upworthy

comedy

Joy

Nate Bargatze expertly explains 'Xennials' and why they can't quite relate to other generations

If you've ever felt like you're too old to be a Millennial and too young to be Gen X, this is for you.

commons.wikimedia.org

Nate Bargatze performing stand-up.

There's the Boomers, the Millennials, Gen X, and now the Xennials. Never heard of Xennials before? You're not alone! It just so happens, the term Xennial first appeared in an article for GOOD Magazine by writers Sarah Stankorb (who coined the term) and Jed Oelbaum. It was described as "a micro-generation that serves as a bridge between the disaffection of Gen X and the blithe optimism of Millennials." Other unique terms have come to describe this group (roughly figured to have been born between 1977-1983.)

These include The Star Wars Generation, The Oregon Trail Generation, and Generation Catalano, (the latter suggested by Slate writer Doree Shafrir in reference to Jordan Catalano on the hit 90s TV show My So-Called Life.).

During his recent Netflix is a Joke special, comedian Nate Bargatze gave us the reasons Xennials are truly awesome and unique. Here are a few hilarious takeaways from Nate's bit on the topic:

Growing up as a young kid felt safe.

nate bargatze, nate bargatze special, millennial , xillennials, best comedian, millennial humor Kids playing outside, nary a care in the world. Photo credit: Canva

"When I was a kid, it felt like the 50s. You'd go outside and your parents just didn't know where you were. We went to school to school and played Oregon Trail on a computer at school! No one had a computer at home - it's like what are you a Zillionaire?"

They still had privacy.

While Nate confirmed he got AOL, a home computer, a beeper and a cell phone in high school, he didn't have social media until he was 26 with Myspace.

nate bargatze, nate bargatze special, millennial , xillennials, best comedian, millennial humor Be honest, how cringey was your AOL screen name? media4.giphy.com

"Whatever I did in high school is a rumor. It can't ruin my life!"

You are equally impressed and disappointed by other generations.

On a hotel stay, the Chromecast on his TV stopped working so he called the front desk. "The oldest voice I ever heard answers the phone. This guy was a Civil War survivor. I mean, he was the age where you just go 'Thank you for your service.' So I tell him my Chromecast is not working and I could have just made up a word. I mean, he's never heard of that. I could have said 'My beep bop broke.' He goes, 'Look, I don't know what this is. But there's a younger guy, I'm gonna send him up, he'll be able to help you."

A guy shows up, Nate mused, and he's "his dad's age." Nate immediately determined that if he can't fix it, this guy can't either. "But he's the generation that still wants to give it a try. So he comes into my room, sits on my bed, just a little too far back, I thought."

He then said the guy grabbed the remote and just started pressing everything. Nate suggested, "I'm gonna turn the shower on, open a window, let's try everything!"

The "pressing all the buttons" tactic shockingly doesn't work. Nate shared that the guy finally says, "Alright, there's a younger guy. He's about to come to work. And at this point, I'm like 'I'm the younger guy, man. It's alright dude, I don't need it.' And he goes, 'No, no, no, it's a Millennial." And I was like 'Alright, now we're getting somewhere. This is what the Millennial does. He was born with technology, he's gonna know how to fix this!"

So the guy said the Millennial will arrive to work in an hour. And Nate quipped, "Let me tell you. You know how quick that Millennial fixed it? Well, I'll never know because he just didn't come to work that night."

And guess who relayed this message. "I found out because the old guy called me. He was supposed to fill in for him. He was furious, dude. He hates that Millennial. He goes 'He never comes to work. He doesn't take it serious. He's got a peanut allergy.'"

In the end, it took a Xennial to figure it out. "I ended up fixing it myself, because it was just unplugged. So that's yeah…that's my fault."

Watch the full bit below:

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Just like Generation Jones, Xennials have unique qualities that don't necessarily fall in to either surrounding age group. If you tend to not really relate to your prescribed generation, it might be worth seeing if you relate more to those lesser known age groups in between.

This article originally appeared in February

From Your Site Articles
comedy
JoyHumor
Internet

Guy put a weird Tinder exchange to music. Now it's a hit anthem for baffling questions.

Warning: You might be singing "I have one daughter" to yourself for the rest of the week.

Photo credit: Canva

"I Have One Daughter" has become an unexpected summer anthem.

Have you ever had a conversation with someone who simply didn't make sense? You said something, and the other person responded in a way that didn't fit at all with what you said, but no matter what you say, they don't seem to get why the exchange is confusing. So then you're left scratching your head and wondering if you are one who was confused in the first place.

We've all been there, and now we have a theme song that exemplifies the phenomenon. And strangely enough, the lyrics come from a real but weird Tinder dating app conversation, which makes it all the more hilarious.

tinder, confusion, i have one daughter, weird conversations, john travolta Tinder is a dating app where you get matched with strangers of your choosing. Giphy

A guy who goes by Lewky has been putting all kinds of bizarre Tinder conversations to music on TikTok. Still, one text exchange that starts with a man asking a woman if she has any kids and quickly devolves into chaos has gone mega viral. Not only have there been over 17 million views on the original video, but people continue to use the audio to create their own videos tailored to their own baffling conversations.

Here's how the original conversation went:

"Do you have any kids?"

"Yes, I have one daughter. How about you?"

"How many baby daddies do you have? if you don't mind me asking."

[…]

"I have one daughter."

"I understand that, is she by the same father?"

"I don't understand…"

@lewky____

This guy needs a math tutor #datinglife #funnysong #tindermusical

The song is catchy, no? People loved it, but this video isn't where many first heard it, as it quickly became a meme song that people attached to their own videos, portraying conversations they've had that feel like this.

For instance, a woman who has biracial kids with two different skin tones used it to illustrate conversations she's had with people who can't seem to grasp the way genetics work and who assume her daughters must have different dads.

@rubyselena123

blows my mind people don’t understand how genetics work 😂 #ihaveonedaughtertrend #biracialkids #toddlermom #momof2

Another woman used the song to share conversations she's had with people about her background as a Nigerian and her ability to speak fluent English. She explains that English is the official language of Nigeria, but people still compliment her on how well she speaks English and assume she must have learned it elsewhere.

@cynthiadieyi

Inspired by real life events 🥰 #firstgen #expatlife #fyp #foryourpage #foryoupageofficial #explorepage #ihaveonedaughter #lipsync

There are countless videos of people sharing how their racial, ethnic, or national identities seem to confound people. One woman used the "I Have One Daughter" song to illustrate ICE harassing Puerto Ricans.

"Several incidents involving federal agents, reportedly from Homeland Security (DHS) or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), have occurred at or near the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture in Chicago, prompting claims of intimidation," she wrote. "And this how I imagine it went."

@cartoonyourmemories

#doyouhaveanykids

(Apparently, a lot of people don't understand that Puerto Ricans are American citizens who can't be deported.)

The song has branched out to all kinds of conversations about very niche topics. For instance, here's an exchange inspired by real events between an anesthetist and a surgeon who seems to think breathing movements somehow negate complete paralysis.

@triciapendergrastmd

Inspired by real events… #ihaveonedaughter #residentphysician #anesthesiatiktok #surgery #trending #fypシ゚viral #fyp #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp

There are numerous versions of the "I Have One Daughter" song meme, and they're giving people life (while simultaneously giving them an earworm that they are almost guaranteed to be singing to themselves all week).

Lewky has created an extended version of the song, which is available on streaming music services. It just expands the confusion by listing off a bunch of celebrities who have daughters, saying those daughters don't all have the same father, as if that explains the argument being made. No, it doesn't make sense. That's the entire point.

@lewky____

I Have One Daughter Extended Version Feat Sad Alex is now out and streaming everywhere!!! Thank you @sad alex for adding her awesome vocals and writing to this song! #funnysong #comedysong #datinglife

Aren't humans just delightful?

You can follow Lewky on TikTok for more Tinder conversation tunes.

From Your Site Articles
humor
InternetPop Culture
Pop Culture

Writer Aubrey Hirsch asked what's a 'universal thing men like' and got hilarious answers

Apparently throwing rocks off a cliff ranked high on the list.

Photo credit: Canva

She concluded that "I don’t actually know any men in real life."

Writer and illustrator Aubrey Hirsch jokingly asked her followers on Twitter what’s a “universal thing that most men like?” because she was writing a comic and “just realized I don’t actually know any men in real life." The tweet inspired an avalanche of funny responses.

Hirsch is the author of “Why We Never Talk About Sugar,” a collection of short stories, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, Child, American Short Fiction and Time.

The interesting thing about the responses is that they weren’t the typical stereotypes about men. She didn’t get a ton of people talking about sex, sports or toxic masculinity. Instead, there were a lot of folks that mentioned very specific male behaviors as if they were talking about a bizarre species they discovered in the wild.

There were, undeniably, two things that got the most comments on her post. First, men enjoy watching construction sites. Evidently, the phenomenon is so popular in Italy that there is a specific word for this type of person in Italian.

When asked why men enjoy watching construction sites so much, a poster on Reddit had the perfect response. "I just find it really satisfying and interesting to see the process behind things being built," he wrote.

The other beloved male activity is throwing heavy objects into bodies of water. Preferably, as large a rock as possible, and as deep a body of water as possible, and getting to throw from the highest vantage point possible.



Gotta, say, as a man—I have seen dudes do this and I have done it plenty of times myself.

Here are a few more fun ones:


(When we do this 99% of the time we’re pretending that the sign is 10 feet high and that we have the ability to dunk a basketball. There are two types of men, those that can dunk and mere mortals.)

This one is near and dear to my heart. I can’t tell you the number of hours I have spent with my friends just throwing lines from “The Big Lebowski” back and forth.

“Nice marmot.”

“The Dude abides.”

“Say what you want about the tenets of national socialism, Dude. At least it’s an ethos.”

A movie that's running up the ranks of being among the most quotable is another dude buddy pic, "Once Upon a Time ... In Hollywood."

"All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?" ... "Rick, it's a flamethrower.”

Lastly, we'll never pass up the opportunity to say hello to a complete stranger wearing our exact same hat, or re-live some sports-related glory days.


Okay, everyone is an individual human. but there is certainly a lot to laugh at, and connect to, with this list.

This story originally appeared two years ago.

From Your Site Articles
funny
Pop CultureInternet
Humor

Gen X is trying to come to grips with getting 'old.' It's not going so well.

We are NOT prepared for Salt-n-Pepa to be played in the doctor's office waiting room, thankyouverymuch.

The Holderness Family/Facebook

Gen X is eating dinner earlier and earlier.

The thing about Gen X being in our 40s and 50s now is that we were never supposed to get "old." Like, we're the cool, aloof grunge generation of young tech geniuses. Most of the giants that everyone uses every day—Google, Amazon, YouTube—came from Gen X. Our generation is both "Friends" and "The Office." We are, like, relevant, dammit.

And also, our backs hurt, we need reading glasses, our kids are in college and how in the name of Jennifer Aniston's skincare regimen did we get here?

gen x, getting older, jennifer aniston, friends, midlife We're not ready. Giphy

It's weird to reach the stage when there's no doubt that you aren't young anymore. Not that Gen X is old—50 is the new 30, you know—but we're definitely not young. And it seems like every day there's something new that comes along to shove that fact right in our faces. When did hair start growing out of that spot? Why do I suddenly hate driving at night? Why is this restaurant so loud? Does that skin on my arm look…crepey?

As they so often do, Penn and Kim Holderness from The Holderness Family have captured the Gen X existential crisis in a video that has us both nodding a long and laughing out loud. Salt-n-Pepa in the waiting room at the doctor's office? Uh, no. That's a line we are not ready to cross yet. Nirvana being played on the Classic Rock station? Nope, not prepared for that, either.

Watch:

Hoo boy, the denial is real, isn't it? We grew up on "Choose Your Own Adventure" books, for goodness sake, and it's starting to feel like we made a wrong choice a chapter or two back and suddenly landed our entire generation in a time warp. This isn't real, is it? Thirty years ago was the 1970s. That's just a Gen X fact. So what if we've lived long enough for our high school fashions to go out of style and then back into style and then back out of style again?

Seriously, though, we can either lament our age and stage in life or we can laugh about it, and people are grateful to the Holdernesses for assisting with the latter. Gen X fans are also thrilled to see their own experiences being validated, because at this point, we've all had that moment in the grocery store or the waiting room when one of our jams came on and we immediately went into a panic.

gen x, midlife, getting older, grocery store music, middle age It's a dark day at the grocery store when the music of your youth comes on. Photo credit: Canva

Fellow Gen Xers commiserate in the comments:

"They were playing The Cure in the grocery store and I almost started crying. I mean, how 'alternative' can you be if you're being played in Krogers? You guys are great! Thanks for making us laugh."

"When I turn on the classic rock station I expect the Doors or CCR not Soundgarden or Nirvana."

"I couldn’t believe it when I heard Bohemian Rhapsody being played in Walmart. That was edgy in my day."

"I know!!! Bon Jovi at the grocery store!!! That was my clue in!!"

gen x music, bon jovi, middle age, midlife crisis, getting older Bon Jovi isn't supposed to be "classic rock." Giphy

"That horrifying feeling when I realized that when I play Nevermind for my kids now in 2024, I’m playing them 33-year-old music, but when my dad played the Let It Be for me in 1984, it was only 14-year-old music."

"The first time I heard my jams on the oldies station I cried. I'm not old! I just have to take a picture of something to blow it up so I can see it better with my readers but everyone does that. Early dinners? Hey I'm hungry by 5 why wait."

"Long live Gen Xers! We have to be strong!! We can get through this together!! #NKOTBmeetsAARP"

Hang in there, Gen X. We didn't build up all that resilience and attitude in our youth just to fall apart at this point. Let's own this stage like we invented it and make it as cool as we are.

You can find more from the Holderness Family on their Facebook page, their podcast and their website, theholdernessfamily.com.

This article originally appeared last year.

From Your Site Articles
gen x
HumorJoy
Trending Stories