Down the Rabbit Hole

Generation X'er Here....

30 Day Blogging Challenge
PROMPT November 6th
I have another link for you all today:
http://www.wmfc.org/uploads/GenerationalDifferencesChart.pdf
What parts of the chart did you find to be accurate and which did you find issue with? Anything you related strongly to? Is a chart like this useful, or does it rely too heavily on stereotypes?

Until I visited the link, I think it had barely registered with me that I was part of the Gen X generation. Once again, I come away from the prompt feeling more educated on some matters than I did before. I suppose I should come out from under my rock more often. There was a lot to unpack here and I feel oddly overwhelmed honestly. I will try to tackle the prompt none the less.

Now, feeling somewhat of a newly-minted X'er, I am forced to acknowledge that most of the generational markers for my age bracket, actually do fit. I remember when my mother shrugged off her mantle of "housewife" and took a job outside the home. No matter that it was a starting retail position in a touristy boutique called, "It's Raining Cats and Dogs", where she sold mugs, pillow and ornaments merrily festooned with..you guessed it...various images of cats and dogs. She was still one of the very first Mom's in my circle of friends to do that. I remember they all asked me about it with a wide-eyed reverence, as if she'd suddenly invented something groundbreaking. I would remind them, somewhat caustically, that she "just sold dog stuff in a gift shop", not really understanding why it all embarrassed me somehow.

The retail job was only the beginning. She went back to school and found her groove pursuing women's studies. Suddenly our home was invaded by books with titles like, "Women who Run with the Wolves" and conversations around our dinner table took on a tone of unnecessary defiance. My father, who had readily encouraged my mother's surge of interest and independence, found himself suddenly and unfairly vilified for being a man. I think my mother fancied herself as something of a pioneer...just several decades too late.

Around the time my friends' mothers began going back to work, my parents were divorcing - something they were also "first at" among my peers. Before long, most of us were "latchkey kids", deposited by rambling school buses to the stoops of quiet, empty homes. By the time I was going off to college, my parents had two separate residences to which we all had keys to let ourselves into. My friends' families started going through similar transitions and in time, my parent's failed to seem like the negative trendsetters I felt they'd been. They were younger than most and I think they just came to all milestones a bit quicker as a result.

I think I would agree that my generation are naturally more pragmatic and self-reliant than the Boomers that came before. I think most of us grew up having to learn to take care of ourselves more. I can see how all those kids letting themselves into empty homes, forced to cook their own Hungry Man dinners, must have inspired a higher level of independence. The disharmony in my household inspired me to "get the hell outta dodge". Going away to college wasn't merely a suggestion, the real question had become "how far away can I actually get?". I ended up at a school four hours away, just far enough to make the case I could stay put on the weekends instead of coming home with a duffel of laundry. Luckily I was with all my fellow Gen X's and most of all could not only do our own laundry, but we could also cook our own meals.

The really sad thing about the link, the really unfortunate distinction for me, is that we are first generation not expected to do a well as our parents. That is somewhat crushing, given my current state of affairs. Maybe, at least, our generation will end up being credited with helping to solve the energy crisis? Wait, what? That one is already going to the Millennials? Crap.