GenX and our view on the world

I recently listened to a guy talking about GenX'rs and how we have a fairly unique view on the world around us. As I was listening to him I found myself agreeing with the things he was saying.

I was born in June of 1967. Right at the beginning of GenX. In most places you will see the Baby Boomer era ending right around '65. Whenever I read about GenX I easily identify with nearly everything that is said about us. We grew up without technology until our pre-teen years. My generation, as young kids, witnessed first hand many technological advances. GenX'rs have lived squarely in both of those worlds. I remember well the days of no cable tv, and, when it did come out, it being a luxury. I remember well playing Asteroids, PacMan and others in arcades and stores. I distinctly remember when the Atari 2600 came out.

I have lived and worked through the Cold War Era both as a kid with our fallout shelters, nuclear bomb drills, and in my early adult years in the the military getting stationed in Germany prior to the wall coming down. I will never forget the day the Twin Towers fell. Later having watched as we went to war with Iraq the first time with Bush Sr. and the second time with Bush Jr and the following decade plus long war in Iraq and Afghanistan. I have witnessed the Carter, Reagan (first year I voted when I turned 18), both Bush's, Clinton, and the Obama years. I remember well the 80's and the automobile industries fall from fame and the take over by foreign made cars. I can remember the Carter Era inflation years, Reagonomics, Bush Sr's single term and the first Iraq Invasion, the Clinton years and the sex scandal and his censure, Bush Jr's years and the response to the Twin Towers falling, all the way through the Obama years bringing the first African American to the Oval Office.

I was a kid who spent a lot of time without much parental supervision and it being pretty much normal. I had a crazy childhood for sure, but, it was a very normal thing for kids to play outside until the street lights came on. Because technology was really non-existent until my pre-teen years we played outside a lot. It's just what we did. Our TV was mainly morning cartoons before school if we had time and Saturday Morning cartoons. For kids TV just wasn't much of a thing. We did go to some movies but that was at a theater or drive-in with the whole family. We would go to bowling alleys, rolling skating/ice skating rinks, or an arcade. When I started driving I did a lot of cruising in downtown Puyallup....it was the thing to do for the times.

Imagine if you will, and I know it is hard to imagine these things even for myself now......but, imagine no internet. It didn't exist for mainstream society until the mid 90's. Thus, for my entire childhood we didn't have the internet which includes so many things we are all very used to now...., email, google, social media, blogging, YouTube, etc., etc....it just didn't exist. We had regular TV....no Netflix, Hulu, or any of their other streaming channels....just plain ol' network channels, NBC, CBS, and ABC....that was it. Just typing that brings me back. Cable TV coming out was huge and you only had it if you could afford it in it's early years.

You might think, after reading about the lack of internet what about phones? No cell phones. Just like the internet, we didn't have that technology for mainstream society until the mid 90's. Only the wealthy could afford that, and, it wasn't much when it did first arrive. It was just a phone call. No text messages, no internet through your cell phone if you could afford one. If you did have that luxury it was JUST a call. So, as a kid in the 70's-mid 90's we used pay phones. Oh shit, wait! Pagers!!! They became a thing in the late 80's early 90's. You could call this device and leave the number that you wanted that person to call you back on. That's all they saw on the pager. Look them up! But again, mostly only adults had these, or, drug dealers. Kid's generally didn't carry pagers when they did become a thing. At least I don't remember kids carrying them. We had to either have a quarter in our pocket, or call home collect to call our parents. That's right, no cell phone, messenger, apple watch, nothing. If we needed to get a hold of someone we either called from a pay phone, or, from our landline. Communication was a whole different animal. I remember this time period well. I remember when call waiting became a thing on landlines. Wow!

I have played music on 8-tracks (just a little), on record players, through cassette decks, on CD's, and now through streaming services. I was in the stoner crowd from 7th grade through my high school years and remember well going to full on concerts for $20 a ticket and getting to see the likes of AC/DC, Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions, Elton John, Billy Joel, and so many more in the early 80's. I have also been to many concerts through the years and cringe a bit when I freely pay crazy amounts to see one band. Our high schools had smoking sections and that is where you went to find our where the parties were going to be and where to get pot. We mostly had alcohol, pot, and speed in school.

I had friends who were white, black, and other ethnicities. Growing up mostly in the Pierce County area this was the norm and not the exception. Being a white male growing up in extreme poverty we didn't live in what I know now was around; mostly white neighborhoods. We lived in low income housing that put me with a lot people with different ethnicities. I do remember hearing the adults in our family talk about family members who were dating black people and that being frowned upon. It still happened, but, I do remember this being something some family members didn't approve of. For me, I never cared what my friends looked like as far as the color of their skin and where they came from, I just liked having friends when I did. Our family never told me I couldn't bring any certain friend over just because of the color of their skin. My brother who was six years older and was a star athlete had many friends of all different ethnicities and backgrounds. It's just what it was and we never questioned this one way or the other.

I remember clothing trends in the 80's when I was in Junior High and High School. I mostly remember them because we they were expensive for the times and if you wanted them you had to be working to do it. San Francisco Riding Gear, Levi jackets, Wilson Leather Jackets, Adidas Shoes, Members Only jackets......I was a dishwasher at a restaurant at 15 that helped me to buy my very first brand new Leather Jacket from Wilson's Leather! Being a kid in school in the early to mid-80s could be tough if you didn't have the right clothes.

I think about this one from time to time. Durning my time in high school I simply do not ever remember a school shooting. I just don’t. I don’t say this to make any politician statement either. Other GenX’rs would easily agree. It was a big deal if someone brought a knife to school. It was unheard of for a firearm to be brought to school. Keeping in mind I went to junior high and high school in the Tacoma area. I distinctly remember fistfights; That happened. But I never remember a kid bringing a gun to school and I never remember a school shooting. It just didn’t happen.

Punishment during my junior high school years could come by way of hacks with paddles. I don’t remember it happening in my high school years even before I dropped out (high school 82-85). At Stewart Junior High (79-82)you could choose between detention or getting a hack via a paddle by the teacher. I don’t think very teacher did this. I remember the ones who did….But I also remember those who didn’t. Maybe it was up to each teacher. Hacks or detention were normal. I remember choosing a hack to be done with it and not have to do detention hen I would get in trouble. Understand that writing about this is neither me approving or not approving of this type of punishment. If I were to take a side I would say schools shouldn't be the ones to physically punish children. If this is going to happen I believe the parents should be the ones to decide. Personally, I think I spanked my own son maybe twice in his whole upbringing. It's not a punishment I think is really needed in a home.

Getting a job was pretty much what happened for kids by the time you hit high school. I think I had my first paper route in junior high. A paper route was my first job and I know this was the same for many others. In my era of youth I don't remember there being specific restrictions on when a minor could or couldn't work during the week or during the school year. I don't remember kids necessarily working full time jobs during school, but I just don't remember not being able to work before 18 because of certain laws being in place. For me, I was working full time (I dropped out of school at 15) at a young age. I know this was the same for my older siblings. We were all working in the restaurant industry well before 18.

Smoking....oh smoking. Growing up everyone smoked. Ok, not everyone, but, in our family most did. A lot of our family, shoot our Mom, our Dad's and Dad's of the week did, our grandparents did, and being mom worked in the restaurant industry, everyone we knew did. Ha, and in the public, people could smoke everywhere....I mean everywhere. It's crazy to think back.......smoking cigarettes was so common that as kids we pretty much smoked. Meaning our parents smoked in the house, the car, when we went out to eat, in schools and hospitals....yes, in hospitals! I remember it all to well. It was simply normal in society. We would go to grocery shopping and mom would smoke while shopping. You would see people put out their cigarettes on the store's floor. As I am writing this I think back and it is crazy to think of all the places where you could smoke.