Why Gen X is the Bridge Between Boomers and the New World

Boomers: The Last Bastion of Old World Values

I love hanging out with Boomers and The Silent Generatoin. For all their flaws, real or imagined, they remain the last bastion of old world sanity, common sense, decency, stability, and work ethic in a chaotic and sometimes (often) soul-sucking new world.

The Role Boomers Played in Shaping Our World

They are the ones who were raising, teaching, and guiding us during the 80s and 90s that we simp for so hard. Life was great then, and we sometimes forget that they were the ones in charge of all the things we reminisce about like safety, home cooked food, Pizza Hut nights out, and caving in to our pleas to buy us a Walkman or Tiger Beat magazine.

They are the ones who allowed us to play outdoors until the street light came on in the summer, who dropped us off and picked us up from the community pool and bought us corn dogs afterwards, and drove us to Blockbuster to rent VHS movies on Saturday night. In other words, the times Gen X and Millennials wish we could time travel back to, and that Gen Z secretly wishes they could have been a part of and tries so hard to emulate in their fashion and beauty (though, IMO, brown 90s lipstick never did go out of style).

Boomers built the world we loved growing up in, and honestly, we owe them more than a collective eye-roll when they struggle with streaming services or don’t understand why anyone would pay $7 for a stinking cup of coffee(!!!) when "in my day" $7 got you a steak dinner with drink and a dessert. (To be fair... we don't understand it either but we do it anyway.)

Why Boomers Deserve More Than an Eye-Roll

So yeah, maybe Boomers don’t always understand memes, and maybe leave voicemails when a text would do, or can't figure out how to access "the" Facebook. But Boomers are the reason we even know what an amazing childhood looks like—one filled with freedom, adventure, and the kind of memories we’d trade every last Wi-Fi signal to relive.

As much as I'd love to say, Long live Boomers! I can't. Because the fact is, they are slowly leaving us, and their parents, The Silent Generation, are dwindling rapidly. Today I spent time at the senior citizen monthly tea at church with my mom and our church family, mostly boomers. At 11 a.m., of course. It was a wonderful time.

Many of the moms who used to shush us during church service, bring us to Saturday night socials at the church gym, cook and bake for our fundraisers, chase us around when we'd be bouncing off the walls, and kept us from self-destructing - yeah, those moms - are now moving slowly, many on walkers, including my mom who has dementia (but whose faith and love of church activities is as strong and sharp as ever).

Why I’m Glad I Grew Up Pre-Internet

I often look back on my childhood with a sense of nostalgia for a time when life wasn’t ruled by technology. I’m so glad I grew up and came of age in a pre-internet world where we had to learn how to think, reason, use our imagination, verbally describe, and problem solve on our own. In a world without the internet, every task—whether homework or figuring out how to entertain ourselves—required some serious brain power—and often time lots of elbow grease. In the absence of instant access to information or constant distractions, we had to use our hands for much more than scrolling, and make decisions for ourselves and figure things out the hard way.

Technology? if I wanted to talk to my friends at night, I’d have to grab the rotary phone from another room, plug it into jack in the wall in my room, and hold my breath, hoping my parents wouldn't wake up if it rang. Our text messages were were hand-written notes, folded up into intricate chonky triangles, and passed in class with the hope that the teacher didn’t catch you. Ghosting? What’s that? Want to know what happened in the latest episode of your favorite show? You’d better wait until the next week, or take a gamble with a rerun.

No, we didn’t have immediate access to all the world’s knowledge or entertainment at our fingertips, but we didn’t need it because it never occurred to us that anything was missing. We simply waited—just like the Boomers did—and that was just part of life. Thinking, waiting, and rolling with the punches. Apart from our Walkmans, Gen X and Boomers shared an analog world. The essence of our lives—slow and intentional—was more alike than different. Perhaps that’s why we are much more like them now than we care to admit.

Will Gen X Carry Forward What Matters?

As I watched my mom and her friends at the church tea, it struck me how nostalgic and endearing it was, but also sobering. These faithful, battle-worn but sassy and plucky warriors—my mom and her generation—won’t be with us much longer. And it made me reflect: Gen X, we are fast becoming the new Boomers, whether we like it or not. We are the bridge between old-world sanity, fun, common sense, work ethic, and basic decency, and new-world adaptability and vision. The question is: will we carry forward what truly mattered from the world we grew up in? And how will we continue shaping the one we’re handing down?

We grew up analog, mastering the transition to digital—from vinyl records and cassettes to CDs to MP3s, from clunky shoulder-mounted video cameras to sleek camcorders, and eventually, smartphones, leading into an almost entirely digital world. And here we still are, navigating the space between the past and the future, figuring out how to keep what matters while adapting to what’s next.

Embracing the "Get Off My Lawn" Energy

As I reflect on the legacy of Boomers and Gen X, I realize I’m embracing the best of both worlds—holding onto the values that matter while adapting to the new age. Personally, I’ve fully embraced my rapidly approaching boomer era. I want to be the voice of old world sanity, faith, common sense, decency, work ethic and encouragement to the younger generation. And I also want to be the sassy old lady who rubs in their faces how cool the 80's and 90s were "...and you weren't there..." 😝

At this juncture, I realize I'm an eclectic cocktail comprised of equal parts Boomer "get off my lawn" energy, Gen X resilience, Millennial eye rolls, and Gen Z idealism. And honestly? I live for "get off my lawn." Because some things are worth holding onto—like decency and order. And because, ultimately, someone has to shake their fist at the sky to remind the world that 'slaying' isn’t a skill you can put on your 483rd job application this month... and please turn down that god-awful new music while you're at it.

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Originally published on Twitter (‘cuz yeah… I’m old school an refuse to call it X)