Is Gen X Officially a Dinosaur?

🦕 Is Gen X Officially a Dinosaur?

We were raised by the stoics—the “make do and mend” generation—and we raised our own kids with the FAAFO method: Fuck Around And Find Out. It wasn’t cruelty. It was clarity. Actions had consequences. Curiosity had limits. You learned by living, not by being bubble-wrapped in algorithmic empathy or endless discourse.

Our parents probably didn’t know what we were doing from about 1974 onwards. And honestly? Neither did we. We were out—on bikes, in creeks, at corner shops, in basements with cassette decks and questionable snacks. We were trusted to figure it out, and we did. Sometimes badly. Sometimes brilliantly. But always on our own terms.

We didn’t helicopter. We didn’t hover. We watched, we warned, and when the lesson landed, we were there with a Band-Aid and a grunt that meant “I love you.” That was parenting. That was Gen X.

But somewhere along the way, the world changed—and not in the ways we expected.

🧠 Cultural Drift & Generational Dislocation

We were the mixtape makers, the latchkey kids, the ones who memorized dial-up tones and burned CDs like sacred rituals. We inherited the work ethic of Boomers and the quiet resilience of our grandparents—but without the pensions, the property, or the public respect.

Now we live in a culture of curated outrage and performative compassion. Empathy is algorithmic. Privacy is quaint. Irony is misunderstood. And the FAAFO ethos? It’s been replaced by “talk it out,” “validate the feeling,” and “don’t shame the child.” All noble in theory—but in practice, it often feels like we’re raising kids to fear discomfort more than failure.

We didn’t want to be harsh. We wanted to be honest. But honesty, it seems, has been rebranded as trauma.

🦖 Are We Dinosaurs?

Maybe. But not extinct.

Gen X is still here—quietly caregiving, quietly working, quietly remembering. We whisper truths in a world that shouts opinions. We adapt, even when the culture forgets us. We hold the line, even when the rules change mid-game.

We’re the generation that knows how to fix a leaky tap, decode a passive-aggressive email, and survive on toast and dignity. We remember what it meant to be raised with consequence, and we wonder: Where did it all go so wrong?

Maybe it didn’t. Maybe we’re just the bridge—between stoicism and sensitivity, between analog and digital, between FAAFO and “let’s unpack that.”

And let’s be clear: Gen X is not to be messed with. We’re really too old and tired to care—but that doesn’t mean we won’t burn it all down if pushed. We’ve been underestimated before. That’s how we got so good at surviving.

We’re not extinct. We’re evolving. And we still have stories to tell.

Co-authored by socialspaceblog.au and Microsoft Copilot. This piece blends lived experience, generational reflection, and cultural critique to center the invisible labor and legacy of Gen X.