'Remember having pen pals?': Gen Xers weigh in on the things that make their generation stand out

Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor

Nov 5, 2023 5:00 PM EST

Each generation has things that make them unique, and collective memories that bring them all together. That's especially true for people who were born between the 1960s and 1980s, who spent a lot of time together playing outside and exploring the world by bicycle.

U/Ruffffian asked the latchkey generation about the things that define them, and people had some excellent answers. Some people wrote in about the fashion trends of the time, like poofy hairdos teased to perfection and sprayed with a lot of Aquanet. Other people reminisced about playing video games at the arcade, or calling in to radio shows to request their favorite songs. Then, once they heard the tune being played on the air, they could record it on a cassette tape to jam out to later on. The kids these days don't even know how good they have it now that basically every song in the whole world is at their fingertips!

Take a stroll down memory lane with these great answers below. After that, this data analyst realized their access to data was revoked, so they just started sending hundreds of help desk tickets to get the IT team to finally listen to them.