We all have our quirks. And collectively, we each have something strange about our generation. Rooted in our childhoods and the times in which we were brought up, we have developed weirdness in our cohorts.
Here are, by my estimation, the weirdest things about each living generation.
Silent Generation: Weirdly Frugal
Silents grew up during the Great Depression or shortly after and they learned from experience and through their parents that the ultimate sin is waste. As a result, Silents purchase little and reuse what they can. They are sometimes described as miserly and even tend to hoard.
Baby Boomers: Weirdly Self-Centered
The Baby Boomer generation was born into a time when society felt the focus should be on the children. Coupled with the rising standard of living in the post-WWII era, Boomer children were given everything their parents could manage to provide, whether that be attention, material gifts, or opportunities. The focus on themselves, their needs, and their desires was something Boomers got used to.
Generation X: Weirdly Enjoy Invisibility
Contrary to the Boomer generation, Gen X were children during a time when society was focused on adults. They grew up with the responsibility of entertaining, if not essentially raising, themselves. As a result, they became somewhat self-involved and internal. The entire generation is introverted, making little noise about themselves. While marketing and industries have largely ignored them, they aren’t offended or even slightly upset. Rather, they are tickled and amused by their utter invisibility.
Gen X has earned some unique opportunities. Read here: Why Gen X Can Make Their Dreams Come True
Millennials: Weirdly Financially Insecure
Despite what some older generations claim about Millennials, they are far from lazy and more than capable. The weird thing about Millennials is they require, or at least perceive that they require, far more income for financial security than other generations. They are also unwilling to sacrifice preferences and luxuries, seeing some unnecessary items as necessities, exasperating their perceived minimum financial requirements.
Curious about what different generations perceive as ‘enough’ income? Read here: How Much Money Do You Need To Be Relieved of Financial Stress?
Generation Z: Weirdly Short Attention Span
Attention spans have gotten shorter and shorter over time, but nothing compares to the attention half-life of a Gen Zer. Studies place it at 8 seconds, maximum. If you haven’t gotten Gen Zs attention in the first 5 seconds, you might as well just start over. On the plus side, this quirk that makes Gen Z short on focused attention, also makes them shockingly mentally agile.
Gen Z may turn out to be quite an impressive generation. Read here: Gen Z Will Be Innovators
Generation Alpha: Weirdly Obsessed With Looks
A strange trend amongst Gen Alpha is beauty care routines. That doesn’t sound so strange until you remember that Gen Alpha is mostly prepubescent. And yet, social media is overrun with 12-year-old evening skincare and morning ‘brightening’ routine tutorials. They’re all about GRWM videos (For us older folks, that means Get Ready With Me). Just have a look at their dominant slang terms and note how many of them are focused on looks, maximizing looks, attracting partners, and standing out physically.
Need to know more Gen Alpha Slang? Read here: 30 Gen Alpha Slang Terms
These are just my opinions on the weirdest things about each generation. Agree or disagree? Leave a note in the comments.
Just for fun, also check out this chart about generational stereotypes.
Generational Stereotypes Chart
Curious about the U.S. Presidents and what generation they came from? Here is a list.