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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.

SOURCE: TWITTER

"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 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: TWITTER

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: TWITTER

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...

SOURCE: TWITTER

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: TWITTER

The media tends to ignore Generation X as a whole — as a few tweets coming up demonstrate — and this pleases Gen X just fine. 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.

A whole mood.

SOURCE: TWITTER

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

Gen X: Get used to it.

SOURCE: TWITTER

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: TWITTER

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 to the class of 1965 to 1980.

Pay no attention to the man behind the venetian blinds.

SOURCE: TWITTER

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 it's someone else being called slackers and downers for a change.

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 34 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: TWITTER

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 1966 to 1980 inhabits a totally different dimension.

There are perks to being invisible...

SOURCE: TWITTER

Being overlooked can be an advantage when you just want to sit in the corner and be immature. Gen X spent all of the 90s being told they were immature slackers, and in their 40s, a lot of them are really leaning into that description, because what does it matter?

"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.

Party on.

SOURCE: TWITTER

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: TWITTER

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: TWITTER

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: TWITTER

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!


This article originally appeared on 3.18.20

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A teacher's viral extra credit questions lure students into a phenomenal prank

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A mystery teacher has become an internet scholar after imgur user SharkyTheSharkDog shared photos of the extra credit questions on their exams.

While the first six are really fun—you should see if you can get them all correct—the last one is pure torture in the form of public humiliation.

Don't read too quickly, students.


1. How many seasons was "Full House" on the air?

2. Complete the verse... "I been in the game for ten years makin' rap tunes..."

3. What color pants does Jake from State Farm wear?

4. Okay, this one's going to be tough for you."Yesterday, during my lecture, I quickly mentioned that only a pink pen will save you tomorrow. Draw a stick figure below in that pink pen."

5. Describe the dumbest conversation you overheard recently.Guy: Do you like Bon Jovi?Girl: No thanks, I don't eat Italian Food.

6. Including "The Revenant," how many times has Leo DiCaprio been nominated for an Academy Award?

7. And this one's a true test of your reading strategy.

First person to read this, stand up proudly on your chair, and yell at the top of your lungs, "Oh Captain, My Captain!" will receive a 95% on this exam.
…
...
...
*Just kidding. Name the drummer for The Beatles.


This article originally appeared on 05.01.19


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People are busting out calculators to check this seemingly impossible math equation

This math isn't mathing.

Photo credit: Canva

It's math that's simple enough for a third grader, but it seems wrong no matter how you calculate it.

Time is a strange phenomenon. It speeds up when we want it to slow down and drags when we wish it would go by faster. Sometimes it feels like we blink and a decade has gone by. Cue "the days are long, but the years are short," "time flies when you're having fun," and all the other time cliches that feel 100% true.

Of course, those truisms are all about our perception of time, not time itself. Time ticks by in a never-changing rhythm of seconds, minutes, hours, days and years, perfectly metered and measured. But it sure doesn't feel that way, which is why a simple math equation an average third grader can do has grown adults pulling out their calculators to make sure it's correct.

The equation in question comes from meme that reads "1981 and 2024 are as far apart as 1981 and 1938."

Yep, it's correct. The math checks out, no matter how many times you plug the numbers into the calculator. So why does it feel so wrong?

Again, time is a tricky thing. Those of us who were alive in 1981 remember how far back 1938 seemed to us at that time, and there's simply no way that distance is what 1981 is to us now. It seems impossible.

Part of the problem is that, at least for the middle-agers among us, the 80s still feels like they happened 20 years ago, not 43. That's simply how time perception works as we age.

But that's not all of it. As some people have pointed out, there were certainly major changes in both time periods, but the hugely significant cultural changes from 1938 to 1981 were more visible in many ways than most changes we've seen since then. Yes, technology exploded near the turn of the millennium, but once the internet and laptops and smartphones hit the scene, tech advancements have mostly been a matter of degree—better, smaller, lighter, faster, more efficient, more intuitive—in fairly steady increments and not so much dramatic jumps.

From 1938 to 1981, we saw huge leaps, from tiny black-and-white television to full-color cable television, from the first transatlantic passenger flight to sending humans to the moon on space shuttles, from switchboards and party lines to cell phone technology, from human computers to PCs.

We also saw clothing styles change drastically from one decade to the next during that time period in a way that we haven’t really seen in the past 40 years. Same with architecture and home designs. The mid-20th century saw the birth of rock n' roll, the Civil Rights Movement and the shift to women into the workforce. Again, huge leaps.

Wars also defined generations more in the mid-20th century than in the decades since, from WWII to the Vietnam War to the Cold War. It’s not that we haven’t had wars since 1981, but the direct impact of those wars on American life has not been as notable as those previous wars were.

Then again, it’s possible that much of the difference in feel is simply our perception of life now vs. then. Do the years since 1981 seem shorter simply because we’ve lived them, whereas most of us weren’t alive for a good chunk of the 1938 to 1981 time period and only learned it as “history”?

Hard to say, but one thing that’s clear is that people do not like the way this math feels, as evidenced by the comments people left on the post.

“Fitz is cancelled. Feeling triggered here. Lol”

“I did the math too many times because I don’t want to believe this.”

“As someone born in 1981 I really dislike this.”

“Shut your mouth. Those are fighting words! “

“I honestly did nothing to you! Like why?”

“They're not far apart. You're far apart."

It certainly will be interesting to see how the next 43 years feel for the people who live through it vs. 1981 until now.

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Viral image has people trying to figure out who 'deserves' the seat the most.

Who is the most deserving?

via Reddit

Who deserves the seat?

A thought-provoking meme is going viral on Reddit that has people debating over who to give your seat to on a train: a mother holding a baby, an elderly woman with a cane, or a man on crutches. The poor guy dealing with the dilemma appears to be traveling to or from work with a briefcase in his hand.

As everyone knows, it’s a common courtesy on a packed train or bus to give up your seat to people with babies, the elderly and those who are disabled or injured. So, in this scenario, everyone has a right to the seat; who is the most deserving?

The woman with the baby has her hands full and her little one is sleeping. It’d be nice for the man to give her a stable seat to take a load off and help the baby sleep throughout the ride. Plus, nobody wants to ride the train next to a cranky baby.

The elderly woman also deserves the seat because she is probably tired and needs to take a load off. She gets extra points because, as a society, we tend to go out of our way to help seniors. What would happen if she fell while standing on the moving train?

Finally, the guy with the crutches also deserves the seat because he has to expend a lot of effort just to stand up and his arms have to be tired from helping him get around with the bum foot.

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Who deserves the seat?

via Reddit

One guy thought the man should let the 3 people looking to take his seat decide. "It's better to just get up and let them fight amongst themselves,” Kron123456789 wrote. "Leave the seat and leave the decision to the three,” Aggravating-Pound598 added.

Others thought that the 3 people staring at the seat appear angry and don’t deserve the seat. "If they're looking at me like this, they better keep standing 'cause I ain't going anywhere,” falsebaby8268 wrote. "They don't have any right to the seat, it's only out of generosity that someone can offer the seat. You are not obligated to generosity in general and towards hostile people in special,” gerMean added.

Some thought that all things being equal, the person with the best attitude should get the seat.

"The politest person gets the seat,” Logical_Dragonfly_92 wrote. "If they all look at me with such arrogant expressions of entitlement, I'd keep my seat for myself. Otherwise, I give it to the person that seems most in danger or in pain of them,” AhmedAbuGhadeer added.

There were more than a few people who thought the man on crutches was most deserving of the seat but were weirded out by his uncanny resemblance to Adolph Hitler. "Honestly, crutches Hitler probably needs it most, from a medical POV. Falling on a broken leg is no bueno. Mamma and grandma got 2 feet,” BadluckBrians wrote. "If you don’t want to fall on a broken leg, you probably shouldn’t have attacked Poland in 1939," Understepped added.

This person may have the best response.

"I'd offer to a lady with an infant as this will help two people," Barneyishere1 suggested.

The man's dilemma in the meme seems like the Kobayashi Maru on “Star Trek,” a test that Starfleet Academy cadets take to determine how they would behave in a situation without a solution or a “no-win” scenario. "The purpose [of the test] is to experience fear, fear in the face of certain death, to accept that fear and maintain control of one's self and one's crew. This is a quality expected in every Starfleet captain,” Mr. Spock once said.

According to Spock, behaving correctly and maintaining control is the key to coming out ahead in a situation where you can’t win. If we extend that logic to the problem our friend on the train faces, being that there is no right or wrong answer, the key is to handle it with as much poise as possible. And then hop off the train at the next exit.

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