Some Reasons Why Gen-Xers Don't Care | Opinion Piece/Commentary
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
- I mentioned in my video on the perplexity of us being called "The Slacker Generation" that one typical Gen-X stereotype is that we don't care. Well, in this video, I'm giving you some reasons why some of us may not give a f*ck. I'm sure there are some reasons I may not have mentioned, but I answer the question, at least in part, why some of us Gen-Xers just don't care.
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Picture and Video credits are included in the video
The link to the Gen-X Facebook influencers I mentioned in text in the video - / 280571835105166
We care a lot.. we just don't care about stupid petty crap and drama..
Very true.
Gen-Xers care about and work hard on things they care about, not necessarily things other people care about.
Exactly! People don't seem to get that, though. The actions of a lot of folks today are based on what others think of them.
Me: Combat Vet - No family, No kids, No Friends Left, No cares left - trust me, my apathy and indifference to you - is a blessing.
Thank you for your service!
Thank for your service
Proud Gen-X'er over here. I loathe this current snowflake culture.
So do I. It's gotten old.
@@Gen_X_Rosey 💯
And the entitlement too!
For a lot of us it wasn't even that our parents didn't care, we just didn't want to add to the shit they were already dealing with! so as always we just hid everything away and got on with it as best we could
Yeah, that's true.
As a GenXer, I’ve been there! Home was rough, school was rough and life in general was rough. But it taught us to appreciate the good moments which could seem all too few and far between back then!
You're right about that, hon. Those times were hard for so many of us. Many of us Xers tend to look back with rose-colored glasses because of our movies, music, and whatever pop culture we had back then. But many of us trudged through hell back in those days. Because of that, drama and petty internet bullshit are some of the things up with which I refuse to put!
Thank you for commenting, love!
@@Gen_X_Rosey You’re welcome!😎
X, in mathematics, means UNKNOWN. Y’all have no clue what we’re capable of.
Damn straight! Thank you so much for commenting!
💯
It has to be a very good reason for us to care. We spent so much time just surviving and adults kept letting us down. We made our own families from our friend groups. But yeah,most of us are definitely just tired.
Yes! We had to create families from our friend groups just to feel like we had a support system. Thank you so much for commenting!
We care but we pick our battles carefully.
True. Over the years, we've learned whether or not something is worth the time.
You touched on something interesting. As Gen X we were told not to show any emotions, and as a result we buried everything. As adults members of Gen X created bands like Slipknot, Disturbed, Godsmack, Korn, Papa Roach etc. which were very rage filled bands. We then had both the boomers and millennials tell us the music was to "emo" so basically we were told again not to have emotions.
Yep! And now, those bands were seen as "too whiney". It's exhausting. Thank you for watching and commenting!
Deftones 4 EVA
Thank you for bringing up the bullying. I suffered for years from that. When 90's grune discussed this, it resonated. Now parents go out of their well to spare their kids this. No one helped us and we got grief for even bringing it up. Dad would say life isn't fair. You need to get used to it. So high school was pure hell. No one cared about us, so we stopped caring ourselves. We picj and choose what to give a flip about.
Yes, exactly! In my senior year, I tried to "unalive" myself in my first-period class. It took a while for the kids to notice I was popping pills one by one. It took a few of them to wrestle them out of my hand. I asked them, "Why do y'all care now?" My mom told me that if I had told her I was being bullied that badly, she'd have transferred me to a private school.
After that, I became more of a goth. Never smiled, wore all black with blood red lipstick. Hated everyone. Never spoke to people at school. They never bullied me again, but it was too little too late by then. Ongoing since 2nd or 3rd grade. I talked about it in another video, but it was bad. So, now, I DGAF anymore. It's easier that way.
When I tell my kids, I worked at a sawmill when I was 12 over summer vacation. They think I'm exaggerating. Oh yes, Child labor laws existed, "In theory". Taught me that at 12 years old, if you can work like an adult, you sill get paid like a kid. But at 14 when you can outwork an adult you can get a dollar more an hour, still not as good as everyone else got. At 47, I treat my employees better, and pay them in keeping.
Or, we complained about being bullied to our parents and schools and they didn't care about our problems then. F-em.
Yeah, you were right. My mom cared more than I gave her credit for. No one else, did though. Least of all, the damned teachers and other school administrators.
@@Gen_X_Rosey I'm glad your mother cared at all.
@@personnesenki4521 So am I. It helped to have even a little bit of a support group. Even if it was my mom and my, like, two friends.
My parents and the teachers said you have to figure out your problems yourself, they did not care about the bullying I got.
I was told, "Just ignore them." Yeah, that helped a whole lot.
As to the "not caring". Another reason we don't care? Because it was DRILLED in to us as kids by our parents. "Why do you care what they think? Who are they to you? They don't like you screw them. Well now you know who your real friends are. Just don't pay attention to it. If you ignore it, it will stop. If you cry they will just keep doing it." For the most part, unless it got REALLY bad, our parents didn't go to the teacher or other school staff about it. We just had to "tuff it out, in 5 months you'll be out of school and maybe won't have classes with them next year".
YES!!! Oh my gosh, that is so true!!! I didn't raise my kids like that. For them, the bullying got so bad, I pulled them out of school after 6th and 8th Grades and homeschooled them. Even when the bullying was taken to the teachers, the vice principal, the principal, and other school administrators, nothing was ever done about it. After that, they gained some confidence and are very intelligent.
Even with that, though, I have to admit that NOT caring or giving a f*ck is very freeing. It's easier. It eases your mind that what another person thinks of you is irrelevant in the big scheme of things. When what this bitter person says to you can go through ear and out the other, or you read it and it goes into one part of your brain and immediately seeps away, it's then that not caring can be cathartic.
In high school, life seemed to hinge on another person's perception of you. When I learned not to care anymore and their words didn't affect me anymore (because by twelfth grade, they managed to drain me of tears and every bit of emotion I had left until only hate remained) It freed me. That was when I learned, they cared way more than I did because their words served to get a reaction from me. When I started to look "through" them instead of AT them, they would get mad, and I would slightly smirk.
Thank you for interacting!
This is actually a really good point.
I'm a late Xer (born in 1977).
I remember being told all of those things growing up.
My late mother, bless her, had a favorite saying whenever any of us kids would bust out with "That's not fair" as kids do.
Her response was always the same, "Life isn't fair".
My wife, an early millenial, who grew up with disabled parents, so didn't have an easy childhood, just can't get it when I say the same thing to her when she says X, Y or Z isn't fair, and I respond with "I'm gonna tell you what my mother told me growing up ... life ain't fair".
Or when she gets pent up because of some slight (or more often a percieved slight) and she's going on and on, eventually I just bust out with "Why do you care what they think about you?".
To a degree, those were valuable lessons, because yes I do genuinely think that Gen Xers do have 'thicker skins' than Millenials.
They seem to just get so worked up about everything, all the time, even over the tiniest of things that when I was growing up wouldn't have even been something to give a second thought about.
On the flip side, it also means at times we bottle everything up to an unhealthy degree.
It took untill my very early 40s, and a major depressive episode, and a lot of sessions with mental health professionals, to 'learn' that it is ok to have feelings and express them sometimes.
So it is all a bit of give and take.
Sure, they could learn to toughen up a bit, but we could learn to be a bit less insular.
Just my opinion.
@@azzamat001 I fully agree with everything you said. Thank you for your insight!
We are the "Don't start None, Won't be None" generation. I get weird looks when I say that to people, but I stand on that business 100%. PLEASE, let us be... You've been warned 😂❤
Exactly! I agree. Thank you for interacting, Boo!
Changing cloth diapers for 6 other siblings. Shootin Copperheads so Pops didn't get bit clearing brush. Had to learn to drive 3 on the tree at age 12...bike ramps...if it was jumpable, somebody tried it...and we all paid for the attempt at one point. Work...always work to do...and "play" was outside in the "fort". Mixed tape creation was an art form...
...and the "Fire" we didn't start according to Joel...got shoved in our faces from day 1. What we saw...did not jive with what was "Right". (and it's happening again) So...like Twisted Sister said, "We Ain't Gonna Take it". Loved the commentary btw.
Thank you, sweetheart! And you're 100% right! With the copperheads, you are much braver than I am! UGH!!!
@@Gen_X_Rosey You're awesome...(scratching something with scissors on a detention desk and thinkin...ET would have got all my Reece's pieces too.)
@@FurrRealism I'd only give him my Reese's Pieces if I had some M&Ms on hand. LOL
Being able to not care is a superpower, it's lonely, but if you really don't care it doesn't matter.
That's very true. Thank you for commenting!
You always speak the truth about Generation X, we were latchkey kids, the stuff we've been through this generation will never know how to handle it, and I'm talking about these Late Millennials, Generation Z a Generation Alpha, I'm a early 70s baby so I agree with everything you're saying,, that's why I always said the best ERA in generation are the Baby Boomers Generation X, and Xennials those are the 80s babies, keep doing your thing my sister, The Best Is yet to come, the problem with this generation is there too damn sensitive to every damn thing,
Thanks so much for your encouragement, hon!
Girrrrrl, that was 💯 spot on... and articulated extremely well, so thank you for your realness🥰
Thank you, sweetheart! I appreciate your kind feedback. You're awesome!
Our attitude expressed our dissociation, and our music expressed our anger -- barely suppressed, and often explosive.
We lacked today's psychological view, but to put it in words that any Millennials will understand:
What are Dissociation and Suppressed Anger about, really? What do they signify?
These are the traits of repeated trauma survivors.
YES! Exactly! For most of our childhood, we weren't allowed to express our emotions, so we had to suppress them. We were ticking time bombs. Some of us still are! Thank you for interacting!
The thing is: We had real danger at home with our parents and, as a German, I was afraid enough to be the center of the battlefield for the superpowers USSR and USA to care about other nations very much. Dancing and having fun on a vulcano whilst having to look for a job, taking care of your siblings, doing your chores, doing homework and trying to find out who the f you are whilst looking for the latest internship was occupying enough. You literally already grew up with everyone telling you you live in the end times. And acid rain still added on it, and Chernobyl with us Germans not being allowed to have fresh fruit from the garden...This was enough heavy weight on us. And the interesting thing for US is that the world did not come to an end, so we are a little sceptic on all that "end of the world" stuff that the climate demonstrations threw at us, whilst using their iphones made by Chinese children and with very seldom resources and going to foreign countries by plane every holiday. And with the cold war, both sides claimed it was the other sides fault, so we are a little sceptic about the missioners on both sides of the Israelian-Palestine war who say one side is the. devil whilst. the other is full of angels.....
Such a great vid Rosey. We really did have it tough back then, but thank goodness we had each other for support back in those days. I remember playing video games at my local arcade and by the time I left I made 12 new friends. Now with all the drama and BS happening in the world, we really don't want to hear it. We finally got that peace we were looking for growing up and we just want to enjoy it now. Wishing you the best Rosey and thanks again. ❤
Yes, when we were younger, we were bullied at school, at home, and at work. Our friends were our peace and our support group. To be older and finally feel peaceful is a gift a lot of us wanted to sit back and enjoy.
Now, we have to worry about the younger Gens trying to rile us up by bullying us with some grade school bullcrap. It's irritating! We want to be left alone. Hell, our parents did it, why can't they?
Thank you so much for watching and commenting!
GenX not caring has been a stereotype placed on us since we were kids. Older generations sometimes portrayed as the Lost Generation, as troubled losers and lazy deviants. But obviously we've cared, such as highly valuing family in ensuring our own kids weren't underparented as we were. On a political level, multiple major protest movements were filled with GenXers: WTO protest, Iraq War protest, Occupy Movement, BLM, etc. It's just we've never gotten credit for anything we've done as a generation.
Yes! I pointed some of that out in a more recent video "What Happened to Gen X?..." You should check it out here: ua-cam.com/video/leGYveff7Jo/v-deo.html
But we choose what we want to care about because as youngsters, we learned that caring too much hurt. We cared about what kids thought about us in school, and got bullied. We cared what our families thought and were (sometimes) greeted with disbelief or apathy. Yes, not caring was a stereotype, but nobody ever asked us with any amount of sincerity: "Why are you that way?" If they said anything at all, it was with cynicism, condescension, and an accusatory tone.
Thank you for commenting!
@@Gen_X_Rosey - Thanks for a video recommendation. I do love to look at generations research, data, and commentary. But sadly, most of what one comes across is superficial and simplistic. I prefer your more thoughtful approach.
@@MarmaladeINFP Aww! Thank you so much! I tend to go based on my own experience as an Xer and what friends, family, and even some Xer's online have experienced. It's all about building a community, finding, common ground, and basically, finding MY PEOPLE!!!
I didn't get off the hook I remember picking out the switch I was about to get punished with
Yeah, same.
I would consider myself an Elder Millennial, but being raised by an actual boomer, I have the complete Gen X mentality. being raised in a very unsafe environment, I have gone through things I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I learned work ethic before the age of 10 by shoveling snow and cutting grass around my entire neighborhood. I never had more fun in my entire life helping people around my community as well.
Yeah, Gen-X tends to really respect Elder Millennials, because you're so much like us. Thank you for interacting!
we do not care because we dealt with the same and worse as kids and we just shrugged it off we did not create hashtags or protest.
You're so right!
Caring isn't a given, the world doesn't care and doesn't owe anyone anything. Whatever appears between those two realities is a bonus.
That's very true. Thank you for commenting!
1971 gen x here and an introvert so I really don’t care. Never been to a protest or rally. Too busy working.
We were let off the hook because nobody cared about us.
I know it definitely felt that way, huh?
We were sold many lies, and we know it. We also know there's not much we can do about, some of us tried. Too many 🐑 to make a big difference. And now there's even more division. I thought we pretty much wiped it out for the most part, but they brought it back. Don't let them make you keep fighting each other, instead of "them". Yeah, I know we never defined "them" exactly. I guess we're still not really sure. Sorry kids, it's your turn now. If things get too bad, those of us that still can will probably get off the sofa and raise some hell, but not before then. Good luck.
Snowflakes today would buckle at our lifestyle 40 to 50 years ago. We were built and raised differently. We tried to give our kids everything we didn't have. It turned our kids into ungrateful brats.
True. Thankfully, my two aren't ungrateful because they weren't raised too terribly different than I was. My two kids are Gen-Z's with the heart of Xers. My oldest has even said, " I was born in the wrong decade!" Because of that, they think a lot of what people of their generation and the younger generation (Gen Alpha) do or say is ridiculous.
Sure, they agree with some of it, as do I. But a lot of times, we're rolling our eyes and shaking our heads.
“I don’t care if you use me again”. -- The Cars
Just remember gen z snow babies,mess with the bull,you get the horns! 😈😈😈😈😈😈
another reason we don't/didn't get along w/our parents, is how many of us were conceived just to keep our old men outta Vietnam?
i'm one of those. i NEVER saw my my parents show any affection towards each other, except hate.
that takes a toll on your brain.
theres a reason Gen X created Death and Black Metal.
Damn! That's true, though.
grew up with mom in east LA, watts, Compton, no dad, we did what we needed to do
Gen X is like a mix of the honey badger and the Tasmanian devil when you piss us off.
LMFAO! Very true! We're the FAFO Generation for a reason! Thank you for commenting.
Forget step parents. I didn't get along with my parents. Still don't.
Damn. I'm sorry to hear that.
Not having to look down the barrel at the sort of education my kid would get NOW, is more than enough to be thankful for.
That's very true. Education is little or nothing, nowadays. But the teachers hardly get paid!
@@Gen_X_Rosey it's a fundamental failure of society to not have education top tier.
We were supposed to be the generation that kept the Boomers from going overboard.
No one can stop the Boomers. They owned every damned thing and still do! With a few notable exceptions, of course.
You mess with bull... You get the horns... 47... This month...
Indeed! Happy Birthday, by the way. I'll be 48 in about two weeks, myself.
57
SING IT, my sister
some of us had to work to help our parents with bills
Thankfully, my mom and stepdad had good jobs, so we were good, financially. I worked because I wanted to make my own money and be able to buy some things that my folks either didn't want to, or I wanted right away.
That being said, I do understand that situation. My oldest is doing that right now, honestly. So, yes, a lot of us were busy with new responsibilities.
you wanna know why we don't care?
just read the lyrics to
We Hate Everyone by Type O Negative
Nah, I've already read the lyrics to "Fuckin' Hostile" by Pantera. 😏 I do love Type O, though. Thanks for commenting!
I am white, grew up in hoods, when I worked, Ib have half my pay to mom
I've heard of kids who had to do that.
Its not the time period we were born in that makes us indifferent, its how the world has changed in our lifetime
As well as the people we grew up around. We were forced to build up a tolerance to different circumstances and have creative defense mechanisms. Apathy was just one of the symptoms of our situation.
Thank you for interacting!
@@Gen_X_Rosey Exactly, you force us, and we stop caring, or start caring a lot about the forcing, and rebel.
We care, honestly. We just don't give a f#ck about bullshit.
Exactly!
I can’t tell if this is supposed to be a comedic commentary or not. (And sorry about that.) Look. Let’s be 14.75% serious here for a moment. I am CLASSIC GenX (closer to the start). I ABSOLUTELY do care. About a lot, actually. Family. Business cohorts. The Republic. I care. I probably don’t care about YOU (GenZ) but it’s certainly not because I “hate you.” That’s just dumb.
When we were turned out at 7am in the summer, we ran like wolves but we weren’t criminals. There were rules. We made them up collectively as kids. We enforced those rules and mores. No parents. No “grown ups” had to mediate for us. We ran a democracy out there for 12-14 hours at a time. The doing of that made us rabidly independent. You had to think on the fly… make decisions on the fly… and be decisive (if you wanted to be heard). You had to learn how to negotiate and persuade. Most of the kids in our tribe had guts. We cared about each other and looked after our own safety. Those that did NOT meet the requirements, we kept at arms length.
The reason I point this out is because our current times seem (!) to be peopled by individuals who EXPECT to be heard, considered, and respected without putting an inch of skin in the game.
You haven’t met us, have you?
I never think about you. You impact my life exactly naught. Zip. Zero. I don’t know you. I may never know you. Do you even think that bothers me for a split second? I might end up caring what you think. Depends on a few factors I’ll keep to myself. I don’t hate you, though. And don’t say that. It’s just that I don’t care about you… yet. And don’t assume I will as if I owe you something. Because I’ll jam that right back in your face and you will have awoken the monster in the maelstrom. Bad policy, GenZ. Bad planning. /end serious/
Not exactly comedic, but if people find it funny, that's fine. But I don't give my "cares" to people who just expect it or demand it. I don't give it to people who feel entitled to it. My care (or more accurately, my fucks) have to be earned. So, I get it. I was without adult situation for a lot of my life too. My mom had to work for our survival. Thank you for your input.
@@Gen_X_Rosey I think it’s the common thread in GenX. I find them to be kind and thoughtful… as long as you don’t PRESUME. GenX doesn’t owe anyone and if they try to press the matter, they’ll get an earful from us. And then immediately ignored 😉
In a nutshell, from a job recruiter: "Ooh, I see your resume is very impressive. You've worked at NASA, HP, and Microsoft. Everybody starts at the same rate of $13/hr. and there will be 20+ hours mandatory weekly overtime. How does that sound, champ?"
True sister
God bless you.
Aww, thank you!
Why do gen X suddenly need to justify themselves. Gen x myself and think it is strange that everything is such an issue just because of some zoomers.
Question: What is the difference between Gen X and Gen Z? Are they the same generation?
Gen X is the generation born between 1965 and 1980. Gen Z is the generation born between 1997 and 2012. A lot of us Gen Xers are the parents of Gen Z. My kids are Gen Z.
@@Gen_X_Rosey Oh ok cool, X comes before Z so Xers were born first thus older than Gen Zs. That makes sense, thanks Gen X Rosey!
@@jerrypissonme No problem, hon!
@@Gen_X_Rosey Sorry about my username, my tenants made me mad, lol.
I'm a Gen X 1969 Honey Badger cause honey badger just don't care.
Nice! Thank you for commenting!
@@Gen_X_Rosey yes maam.
0:48 lol
Pretty random spot to laugh, but... okay.