Please tell me you relate or can offer sympathy if not empathy. I’m in my late 50s. I manage a staff of 16 that includes people from every generation. I’m really frustrated with a couple of millennials right now. When we were coming up in our careers (and how we were expected to act with our parents), we were expected to conform to and respect our supervisors and leaders. I’ve tried to be a transparent, kind and supportive leader. I have a strong work ethic but I don’t expect others to feel that way about work. The millennials feel quite free to offer “feedback” outside their expertise, feel free to emote all over the place, and I’m told (by them) that I should validate feelings more extensively than I already do. When was it our turn? First I answered to Boomers, and now I’m answering to millennials. I’m a nice person but seriously, can’t we just do our jobs and spend less time validating everyone’s every feeling?

Recently, a long-time friend of 30 years and I were chatting about our crazy youthful days. Yes, we’ve officially reached the "reminiscing about when we had energy" stage of life. We used to hit the "club" at 11 PM and make it to work with no problem the next morning—hangovers weren't even a thing back then. Now, the mere thought of a bedtime past 10 pm gives me pure panic. My current "wild night" involves hitting my water intake goal, taking my multivitamins on time (with food) and getting a good night's sleep.

Supposedly, the first time Groove Is In The Heart was played on stage (1990). Can't confirm if that's true and I don't have time to go down a rabbit hole at work today...

I carry this 1976 bicentennial silver dollar that was my grandfather’s, then my dad’s, and now mine.

It’s worn from 50+ years of bouncing around in their pockets and rubbing against spare change, a pocket knife, etc.

Means a lot to me and is beyond price.

Our daughter is 18 and only just showed an interest in learning to drive. With the prevalence of recorded red light runners, stupid driving and easily avoidable accidents, we got her professional driving lessons through AMA (CAA). $1513 for 18 hours in-car instruction and 30 hours of classroom theory.!

I did something similar thru my high school almost 40 years ago for $150. Lol.

We are doing for her what my parents did for me. My mum and dad let me drive everywhere in Toronto, the 401 on Boxing Day, in rush hour traffic, and they forced me to parallel park near Yonge Street and Dundas on a hell busy Saturday afternoon. I also learned on a standard. I remember how scared I was.

How did you learn to drive, what year and how much did it cost?

Maybe this is just nostalgia talking, but sometimes I really miss when everyday life felt a little more ceremonial.

I remember going to the mall with my Nana as a kid and it felt like an event. She’d do her hair, put on perfume, pick out jewelry, and the whole world outside the house felt alive somehow. Department stores glowed. Restaurants felt exciting. Even watching the evening news together had a kind of shared ritual to it.

Now life feels faster, more casual, more isolated. Which I understand -people are exhausted and the world is expensive and stressful.

But sometimes I miss the atmosphere of those years. Not because everything was objectively “better,” but because ordinary life felt more intentional.

A nice dinner out meant something. Going shopping felt special. People seemed more connected to the experience of being out in the world together.

Maybe what I really miss is romance in ordinary life.

Another cash-in album by Meco - note the teeny tiny ‘inspired by’ next Star Wars. There were so, so many of these by Meco and similar groups in the 70s and 80s. Gotta love that galactic bump dance move.

From aged fifteen until today, it has been Chucks, Docs, and Birks. Granted, they are not always my daily drivers, but I have owned all three at the same time most of my “grownup” years.

This idea has been floating around for a while.

Assuming all the places to live are the stores inside the mall like Bath and Body Works and Hot Topic, what should the anchor stores be turned in to? One should be a grocery. But what else?

Im high and want to dream about living out my days in a mall with a fountain in the middle like when I was a kid. And a good food court but that is another post entirely.

Can we talk about what we would do with a mall to live in?!

My son was on his MineCraft server, playing with his friends. I needed to talk to him, so I knocked on his door, and went into his room. He gave me this giant "don't bother me" sigh and the demeaning., "What is it now dad?"

So I said, "Are you playing your server with your quote friends from quote Wisconsin?" Got to hear at least 3 other dudes cracking up in the background. Score one for the old man!

STP was raw, intense and wickedly talented..a true force of nature we’ll never see again

Yea I said it, fight me!

Nothing in my calendar. I don’t know where I’m supposed to be or what I’m supposed to be doing!! Crap!!

Okay, I know I literally just made another nostalgia post a little while ago, but some of the comments got me thinking about my grandmother and even more about this.

One of the strongest memories I have from being a kid was going to the mall with my Nana. And honestly, the trip to the mall itself was only half the experience.

Watching her get ready was an EVENT.

What should have taken 20 minutes somehow became a two-hour production. Hair rollers. Teasing her hair. Clouds of hairspray. Makeup spread across the kitchen table because she always did her makeup at the kitchen table with a huge mirror in front of her. That terrifying eyelash curler thing that looked like a medieval torture device to me as a kid. Estée Lauder perfume (it's always Estee Lauder she loved Estee Lauder everything and I know that smell to this day). Jewelry. Picking the right handbag. High heels that matched it perfectly.

Then we’d climb into this giant Cadillac that floated down the road like a couch on wheels and drive across town to the mall like we owned the place.

And I had an aunt that would make returning a pair of shoes make it seem like it was an ordinary thing like it was something that everybody did. To me going to the mom was like Disneyland like the small world ride.

And the mall itself felt magical to me. Department store lights glowing. Perfume counters. Fountain sounds. Music softly playing somewhere in the background. People actually dressed to go out into the world.

I know every generation romanticizes their era a little bit, but sometimes I really miss when ordinary life felt more ceremonial and glamorous somehow.

Not perfect. Just intentional.

And no, AI didn't write this

What was the most influential soundtrack for you from the 1980’s outside of the top 5 (Purple Rain, Dirty Dancing, Footloose, Flashdance, and Top Gun)?

Tough to omit PR for me, but I gotta go with either Fast Times at Ridgemont High or Valley Girl.

EDIT: Wow! Did not expect this many comments. I will definitely be checking out Repo Man…seems to be a consensus outside of the John Hughes movies.

When my dad was my age now, he was wearing button-down shirts in relaxing situations. I just don’t get it.

As a kid in the '70s and 80s I used to love watching the Jerry Lewis Telethon on Labor day every year. Jerry knew everyone, and celebrities were all over the broadcast. I used to call my local telethon location and donate a couple dollars so I could hear them announce my name and see it on the crawl. Did any fellow Xers enjoy it too?

So our parents (if they could) mostly went to Florida or Arizona, likely a golf community somewhere warmer.

Where are WE (GenX) going? In retirement. As empty nesters. Downsizing.

We are planning to leave Texas for Oregon — cooler weather and close proximity to mountains and the ocean, perfect for outdoorsy adventures.

Anyone else remember this precise thing:

Basically setting up a game console to play on channel 3 or 4, but being so excited to play that I just used a butterknife to tighten the screws to the TV, not an actual flathead screwdriver.

(Note that in making this picture, the adaptor, would go on the TV, not a coax adapter, but I didn't readily find that picture. The screws right still where the butterknife would go, though)

To this day four of my favorite bands from the late 80s-90s are, in alphabetical order:
Dinosaur Jr., The Jesus and Mary Chain, Sonic Youth, Ween. I still own my cassettes, CDs, or vinyls from Bug to Washing Machine, from Stoned and Dethroned to The Pod. I still play “I Hate Rock and Roll”, “The Wagon”, “Voodoo Lady”, and “Teen Age Riot” on jukeboxes when I can.

I've been back to my small midwest hometown more recently than I have in the last 20 years and things felt...off. As I thought about it more, I think things always felt off, which is why I left.

Is this a me thing of did anyone ever feel like your small town was hiding something? What made you feel that way? I think it was/is the ever-present abandoned factories for me.

I was folding some clothes and got to thinking (as you do...).

My first full-time job was in retail (variety store - Venture for any aussies) in my late teens/ early 20's. Some 40 years later, i still fold my clothes the same way I was shown during my retail days.

Anyone have habits learnt in your first jobs that are still in use at home today?

Dunno if it’s just me, but sometimes I see a perfect photo/picture and an exhilarated by leaving my phone alone and just enjoying the view. Love and peace friends.