Generation X is generally defined as people born between 1965 and 1980. Ask anyone from that generation about their childhood and you’ll likely hear that nobody asked what you wanted for dinner, nobody worried about screen time, and nobody thought that a scraped knee was worth a conversation. Today’s kids have a world of comfort at their fingertips, so these small struggles might sound unbelievable. Here are the Gen X childhood “hardships” that made Gen X who they are.
- • Sitting on a phone book to reach the table.
- • Sliding down a metal slide that felt like a frying pan.
- • Pulling an empty bread bag over your socks before putting on your boots.
- • Sitting at the kitchen table until you cleaned your plate.
- • Saving weeks of allowance for a single toy.
- • Mailing in cereal box tops and waiting weeks for a prize.
- • Dangling from a rope in gym class while everyone watched.
- • Surviving the kitchen table haircut.
- • Wearing hand-me-downs with iron-on knee patches.
- • Chasing the ice cream truck with a fistful of coins.
- • Watching the TV sign-off until nothing was left but static.
