upworthy

gen x

Humor

Gen X parents challenge their Gen Z kids to put a cassette in a boombox and the struggle is real

"Have you given him a phone book or a map?"

Canva

Cassette tapes next to a boombox. A Gen Z-er is frustrated.

There seems to be no shortage of generational videos where kids try to grasp the technology their parents grew up with. It's impressive that they even want to learn, and it's always fun to watch.

In one delightful clip, a Gen X dad (@dakydd07) dares his Gen Z son to put a cassette into a boombox. That's it. That's the entire assignment. With the chyron reading "When Gen Z user meets Gen X device, part 1" we see a young man sitting on his bed holding the box like he was an alien discovering a puppy. We hear the voice of his dad say, "I had him plug in the cord, which that took about a minute to find out where it goes."

The young man continues picking at the boombox. The dad leans over and says, "Now the main objective is to take this cassette…" He then shows an old cassette tape that he explains is an "old mixtape" he made years back. "Put it in. Rewind it to the beginning and press play."

One problem though. The Gen Z-er can't get the door of the boombox open. "You're supposed to press down. I know it's supposed to go in there," he complains. The dad tries to help. "You're sure there's not a button? On top?" This is helpful because lo and behold, he finds it.

The father isn't all that impressed. "Yes. The one that says eject." The kid tries a number of ways to put the tape in, with the dad jokingly saying "Nope" on repeat. "Now he's really in a pickle." He keeps trying… and trying… and his efforts can't be dismissed. The dad finally offers this bit of advice: "Listen to the force."

In part two—and, yes, there is a part two though it's mistakenly also labeled part one in the clip—we have liftoff. Well, kind of. He gets the tape in, but unfortunately we don't get to hear the mixtape because it doesn't play. (This may or may not have been user error.)

Same premise: now a mom tries to get her 15-year-old daughter to get a cassette tape (of course, it's the pop singer Tiffany) into a boombox of her own. She, at first, adorably tries to stick the whole tape, while still in the cassette box, into the contraption. She finally gets it open, but gets frustrated that once she puts it in, it won't close. She eventually turns it upside down and after a little back-and-forth with her parents' help—voila!


@momma_t_75

She just doesnt know how cool it was to have your cassette tapes and boombox!! The 80’s Rocked!!!! #80smusic #80sbaby #80saesthetic #80sthrowback #boomboxclassic #cassettetape #throwback #nostalgia #debbiegibson #tiffany #rockstar #millennial #teensbelike #tiktok #fyp

She is unimpressed with the results, and when asked, "So, would you want to live in the 80s?" she gives a resounding "No" and says she prefers Spotify.

The truth is some Gen Z-ers, especially on the younger side, are drawn to what they call "dumb tech." In a piece for Ad Age, via Hello Superheroes, it's described as "simpler devices that lack the 'smart' features we’re used to today. But calling it dumb isn’t quite right—it’s the tech of the past, the foundations of today’s advancements. These are the gadgets we grew up with, and that’s where the nostalgic appeal comes in."

 boombox, cassette tape, gen x, 80s tech, old tech An old boombox sits on a table.  Photo by Dave Weatherall on Unsplash  

 

Quoting one of the Gen Z-ers they spoke with: "We want to go back to simpler times. Flip phones, devices without Instagram or constant notifications. It’s a countertrend. We've been told we’re being brainwashed by social media, that we’re addicted. So, getting a flip phone is a way to prove we’re not. It’s about showing we can live without it, that we’re still functional members of society.”

From Your Site Articles
gen x
Pop Culture

Gen Zers view periods in texts as 'aggressive.' Nope. They're not. Full stop. The end.

I'm not here for the weaponization of normal punctuation.

Photo credit: Canva, Screenshot via Annie Reneau

If you want to freak out a Gen Zer, put a period at the end of a text message.

As a Gen X mom of three Gen Z kids in their teens and 20s, there's a lot that I'm willing to concede and even celebrate when it comes to the gap between our generations. I love Gen Z's global consciousness, their openness about mental health, their focus on inclusivity, and their insistence on wearing comfortable shoes with formal wear. But there's one Gen Z feature that I simply cannot abide, and that is the weaponization of basic punctuation.

"It freaks me out when you say 'yes period' in a text," my high schooler told me one day. "It feels so aggressive, like I feel like I'm in trouble or something." I stared at him incredulously as his 20-year-old sister laughed but then agreed with him. "It does! The period makes it feel like you're mad," she said.

 texting conversation, periods in texts Misunderstandings happen when people start changing what punctuation means.Screenshot via Annie Reneau 

Ah yes, the period, the most benign punctuation mark of them all, is "aggressive." Far from being a mere generational quirk, this misinterpreting of normal punctuation in text messages as aggressive or angry could result in serious communication breakdowns. Talking by text is already hard enough, and now we're adding a layer of meaning that older folks don't have a clue about?

The kids are serious about this, though. According to Gen Zers, pretty much any time someone puts a period at the end of a text, it means they're mad or irritated, as if the period is being emphasized.

 period, punctuation, texting, text punctuation Unless you literally say, "period," a period doesn't mean anything but the end of a thought.  Giphy GIF by Sony Pictures Television 

At the risk of sounding like a dinosaur, I'd like to point out that reading into periods in texts like this is just silly. It seems silly when the young folks do it with each other, but it's extra silly when they do it with adults who didn't grow up with texting and have ingrained grammatical habits that aren't easy to shake. (And frankly, some of us don't want to shake—I'm a former English teacher, for crying out loud. Might as well ask me to start misspelling words on purpose.)

In no reasonable world can "Yes." be automatically viewed as aggressive. It's just not. Neither is "Time to get off the computer." Neither is "Got it." Or "OK." or "Sure." I understand that texting conventions have evolved such that end punctuation isn't viewed as necessary, but when did we start assigning negative intentions to very basic punctuation? A period should not be read as anything more than a matter-of-fact, neutral-toned statement, since we have other tools for conveying tone in writing—capital letters, italics, bold, exclamation points. I mean, if I wanted to be aggressive, I'd text, "HEY—it's time to GET OFF the COMPUTER!" We also have a slew of emojis to convey tone. A period is and has always been neutral. That's literally the entire point of a period.

 

I'm even willing to give Gen Z an inch on the thumbs-up emoji—they think that's aggressive, too—only because emojis are new and their meanings are up for interpretation. But a period? Not budging. That little dot has been signaling the end of people's thoughts for centuries. Periods can and do sometimes affect tone in subtle ways—"No, I didn't," hits slightly differently than "No. I didn't."—but their basic inclusion at the end of a thought in no way signals aggression or anger, by text or otherwise. Not on Gen X's watch, at least. This is one generational hill I am willing to die on.

 mic drop, making a point This Gen Xer will not be swayed.  Giphy Parks And Recreation Mic Drop GIF 

These unwritten rules of texting seem to have been concocted by Gen Z, but when? And how? Who decides these things? Is there a group of super powerful and influential young adults who put out a bat signal at some point saying that periods are symbols of aggression? If the young folks want to play the reading-into-basic-punctuation game amongst themselves, making communication much more complicated for themselves, have at it. But please don't ascribe intent to us old fogies who've had "declarative statements end in periods" ingrained in us since elementary school.

Texting wasn't always like this. When texting first became a thing, using periods in them was pretty normal. As more and more people started dropping them (and capitalization—another deep English teacher wound), I held firm to their usage, mostly out of habit and feeling like my texts were incomplete without them. As my kids got old enough to text and informed me that periods are viewed by their age group as aggressive, I reconsidered. Should I stop using them, giving in to the tyranny of Gen Z's overthinking? Should I keep using them, embracing the fact that I'm old and set in my ways?

 texting, text punctuation, aggressive punctuation, periods in texts Periods are just periods.Photo credit: Canva

Ultimately, I landed on sometimes using periods in texts and sometimes not—a compromise between my own rigid grammar rules and Gen Z's seemingly senseless texting rules. Except only using periods sometimes just confuses my kids even more, which is hilarious. Is Mom mad? Is she not? My daughter said she just has to remind herself who is texting, knowing that I—and most of my generation—simply don't use periods aggressively.

Seriously, it's not happening. Not now. Not ever. Period.

This article originally appeared in February.

From Your Site Articles
communication
Humor

5 generations competed to see who’s the funniest. Gen X won and some Boomers have complaints.

"Every generation thinks they are the funniest. They're all wrong."

Canva

A comedian sits on a stool and tells jokes.

Before anyone gets offended, of course there are hilarious people of every age in every generation. That's just a fact. But a lot of people are biased in believing that their generation—from Alpha to Boomers—are definitively the funniest. The popular longtime web series Good Mythical Morning decided to put it to the test by bringing a comedian from every generation to participate in a game show. A "joke-off," if you will.

  - YouTube  www.youtube.com  

Hosts Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal welcome their guests, calling it the "laugh clash zone," and they immediately get to business. First we meet Adley Jones, representing Generation Alpha (born between 2010–2024). Next up is Teig, who announces he's Gen Z (b. 1997–2010). Then we have Jared Kassebaum in for the millennials (born 1981–1996). Next down the line is Amanda Cohen, who is Gen X (1965–1980). And last, but far from least, is Michael J. Carmichael, the baby boomer (1946–1964).

The way the game works is all of the comedians are given a topic of which they must write and tell a joke. It's a little more complicated, but for the purposes of "which gen wins joke contest"—we'll leave it at that. There's a small judging panel and a tiny studio audience, who mostly (frankly) seem bored, despite all of the comedians being adorably eager and funny. The topics the hosts can choose from are: AI, Trader Joe's, Disney adults, PDA, Cybertrucks, and "a wildcard joke."

 comedy, laughing, audience, funny, gen People in an audience laugh.   Giphy GEICO 

Rhett is asked to choose the first topic, because of course, "he's taller." He chooses Trader Joe's. The comics deliver their best "What's the deal with Trader Joe's?" material, and while they all offer some interesting points of view, it's decided that the audience and judges responded most favorably to the millennial. (He tells a fun joke about Trader Joe's requiring their employees to have dainty tattoos.)

But there's much more to come. Three more rounds, and the comedians start loosening up. Gen Alpha takes the AI round with her "incel" joke, while Gen X strongly wins in the Cybertruck category by spelling out the word d-bag. Lastly, the hosts choose "wildcard" for the final round, wherein the comedians can choose whatever material they want. Everyone brings their A-game, but "based on the loudest laughs in the room," Gen X takes it again. (Personally, I was partial to the Gen Z-er, but to each their own!)

@dailymail

Which GENERATION has the best humor?! #generationz #genalpha #millennial #newyork #nyc #interview #timessquarenyc

The comment section perfectly exemplifies how it's fun to support ALL generations in the name of comedy. One person notes of the Gen X-er, "Amanda was the best come-from-behind I've ever seen. I liked Teig and Jared a lot more at first but she ended up slaying me in the later rounds."

Another commenter points out how tough the crowd was, especially the young girl in the front. "It took Pokémon twerking to get that lil girl in the crowd to laugh."

Some admit that what they found the most humorous doesn't fit with their gen. "I'm 22 years old and realize I have boomer humor." Another confesses, "The incel joke was so unexpected I spit coffee onto my work monitor. That little girl wins the whole episode!" (Let's hope their work monitor didn't explode.)

In over one thousand comments, every single comic got lots of love and support, but Boomer Michael J. might just have gotten the most. "Michael J was robbed!! So underrated, he deserves more love than this!!"

  - YouTube  www.youtube.com  

Of course, this is only one small group of comedians on one small day. For a larger sample size with more famous comedians, Netflix Is a Joke compiled their own "who said it better" montage. Safe to say they all brought their respective houses down. Bo Burnham, Mark Normand, Ronny Chieng, Christina P, Patton Oswalt, Nate Bargatze, Jordan Rock, Mae Martin, Iliza Shlesinger, Michelle Wolf, Tim Dillon, and Jo Koy all give their insight on generational humor—and it's top-notch.


From Your Site Articles
comedy
Humor

Gen X latchkey kids share their funniest and most frightening 'home alone' stories

"Did so much hitchhiking.... so stupid."

Image via Canva

Gen X 'latchkey kids' share funny stories about being left home alone.

Generation X, those born from 1965 to 1980, are also referred to as the "Latchkey Generation." Known as 'latchkey kids,' many Gen Xers grew up returning from school to an empty house due to working parents, and let themselves in with latchkeys. All that time home alone was filled with mischief, games and exploration that have become great tales.

On a Reddit forum primarily populated with Gen Xers, member @FloresPodcastCo asked fellow readers, "Tell Me Your Most 'This Could’ve Gone Really Bad' Latchkey Kid Moment."

They went on to share, "I’d love to hear how you almost died, blew something up, nearly burned down the house, sliced something off, barely escaped a swarm of African killer bees... whatever else probably wouldn't have happened if you hadn’t been left home alone at 9 years old."

Gen X has plenty of stories to share. These are 16 of the funniest, scariest, and most shocking 'home alone' latchkey kid stories they had to tell.

 latchkey kids, latchkey kid, latchkey experience, kids 80s, kids 70s latchkey kids GIF by Dylan Morang  Giphy  

"I was about 11 (so this would’ve been around 1986), playing with my G.I. Joes and pretending that our entertainment console -- the one that held the TV and stereo -- was COBRA’s secret base. This console had those little silver tabs you could move around to adjust the height of the shelves. Well, one of those tabs was missing from the front of the shelf the TV sat on. Why it wasn’t missing from the back so the TV could rest against the wall, I’ll never know. You’d have to ask my mom. Anyway, I was kneeling in front of it, staging a full-on assault on COBRA, when -- either I bumped the shelf or something shifted (nearly 40 years later and I still don’t know what actually happened) -- the TV tipped forward and started to fall. I was strong enough to catch it, but not strong enough to set it down gently. So I fell straight back, landing on the floor with the TV balanced on my chest and stomach, arms wrapped around it in a death grip to keep it from crashing to the ground. And I just… stayed there. For probably an hour. Eventually, my mom came home from shopping with my little sister and found me like that. I was fully expecting to get the shit beat out of me (that's how punishments were doled out at our house), but she burst out laughing when she saw me laying there with the TV on my chest. That definitely saved me. We went to the hardware store later that week to pick up some replacement tabs for the shelf." —@FloresPodcastCo

"I’d forgotten my house keys and calling my parents was pretty much calling for a beating. So I climbed out on the ledge of the 11 story apartment building where we lived, shimmied to my room window and cracked the lock securing the grill, climbed in and went about my day. I was 12. F*cking stupid lucky f*ck." —@Exact-Estate7622

"I used to climb on anything; buildings, light poles, those huge electric transmission towers, rocks, mountains, etc. Also used to dig into dirt and sand banks and have small caves collapse on me. Jumped off the roof (once) with a sheet for a parachute (didn't work, broke shrub). Set house on fire (just the outside, put it out, sanded off charred bits). Set garage floor on fire, put it out, garage floor spalled and got all rough. Threw JARTs at my step-brother who threw them at me; JART scar on foot. Cut my own arms swinging around a sword I sharpened (was in my 20s). Broke open thermometers, played with mercury. Melted lead and poured into crude molds. Cut a power cord off of a lamp so I could plug it in and have power for experiments. Stuck needles and pins through my fingertips and under my finger nails (that really hurts). Practiced holding my palm over a candle to get used to the pain (like in Kung-Fu tv show)." —@Far_Winner5508

 mercury, liquid mercury, mercury gif, mercury thermometer, mercury video mercury GIF  Giphy  

"OMG, love this. We were at the Fontainebleau Miami beach and I was locked out of our room. There for a work convention so I figured if the neighbor (coworker of my parent) could let me in to their balcony I would simply hop down to our room and let myself back in to the room as we had left towels drying on the balcony. Should have been super easy to find our room, right????!! Nope, someone had pulled the towels in that we had drying. I walked in to the wrong room, interrupted er, adult activities and freaked a couple out. Lol, I don't even remember if I ever got to our room!" —@lisavfr

"Neighbor kids and my little brother were playing with gasoline and matches in the back yard. They started a small fire against the house and freaked out running home. I put the fire out with the hose and went back inside to play some Atari. 15 minutes later firemen knock on our door asking about the fire. 11 year old me looked them in the face, said 'I don't know what you're talking about' and closed the door. Our house was pretty shitty. We found out the hard way that touching our fridge and our stove at the same time sent electricity pulsing through you. So, for fun, we'd wait for someone to touch the fridge and grab them while holding the stove." —@mr_yuk

"My brother used to start fires with a magnifying glass. One day he was showing our younger cousin how it worked and the adults came home so he ran out to greet them and left little cuz to tend to the fire. Luckily yours truly could always spot when he was up to something so I quickly sussed it out and excitedly alerted the authorities. Did not work out how I was hoping as bro did not get into trouble but I sure got did, for snitching." —@mamapello

 magnifying glass, magnifying glass heat, magnifying glass light, magnifying glass gif, magnifying glass prank magnifying glass gif  Giphy  

"When we were 13-14 we used to go to this one kid’s house to do bong hits in the basement because his parents were never around. We quickly learned that if you were barefoot and touched the door handle of the old refrigerator you’d get lit up good. So naturally any new degenerate wanting to hang out with us had to grab the sodas. Of course only after being informed of the strict no shoes policy in the house. We really were assholes and it’s amazing how many of us survived." —@Smilneyes420

 bacon, frying bacon, bacon gif, fry bacon, make bacon sizzle GIF  Giphy  

"My sister was frying up some bacon for the first time. Caught fire. We remembered seeing that PSA with Hal Linden about putting a lid on the pan." —@ProStockJohnX

"Fell through the ice while exploring. I was walking on a frozen pond that a little creek ran into. Decided to check out the creek and wham! Fell through up to my chest. Was wearing heavy winter coat etc. I panicked a little bit but managed to climb my way out and onto ground. I walked back I don't know how far, shivering in frozen clothes. Made it home, stripped and curled up on top of the heat register. Shook me up." —@Practical-Bar8291

"Did so much hitchhiking.... so stupid."—@ CanadianBertRaccoon

 hitchhike, hitchhiking, thumbs up, catch a ride, hitchhiker hitchhike  Giphy  

"On the 4th of July, on my (now) wife's street, the neighbors all shot off fireworks. I found a bunch of older ones in my closet, so I brought them along. One of the Jumping Jacks went up and totally took off down the street. We laughed and thought nothing of it. Until a car drove by, stopped, backed up a bit, then drove forward to us and said, "Did you guys know that house's driveway is on fire?" We ran over and looked. The JJ landed in their big plastic trash barrel and ignited it. Thankfully, not their house. We doused the fire and took off (there were no cars in their driveway, so they weren't home). I'm guessing they came home to their melted trash bin and were like 'F*CKING KIDS! WHY WOULD THEY LIGHT OUR BARREL ON FIRE?'" —@mbadolato

"My parents were out doing something and my brother and I were playing hockey or basketball or something in the driveway. One of us needed to go inside for something so we were about to punch in the garage door code. Before doing so, I told him to grab the door handle and go for a ride. He never let go. Due to angles and whatnot he managed to get his head and shoulders stuck between the garage door and the frame. He just dangled there for a while."—@ coolguymiles

 garage door, garage door gif, open garage door, close garage door, garage homer simpson sharing GIF  Giphy  

"I would get random rides with people at the park where I got dropped off after school. They would take me to the convenient store to get drinks and snacks. No way I would let my kids if they did that now, lol." —@WiseAce1

"That time 10 year old me wanted to grill hamburgers outside but there was a storm. My solution was to put a small propane grill on top of the stove and turn on the exhaust fan. I thought I was a genius. Yeah. It was an electric stove and didn't vent to the outside. The house filled with smoke and every alarm went off. And I'm sure high levels of carbon monoxide too. The grill flared up like crazy and I damn near started a kitchen fire. The burgers sucked. And we didn't have hamburger buns. Only square wonder bread."—@thisfriggingguy

"street golf. we found a set of clubs and balls and, yeah...." —@BridgestoneX

From Your Site Articles
gen x latchkey kids
Trending Stories