2008
Generation X Dads
From Sunday’s New Zealand Herald, Hard Times An Abstract Idea for Gen X by Deborah Hill Cone:
I had lunch at Prego last week. It had been a financial car crash of a week, but judging from the browsing and sluicing going on, it wasn’t the end of civilisation as we know it. Maybe everyone was adopting a stoic Battle of Britain attitude: if Armageddon is a comin’ one may as well go out with a bang and a bottle of Bolly. Either that, or Generation X – I am 41 and a Depeche Mode fan – has never really known proper financial misery so it hasn’t quite sunk in….
“…Then I got to thinking about Generation X, my generation, the generation cursed with enough memory of the 60’s/70’s Utopian experiment so that it’s difficult to accept the world of Zero Tolerance and perpetual war at any cost. The generation that had to suck it during one of the worst economic downturns of the 20th century. A lost generation stuck between the easy world our parents had and the lucrative world the kids after us had…”
“My friend’s gift to me in her parting was an outbreak of rare lucidity…The dark storm clouds hover over my landscape, but their sharp edges make shapes that are beautiful to my eyes. The trees glow softly with the life within them, the dying leaves of the past season bright and vibrant as they scatter in the wind. The cool air tastes clean, and even the rudest driver on my commute is sacred, their car a miracle of human potential…”
Over at Little Red Wagons, a Generation Xer writes about getting older. He writes:
“I very much look forward to having all of my time for myself, not squandering away in some day job (financial and health fingers crossed, of course).”
An HR person has defined for the world what Generation X (among others) is and isn’t. If you’ve read one, you’ve read them all. At least we exist. Here’s what I liked from writer Bonnie Burke: “Generation X were born between 1961 and 1981. They are stereotypically reactive. Defining events and trends: Watergate, stagflation, latchkey kids, single parents, MTV, AIDS, computers, Challenger, fall of the Berlin Wall, glasnost, and Wall Street frenzy.”
“Core values, derived from those events: Diversity, thinking globally, balance, technically savvy, fun, informal, self-reliance.
“Personality: Risk-takers, skeptical, family-oriented, bosses as colleagues, and focused on the job, not work hours.”
Us dads have come a long way. My dad rarely spent time with us. I didn’t really get to know him until after I graduated from college.
Jenx67–I so agree with you on Gen X dads–we really changed the role of both parents in the family today–and that is such a good thing.
I also applaud what you wrote about not minding getting older. I am actually enjoying getting older–not the wrinkles of course, but feeling more comfortable in my own skin–and feeling more peace and serenity than I did in either my 20’s or 30’s.
Great post today!
Melinda
BKN: I agree! What Gen Y can count on from Gen X is not getting trashed by them. Your generation will do even better than we are doing. And, that is the way it should be. Hey – there is debate coming up between Neil Howe and some guy who wrote a book about Gen Y – “Dumbest Generation.” Fourth Turning is a book about your generation. Check it out!!
Some of us non-Gen X’rs spend just as much time with our kiddos! 🙂
Love you Aunt J! Happy Birthday!