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17 Gen X memes for the generation caught in the middle

Gen X is so forgotten that it's become something of a meme. Here are 17 memes that will resonate with just about anyone born between 1965 and 1980.

screenshots of memes
Photo from Reddit

Boomers, Millennials, and Gen Z

"Generation X" got its name in the early '90s from an article turned book by Canadian writer Douglas Coupland. And ever since, they've been fighting or embracing labels like "slacker" and "cynic." That is, until Millennials came of age and all that "you kids today" energy from older generations started to get heaped on them. Slowly, Gen X found they were no longer being called slackers...they weren't even being mentioned at all. And that suits them just fine.

Here are 17 memes that will resonate with just about anyone born between 1965 and 1980.

Gen X basically invented "Whatever."

gen x memesSOURCE: TWITTER

Until recently, Generation X has been sitting back and watching as Millennials and Boomers eat at each other with an amused, non-confrontational attitude. But recently, Millennials and Gen Z became aware of their presence, and dubbed them "The Karen Generation."

They seem to be embracing the Karen thing.

SOURCE: X

While I'm pretty sure the "Karen" thing is not complimentary—as BuzzFeed puts it, it's meant to communicate someone who is "the middle-aged white mom who is always asking for the manager and wondering why kids are so obsessed with their identities,"—lots of people landed on a different Karen to represent the generation: the martini-guzzling, wise-cracking Karen Walker.

Get it right!

SOURCE: X

Well [expletive] me gently with a chainsaw, she's right. The 1980s cult classic starring Winona Ryder and Shannen Doherty really is the Mean Girls of the '80s and a much better term than Karen.

The disdain is mutual...

The Breakfast Club

SOURCE: X

Most of my Gen X friends have Gen Z kids and they are intergenerationally very chill with each other. However, Gen X is the generation most likely to have Boomer parents and younger millennial kids, and this meme seems to be resonating a bunch with Xers of a certain age.

A lot of Xers are enjoying the "OK boomer" squabble.

SOURCE: X

The media tends to ignore Generation X as a whole—as a few tweets coming up demonstrate—and that's nothing new. After all, they're used to it. They were latchkey kids whose parents both worked long hours, so they're used to being somewhat neglected.

"No one cares what we think anyway..."

via GIPHY

This GIF of Janeane Garofolo mocking her classmates at the high school reunion is basically a whole Gen X mood and definitely captures how a lot of this generation caught in the middle feels about the "OK boomer" wars.

A whole mood.

SOURCE: X

Gen X: "Look, don't pull us into this. You'll make me spill my beer."

Gen X: Get used to it.

SOURCE: X

Perhaps Gen X's blasé attitude to the generation wars has something to do with being called "Slackers" for a full decade.

Pass the popcorn.

SOURCE: X

Aside from this whole "Karen generation" blip, Gen X continues to be largely overlooked, and that fact—as well as their silent delight in it—is possibly one of the most Generation X things to happen.

Pay no attention to the man behind the venetian blinds.

SOURCE: X

Back in the '90s, Gen X bore the same kind of criticism Boomers tend to heap on Millennials and Gen Z now. It's not necessarily that they want to watch a cage match. It's just they're so relieved the heat is aimed elsewhere.

See?

SOURCE: TWITTER

Although this chart doesn't list the generation names, the approximate age ranges are all there...except for a big gap between the ages of 35 and 54 where apparently no humans were born? Poor Gen X (and some elder Millennials) apparently don't have political beliefs worth examining.

Don't you forget about me...

SOURCE: X

If Millennials are the "burnout generation," I guess Gen X is truly the invisible generation. I'm starting to feel inspired to write a science fiction novel where everyone born from 1965 to 1980 inhabits a totally different dimension.

There are perks to being invisible...

SOURCE: X

Being overlooked can be an advantage when you just want to sit in the corner and be immature.

Party on.

SOURCE: X

Before Brené Brown was telling us all how to dare greatly, Gen X got their inspirational advice from a different kind of Ted and his pal Bill, who taught us all how important it is to learn from history and be excellent to each other.

Too late and yet too early.

SOURCE: X

Romance—or getting lucky—was never easy for Generation X. They were the generation most impacted by the AIDS epidemic when it comes to anxiety about casual sex. Whereas Boomers had the free love of the late '60s, Gen X was about safe sex, which usually meant less sex. And even when having safe casual sex, singles in the '90s had to meet people the old-fashioned way or, if they did meet online, they felt shame over it. Now online dating is the norm.

When Gen X replaces the Boomers.

SOURCE: X

This is probably an optimistic view—because the truth is there are "Boomers" in every generation, and many of them tend to find their way into powerful positions. Let's call this a best case scenario, though.

The Nihilism Generation

SOURCE: X

There is no generation more over it than Gen X. They are ready for the apocalypse, but don't expect them to, like, help or anything!

Now we have Generation Alpha to contend with, so let's hope they're more chill about the generation wars than their predecessors. And as of 2025, an even newer generation is starting: Generation Beta. Hopefully, the fighting will have died down.


This article originally appeared five years ago.

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Fatherhood

Dad and daughter relationships perfectly  explained in 10 paintings

The bond between dads and daughters is amazing.

All illustrations are provided by Soosh and used with permission.

It's hard to truly describe the amazing bond between dads and their daughters.

Being a dad is an amazing job no matter the gender of the tiny humans we're raising. But there's something unique about the bond between fathers and daughters. Most dads know what it's like to struggle with braiding hair, but we also know that bonding time provides immense value to our daughters. In fact, studies have shown that women with actively involved fathers are more confident and more successful in school and business.

You know how a picture is worth a thousand words? I'll just let these images sum up the daddy-daughter bond.

A 37-year-old Ukrainian artist affectionately known as Soosh, recently created some ridiculously heartwarming illustrations of the bond between a dad and his daughter, and put them on her Instagram feed. Sadly, her father wasn't involved in her life when she was a kid. But she wants to be sure her 9-year-old son doesn't follow in those footsteps.

"Part of the education for my kiddo who I want to grow up to be a good man is to understand what it's like to be one," Soosh told Upworthy.

There are so many different ways that fathers demonstrate their love for their little girls, and Soosh pretty much nails all of them.

Get ready to run the full gamut of the feels.

1. Dads can do it all. Including hair.

parenting, dads, daughters, fathers, art, artworkA father does his daughter's hairAll illustrations are provided by Soosh and used with permission.

2. They also make pretty great game opponents.



parenting, dads, daughters, fathers, art, artwork, chessA father plays chess with his daughterAll illustrations are provided by Soosh and used with permission.

3. And the Hula-Hoop skills? Legendary.



parenting, dads, daughters, fathers, art, artwork, hula hoopA dad hula hoops with his daughterAll illustrations are provided by Soosh and used with permission.

4. Dads know there's always time for a tea party regardless of the mountain of work in front of them.



A dad talks to his daughter while working at his deskAll illustrations are provided by Soosh and used with permission.


5. And their puppeteer skills totally belong on Broadway.



A dad performs a puppet show for his daughterAll illustrations are provided by Soosh and used with permission.


6. Dads help us see the world from different views.



A dad walks with his daughter on his backAll illustrations are provided by Soosh and used with permission.


7. So much so that we never want them to leave.



a dad carries a suitcase that his daughter holds ontoAll illustrations are provided by Soosh and used with permission.


8. They can make us feel protected, valued, and loved.



A dad holds his sleeping daughterAll illustrations are provided by Soosh and used with permission.


9. Especially when there are monsters hiding in places they shouldn't.



A superhero dad looks over his daughterAll illustrations are provided by Soosh and used with permission.


10. Seeing the daddy-daughter bond as art perfectly shows how beautiful fatherhood can be.



A dad takes the small corner of the bed with his dauthterAll illustrations are provided by Soosh and used with permission.


This article originally appeared nine years ago.

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People say these are the 8 trends in 2025 that need to go away ASAP

Imagine a future with less subscriptions, gourmet cookies shops, and no lip filler.

Photo credit: Canva

8 trends in 2025 people say need to end immediately

One of the best and worst things about trends is that they don't stick around. Trends can last for a few weeks to several years but, eventually, whatever is popular now will be unpopular soon enough if you give it enough time. But there are some trends that have people counting down the days until they end.

In a recent social media post, someone posed the question, "What's trending right now that you think will die in 3-5 years?" Of course, some people answered the question directly, but others used the post as a complaint box to list all the things they feel need to vanish as soon as humanly possible.

In the early 2000s, it was low rise jeans. These were not what people consider "low-rise" now, but actual low-rise pants that came way below your hip bones. At some point, designers decided that low-rise wasn't low enough so they came out with ultra low-rise jeans. It's unclear who those jeans were for, maybe a gynecologist? Either way, that is one trend that much of America wanted to disappear faster than evaporating water on an Arizona sidewalk in the middle of July.

leggings, trends, bad trends, trends to end, gif, season 4 smiley face legs GIF by PortlandiaGiphy


Here are the top eight trends of 2025 that people wish would go the way of the Wicked Witch of the West.

What's trending in 2025 that needs to go away?

1. Everything requiring a subscription

"I REALLY hope we as a society will get fed up with every single thing in our lives now requiring a subscription."

"I had to sign up for a subscription just to read the newspaper today. The newspaper!? Can you believe it?"

"Not sure of this is true or not, but my wife and I watched a tiktok about subscriptions. One for bmw owners, they had to buy a subscription to use features in their own car, features like heat and a/c ?!! Wtf.... another was for printers. They had to have a subscription for the printer to start printing. I would absolutely lose my mind if that were true."

"I have patients that have subscriptions for their wheelchairs, features that are locked behind a pay wall, it’s disgusting."

subscribe, subscriptions, enough, bad trends, stopYoutube Video GIF by WUFFIGiphy

2. Family vlog channels

"It’s just so exploitative and the kids get no privacy at all whatsoever. And in the past five years, the parents of many of these channels have been exposed as being either recklessly irresponsible or outright abusive (such as the 8passengers channel). "

"Past 5 years? The whole daddyofive debacle was in 2016/2017. That sh*t has been ongoing for a while now and doesn't show signs of stopping or even slowing down. As long as people can make money off that content it will keep happening."

"Got invited to one of those channels (1m+ subs) as a video editor, but refused to work after watching a few raw videos. Trust me, it's 10x worse than you think it is."


family, vlogs, family vlogs, content creation, bad trendsFamily GIFGiphy

3. Calling everything "viral" or a "hack"

"Hopefully describing every new thing as “viral”. The new “viral” ramen, “viral” cookie shop etc etc. f*ck it’s obnoxious."

"Or 'hack'. 'Look at this, I just used this hack to screw in a screw using a screwdriver!' /#lifehack. No, that's what it was designed to do and has been used for since it was invented."

"'This Montreal teen has discovered what she’s calling ‘a life-changing hack’.' 'See, if you go to their website, sometimes they have this section called ‘coo-pons’ that gets you discounts on stuff, and they’re totally free. Like this one, 30% off your next box of tissues.' 'Up next, Gen Z finds out what clearance sales are.'"

4. Lip filler

"Sadly a lot of the procedures women are taking to their faces are irreversible aside from lip fillers. The buccal fat removal thing and the inflated lips is an insane look."

"The real problem is that all of these "dissolvable" fillers don't completely dissolve; they migrate."

"Lip fillers make me sad. Most of the time I see them on women who were already quite attractive before the procedure, but they were still looking at themselves in the mirror every morning thinking 'this needs work.'"

lip fillers, plastic surgery, lips, cosmetics, makeup, bad trendsLip Filler GIF by skingymGiphy

5. Overpriced giant specialty desserts

"The overpriced cookie shops, e.g. Crumbl, Insomnia cookies etc. seems like a trend that will end up like all those Froyo / frozen yogurt places."

"Ok...I like crumbl, but totally agree. I'm not sure how it's made it this long. Yes they're good, but the only time I get it is when I buy it as a treat for employees. And everytime I do I'm like...who is out and about and says...ya know what.. I could go for a $6, 700 calorie cookie. .what would really be great is if I could drive a ways, order it from a place with ZERO seating and drive it back home. Bliss."

"Donuts, cupcakes, Fro-Yo, cookies, there's always a trendy dessert and shops opening up that specialize in them. Personally I don't understand how people can take that kind of financial risk but apparently it works out for some of them because they keep doing it."

6. The "broccoli haircut"

"I was wondering what the call all the younger gen z haircuts bc they ALLLLL look the same like a mop on the top of their heads."

"They look like alpacas" one person writes before someone else responds with their own realization. "As a middle aged person, I was like ‘WTF is a broccoli haircut’ then I read your Alpaca comment and went ‘ohhhhh, yeah, I know the alpaca boys! lol.’"

"Where I’m from I’ve been seeing broccoli-mullet hybrids. I hate it"

"I do find this funny as someone with very curly hair who's 35 and been styling it short-ish for years. Now I'm like God damn it all these goobers making me look like zoomer."

broccoli hair, broccoli haircut, alpaca hair, zoomers, kids, hairstylesAnimation Food GIF by Robin DaveyGiphy

7. Barn doors where regular doors should be

"Homes with "barn doors"....... damn those are like the green shag carpet of the late 2010 early 2020's."

"Barn doors have a place. On a barn, or maybe a shed. For the love of all that is holy stop putting them on bathrooms. They are particularly bad at containing sounds, smells, and humid air."

"THANK YOU. I was scrolling and gonna post this one myself. They’re really only useful if you have a room that you almost never want to close off, don’t care at all about sound privacy, and have a big wall you don’t want to hang anything on. Which is like almost nowhere. I just had to explain to someone why they couldn’t have one for an exterior door. Like do you want to heat and cool your house and just how many bugs, mice, and probably even bigger animals do you want inside?"

barn door, barn door trend, barn doors, bad trends, homesChris Gilmour Apg GIF by AllPropertiesGroupGiphy

8. Art created by AI

"I've seen restaurants with AI art on their walls and even in the menu. And it was still that g*mpy stuff you can easily tell is AI, like one guy has chopsticks that are melting into his friend's hair."

"I lost a job last year because the C-suite decided it was a better idea to save their in house marketing budget and use AI slop instead."

"I hope it gets to the point where the AI generated stuff oversaturates the market, and it flips back around to where actual art made by people is awesome again. I'm not an artist, but I really enjoyed other people's stuff. The work, skill, and emotion put into something can't be replicated. AI stuff just feels so. . . Empty."

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Joy

Adorable Golden Retriever absolutely loses it when he runs into his vet at a bar

No one has ever been this excited to see their doctor.

@cosmo_andtheoddparents/TikTok

He wuvs his vet.

Not every dog might jump with joy after seeing their vet out in public. But for Cosmo the Golden Retriever, it was practically Christmas all over again when he spotted his own vet, Dr. Jones, at a brewery.

In an adorable clip posted to TikTok, we see Cosmo in pure, unadulterated bliss as he snuggles with an equally happy Dr. Jones, who, considering he’s still in his scrubs, might have just gotten out of work to grab a quick pint.

Watch:

@cosmo_andtheoddparents When you run into your vet in public #goldenretrieversoftiktok #vetlife #animallovers #petparents #goldenretriever #goldenretrievers #doglife #dogmom #dailyfluff #charlestondogs #doglover #charlestondog #brewerydog ♬ original sound - Cosmo

Ugh, the cuteness is too much to handle! People in the comments could barely contain their secondhand joy.

“He looked over like, “Mom, do you see who this is?” one person wrote, while another said, “What in the Hallmark movie? Adorable!!”

One person even joked, “Did we all check the vet’s hand for a wedding ring? (Said as a married woman. Looking out for you all, or something.)”

According to Hannah Dweikat, Cosmo’s owner, the two actually share quite a history. She tells Upworthy that when Cosmo was but a wee pup, he “gave a scare” after eating a Sago Palm seed, which are highly toxic to dogs, from a plant in their backyard, which of course resulted in him being rushed to the animal hospital and staying there over the weekend.

While that’s every pet owner’s worst nightmare, and certainly a scary situation for the poor fur baby, Dweikat says that “the calm and patient demeanor” of Dr. Jones and his staff put Cosmo at ease. And because of this, “Cosmo has always loved going to see his friends—especially because they give him lots of treats and snuggles.”

Cosmo and Dr. Jones’ buddyship has also blossomed thanks to proximity, as Dweikat only lives down the street from the clinic. “Which means we get to see Dr. Jones and his staff out in public at times and Cosmo takes every chance he can get to say hi,” she explains. This time, however, she was able to capture it all on video. Yay for us!

What makes a good vet?

While not every vet, however gifted, will be able to elicit this type of reaction from their patients, having a calming presence like Dr. Jones is certainly a good sign for pet owners to be on the lookout for when shopping around for their own vet. But that’s not the only quality a good vet needs. According to Saint Matthews University, a vet also needs to have high stamina (both physically and mentally), as well as an ability to tolerate unpleasant situations (you can’t faint at the sight of blood or vomit), a high level of emotional intelligence (maybe all doctors should possess this skill, but especially those who work with animals), adaptability, a sense of enthusiasm, and finally, excellent communication skills.

Dr. Jones seems to have these attributes in spades, and his patients clearly love him for it. None so much as Cosmo, obviously.

By the way, if you’re in need of even more content featuring this precious pup, you can follow Cosmo on both TikTok and Instagram.

This article originally appeared in February

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Education

New incredible 3D imaging confirms a heartbreaking story from the Titanic's final moments

Eyewitness accounts from survivors have been confirmed.

via NOAA/Institute for Exploration/University of Rhode Island (NOAA/IFE/URI)/Wikimedia Commons

The bow of the Titanic in 2004.

As technology improves, we learn more about the fate of the RMS Titanic, which sank into the freezing waters of the North Atlantic on its maiden voyage in 1912. In 1985, the sunken vessel was discovered 12,500 feet below the surface due to a remote-controlled deep-sea camera system called Argo, which could explore depths never thought possible.

In 2022, Magellan Ltd, a deep-sea mapping company, gave the world incredible new insights into the Titanic’s final voyage by taking over 700,000 images from every angle of the ship, providing an exact 3D reconstruction. The new images, known as the ship's “digital twin,” are an incredible way to preserve the Titanic for future generations as it slowly decays at the bottom of the ocean. It’s believed that the iron in the ship's bow will eventually dissolve between 280 to 420 years.

"It allows you to see the wreck as you can never see it from a submersible, and you can see the wreck in its entirety, you can see it in context and perspective. And what it's showing you now is the true state of the wreck,” Parks Stephenson, who has studied the Titanic for many years, told the BBC.

Investigators working with Magellan and Atlantic Productions, which recently made the documentary Titanic: The Digital Resurrection (now streaming on Disney+), have found that evidence supports one of the most courageous stories about the ship’s sinking: The engineers put their lives on the line to keep the ship's power on as it slowly plunged into the water.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

The Titanic had 25 engineers working on the ship, and they all perished when it sank. Six hundred ninety-six crew members died during the disaster, and only 212 survived. Eyewitness accounts said that the engineers remained in the engine and boiler rooms to keep the power on, to allow the boat to send distress signals, and to control flooding as much as possible. This kept the lights on during the night evacuation and allowed the wireless radio system to send distress calls. According to National Geographic, their bravery helped save the lives of more than 700 people, even though it cost their own.

Analysis of the digital twin confirmed the eyewitness accounts of the engineers’ bravery by studying the ship's boilers, which were concave at the time of its sinking, meaning that they were still running when the vessel sank. Additionally, a valve on the stern of the boat was open, indicating that steam was still powering the electrical system as the ship sank.

"They kept the lights and the power working to the end, to give the crew time to launch the lifeboats safely with some light instead of in absolute darkness," Parks Stephenson, a Titanic analyst, told the BBC.

The Titanic’s story continues to unfold over a century after its demise, thanks to those dedicated to keeping its memory alive. It’s wonderful to see that all these years later, we are not only learning more about how the ship sank but also about the people who gave everything to save the lives of its passengers and fellow crewmembers. The story of the Titanic will be remembered for many reasons. Hopefully, the message that survives the longest is the bravery of those who made the ultimate sacrifice on the ship.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

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Joy

Bill Murray's 7 rules for happiness are a perfect 90-second guide for living the good life

Rule 4: "Tell everyone you're retired."

Adam Chitiyat/Wikipedia

Bill Murray shares his 7 rules for happiness

One of the greatest gifts the Internet bestows upon us is the likelihood of stumbling across the condensed, bite-sized version of someone else’s painstaking research. We’re basically living life with full time SparkNotes access.

This go around, we’re reaping the benefits of the X account Pink Freud spending 15 hours watching Bill Murray interviews, all to find the secret behind his seemingly constant happiness.

As Pink Freud wrote in his caption, “the man laughs like he knows something we don’t. Turns out… he does.”

And perhaps they have a point. While the Groundhog Day actor is no stranger to controversy, he still seems to know a thing or two about emotional resilience, and it’s wisdom that we could all probably apply in our everyday life.

According to Pink Freud, the path to a Bill Murray type of happy life comes down to these seven rules.

1. Chase moments, not meaning.


This is similar to the adage of following your curiosity, rather than passion. Because looking for meaning or purpose can put so much pressure on ourselves, and conversely, we often cultivate meaning when we are in the moment.

2. Forget chasing fame.

“Try being rich first. See if that doesn’t cover most of it. There's not much downside to being rich, other than paying taxes and having your relatives ask you for money. But when you become famous, you end up with a 24-hour job.”

This hits two points. One, financial security covers a lot in terms of freedom and security. Get your money squared away so that you don’t yearn for one big break to come along and change your fate. And two, fame rarely gives as much as it takes. As Pink Freud wrote, it “hijacks your nervous system” and “inflates ego” by placing self worth on public opinion, which we all know is incredibly changeable.

3. “The more relaxed you are, the better you are.”

Murray learned early on that relaxation = more fun, and more fun = better work.

“That’s sort of why I got into acting. I realized the more fun I had, the better I did it. And I thought, that’s a job I could be proud of. It’s changed my life learning that, and it’s made me better at what I do.”

Basically, relaxation brought on a more effortless, and joyful performance. You don’t need to be an actor to unlock that freedom.

4. "Tell everyone you’re retired."

This is apparently something that Murray tells people all the time. Pink Freud noted that this way of boundary setting is a way to “protect your energy” and “filter out the noise.”

5. "Be weird as hell"


Pink Freud referenced the well known fact that Murray regularly crashes weddings, writing that it’s a great example of how “dropping your persona” is “the fastest way to remember who you are.”

6. Most health advice is too serious.


“I’m not an alcoholic. I only drink twice a year: on my birthday, and when it’s not my birthday.”

While no one is advocating alcoholism, the point here is that health isn’t about perfection. Be human, rest (without having to “earn” it), and enjoy the treat, whatever that is.

7. “It’s hard to be an artist. It’s hard to be anything. It’s hard to be.”

This is akin to the “choose your hard” quote. Every path in life will have its challenges, especially the worthwhile ones. But, “playing small costs more.”

So, there you have it. Follow the fun. Relax. Don’t take things too seriously. All of these things have indeed been proven to help boost mood, according to science. But sometimes it hits a little deeper coming from a real person who, in this case, just happens to be Bill Murray.

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