behavior that defines a generation is usually in the middle, the first borns of a gen tend favor the previous gen and the late borns of a gen favor the next gen.
The other issue is that generations aren't as neatly defined as the media makes it out to be. I was born in 1979. What generation am I? In some ways, I'm generation X, in some ways, I'm a millennial.
I was thinking just the same thing with my earlier posts. Being born on the last day of the bicentennial year of 1976, I feel like I belong to both. A long time ago, I remember reading a newspaper article heralding the coming of "Generation Y" -- the first time I'd ever seen the term -- and it (we) were people born from the mid-'90s to the mid-'80s; 1974-1984, I think. Straddling Gen X and the Millennials. These days, though, the media seem to almost always use Gen Y as a synonym for the Millennials.
I'd much prefer shorter generational groups which overlap with others to some extent, such as the above Gen Y and also "Generation Jones", which is (I think) the tail end of the baby boomers and the beginning of Gen X, mid-1950s to early 1960s.
The strictly-defined blocks of ~20 years may be good enough when examining history, particularly when dividing lines are clear in retrospect, but for current social trends they really don't work at all. They end up dividing people who would ordinarily see themselves as allies.
I suspect that the next big divider will be people who can remember the pre-9/11/2001 world and people who can't. But there just isn't any divider at all in the mid-'80s which would justify the 1982 X/Millennial line.
I was thinking just the same thing with my earlier posts. Being born on the last day of the bicentennial year of 1976, I feel like I belong to both. A long time ago, I remember reading a newspaper article heralding the coming of "Generation Y" -- the first time I'd ever seen the term -- and it (we) were people born from the mid-'90s to the mid-'80s; 1974-1984, I think. Straddling Gen X and the Millennials. These days, though, the media seem to almost always use Gen Y as a synonym for the Millennials.
I'd much prefer shorter generational groups which overlap with others to some extent, such as the above Gen Y and also "Generation Jones", which is (I think) the tail end of the baby boomers and the beginning of Gen X, mid-1950s to early 1960s.
The strictly-defined blocks of ~20 years may be good enough when examining history, particularly when dividing lines are clear in retrospect, but for current social trends they really don't work at all. They end up dividing people who would ordinarily see themselves as allies.
I suspect that the next big divider will be people who can remember the pre-9/11/2001 world and people who can't. But there just isn't any divider at all in the mid-'80s which would justify the 1982 X/Millennial line.
Well, 9/11 is a weird example, because it happened at the beginning of the millennium. So, the divide was going to happen around that point anyway. 2025, will be interesting. At that will be their time. I want to see what opportunities they have. What is their gen called?
You have to cut off the generations at some point. We'd all be Generation X until 9/11. Part of the reasons, we also don't see the differing is Xers were mostly the babys of bbs, millennials are not the children of Xers for the most part.
As a gen Xer, I first started programming in 4th grade when I was 10 (~1983). By 6th grade, I was programming on a C-64 in machine code using peeks and pokes. At 14, I had my first IBM XT clone that I had built from parts. I had a high school typing class, but I also had English classes that required word processed papers. For the most part, the rest of the world had not caught up to what Gen X kids were doing and was still very analog.
But my experience and your mom's experience were both typical ones for Gen Xers, it all depend on where you grew up and what your family could afford.
Interesting to see so much variation in computer exposure for Gen Xers. I'm 42, and was placed in front of a computer from as early as I can remember. I was in a gifted program in elementary school in the late '70s that had several TRS-80s and Apple II computers. I remember being taught BASIC programming in that program. I also had a neighbor that had an Apple IIe in their home. I was over there often playing Space Invaders and very rudimentary adventure games (with commands like "go door"), and ELIZA lol.
In junior high, my school had a computer lab. In high school I had a C64 and dabbled in programming on that. I had a friend/classmate who was an early "hacker" who would download pirated games over the 1200 baud modem. In the early 90's my community college had a lab of Apple Macs which I was very comfortable using. In the mid-90's, I roomed with two mechanical engineering majors who I helped build 2 high-end (for the time) PCs.
Now, I still feel very comfortable in a time of smartphones, iPads, kindles, etc, even though I am now "old". But I have a friend who is 47, and he is totally clueless about all gadgets. He struggles to use a smartphone, has no idea what to do with his PC expect browse the internet (on IE of course). He still gets a newspaper delivered every day. He writes checks and doesnt use online banking. We are only 5 years apart and it feels like GENERATIONS....
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