We’re the bridge generation

Someone asked how we are doing. I, too, wonder why Gen X doesn’t come up in pop culture conversations. I don’t have an answer, but I think we are the bridge between the analog and digital worlds.

Learned math with pencil and paper. Now there’s a calculator on my phone. Bounced around the station wagon. Now I have seat belts, airbags, and can talk to my car. Had a little book for phone numbers. Now I don’t have to remember a single one. Wrote college papers on a typewriter. Now I barely print anything from my laptop.

We are also the bridge between a world that felt fairly safe (at least for most of us). Fears of nuclear war were real, but didn’t affect us day to day. We grew up as “free-range” kids. No one scheduled play dates. We had fire drills, not active shooter drills. You dealt with bullies face to face, not online.

We could get college educations without being saddled with massive debt. (I graduated with $7K in loans.) We could afford starter homes. (Mine was $160K with 5% down payment.) A modest new car was under $10K.

I think most of us have transitioned to the digital world pretty well. But we fear for our kids, the millennials and gen Zs. I wouldn’t want to be a young person now.