Generation X

Hi. I’m Tom and I’m a Gen-Xer. Most people have forgotten about us. Seriously. It’s okay. We’re fine with it. Just a friendly reminder. We were the latchkey kids. The kids who smoked candy cigarettes, built death-defying launch ramps out of dilapidated plywood, invented Grunge music, had school detention on Saturday mornings, and occasionally had to extract a Jart from our friend's foot. We are the real “fuck around and find out” generation.

The most popular writing advice I’ve ever received is, “write what you know” and if you’ve read Acapulco or The Potato Puff Surprise, you know I write about quintessential Gen X themes. In Acapulco, Simon and his friends ride their bikes all over town and have sleepover parties with no parental supervision. Zero, zip, zilch, nada. There are numerous run-ins with bullies in The Potato Puff Surprise. In fact, the story culminates when our Gen X hero (yours truly) reaches his breaking point and drops a tarp filled with construction debris from the top of a house onto our Baby Boomer villain down below. That scene was so much fun to write.

I recently watched comedian Karen Morgan breakdown every generation, and she absolutely nailed Generation X. Here’s one of my favorite lines from the bit:

“Millennials, it's not your fault that you're big goobers. It's not. It's because your Star Wars had Jar Jar Binks in it.” 

Morgan’s standup is must see TV. Check it out.