The Karen, aka the speak to the manager haircut
I apologize for the radio silence lately. I’ve been heads down, finishing the first draft of my fifth novel. Working title is Silent E and the Hilarious Anonymous. It’s what happens when a shy journalism student turns to an online network of alter egos to promote herself. When she learns how easy it is to sway public opinion, she gets busy–rigging prom.
That isn’t all I’ve been up to. Regular readers know about my weekly Pegman flash fiction posts, and today I did my first post on Medium.
Check it out: Are You There Zoomers? It’s Me, Karen
If you’ve been following the Okay, Boomer movement and Karen-calls-the-manager-meme-ery, you might find it fun.
Thanks for stopping by. Stay gold, my lovelies, and I’ll see you in December with another update.
k. Rawson 
My advice: don’t take the bait.
iGen (aka GenZ) will judge us, disqualify us, dismiss us, and call us what they will regardless of our opinions or situation. Especially when many of us happen to be their parents.
If they want to pin the world’s problems on us, they’re going to.
Never mind that GenXers are currently the most likely generation to be living off-grid in developed nations. We constitute the largest generational group of active backpackers, hikers, and nature lovers. We account for the overwhelming majority of hybrid and electric vehicle purchases. And though we use our phones and laptops more than any other generation, we’re the ones largely providing said tech to GenZ (while also explaining it to and fixing it for Boomers).
I’ve been fighting the good fights since I was iGen’s age. And being sandwiched between the Boomers and Millennials–two generations that have demanded far more recognition/power than our own–it hasn’t made one bit of difference.
Here’s a fact, there are fewer Gen Xers than any other thriving generation of Americans. My high school graduating class was the smallest in a span of 45 years. Current classes are twice our size.
We’re a stopgap. A transition. An “also in attendance”.
I call us the stretch generation, painfully bridging the gap between the Boomers and iGen. Holding on for dear life and struggling through half-measures and weak transitional policy (like PPACA) until the Boomers let go of the reins and the Millenials/Zers will pick them up forcibly and start whipping. Likely to GenX’s detriment and expense.
We’re doomed to be forgotten in public policy due to our demographic insignificance and some unlucky timing.
Your visions of the future are disconcertingly expected, though you forgot to mention the likely taxation of our ROTH earnings, the presumably unavoidable depletion of Social Security funds, the bankrupting of Medicare, and of course, the probability that we’ll be living out our sunset years in the midst of climate chaos the likes of which humans haven’t seen since before recorded history.
So we’ve got THAT going for us…which isn’t nice.
(steps off soapbox, pours a drink…a stiff one)
So fine, blame us, blame me, blame whomever. I did, said, and wrote what I could and no one was listening.
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Yeah, well that’s us in a nutshell, isn’t it? Nicely said.
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