On the Cusp

[meredithp]

A couple of days ago, I rambled about age and belonging. It turns out there are reasons I feel this way. Actual reasons!

Wait, What, I’m a Millennial? was written by a woman born in 1983, but it expresses my feelings well. Part of the problem is that not only do I have two separate cohorts in completely different generations, but I was born on the line between them. I may feel like an impostor when claiming membership in either group, but that's because demographers can't decide which one I belong to.

Generation X is commonly described as from the early 1960s to the early 1980s. Okay, that's me, early 1980s. Millennials, sometimes called Generation Y, are usually said to be from the early 1980s to the early 2000s. But wait...early 1980s again. So I am either the youngest possible Gen X'er, or the oldest possible Millennial. Huh? No wonder I'm confused, man.

Frankly, I think the decision is mine. As the NYT author says, it's more about how I've lived my life than a damn number on a spreadsheet.

I realize this is all a lot of navel-gazing, but what else are blogs for? Thank you, dear reader(s?) for indulging my rambling.

Comments

[allah-sulu.livejournal.com]

I was born on the same day as Kurt Cobain, which means I'm pretty securely Generation X.

[nosrednayduj]

I'm either an early Gen X or a late Baby Boomer. I kind of idenitfy with the boomers more, though.

[sunnydale47.livejournal.com]

They've always identified the Boomers with an exact year, supposedly 1946. But the baby boom didn't really ramp up until 1950 -- of my friends in my cohort, I've always been the oldest. But although I'm close to the cusp, I've never identified with the so-called Greatest Generation. Other than a few songs from the 40's that my mother used to sing around the house and a few popular songs from the early 50's, I mainly grew up with rock 'n' roll and I don't remember life without a television set.

My friends are in a wide age range too -- though obviously the range is higher than yours. They run the gamut from 50-somethings through 90-somethings.

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

I grok.

1962, so I'm either a very young Boomer or a very old Gen-Xer