You know that title isn’t even a thing. You know it, I know it, the dude with the manbun, beard and wireless earbuds knows it too. Yet AGAIN, Gen X is left out of the conversation that millennials and baby boomers have been having for the last several years. Honestly, it is closer to when you’re at a family dinner and that uncomfortable comment gets said and the wheels come off of the cart. Then, you and your favorite cousin, the goth that everyone else thinks is weird, but they actually get it and they don’t care, sneak off to the kitchen and snack on cookies and alcohol. Could we be part of the conversation? If we cared enough to yell loud enough to be heard, sure, but we let our absence do the talking. 

Where did that coping mechanism come from? Maybe it is the steady dose of New Wave and Brit Pop we listened to? Maybe it was realizing that it is easier if we just made our own way to prove that we can make it out from under our parents’ thumbs? Who knows, but there it is. It explains why you’re more likely to find us in the middle of a  barcade than in the middle of an argument where we’re not being listened to. It also explains why most Gen X’ers are about finding solutions rather than laying blame. Seriously, think about the Gen X’er in your life. Do they spend much time pointing fingers? Probably not. They will discuss issues, but they are also thinking of things that they can do to make the situation better, even if only in some small way.

Will that earn us the “OK, X’er” retort? Probably. We’re being a part of the problem because we’re so quick to detach. Yet, we detach so that we can look at the big picture and see how to address said issue. Is it efficient, will it earn us lots of likes on social media? Hell, no. But this approach has served us well and, just maybe, that quiet resilience will help make a difference in a volatile world. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.