Living in a house of multi-generations I have got a valuable opportunity to observe and learn how different generations behave differently. My aunt and uncle are gen X, they were born and lived one third of their life in Vietnam then moved to America. The way they think and act has been astonishing to me.
It’s common sense. What makes sense to them is not based on science but on their experience and their daily life. If they cook, they tend to use their instinct and how they saw their mothers have been doing to apply. Therefore, given a recipe, they know how much of each ingredient they should add, their judgement of “this is good” is way stronger than a precise number of amount (like 1 cup of water). Science to them can be considered as stupid many times because using instinct is faster and more reliable. If they meet someone bad in a place they may consider that place has many bad people and that I should not go there anymore. Of if a person does not meet their expectation, they either go extra miles to do it themselves or find another person. I remember I forget stuff inside the microwave several times and so they have an impression that I am careless and that next time they’d better not to ask me to do anything or if that is the case, they will remind me many times just in case. This also explain why gen X tend to micromanage.
Quality comes first. Buying things online, oh yah, “you better be careful because people can cheat you”. When it comes to shopping, gen X wants to touch the thing since they care about quality, they want to see how good it is before making the decision. If they find good stuff from a store, that store will be visited frequently. After buying something they want to see whether it works, if it does, they will be like on the cloud nine, otherwise their face will turn dark “this stuff is not good”. They don’t want themselves or even their children get anything that is bad. When it comes to people, they may want to meet in person to feel how good this person is.
Hesitate to go extra miles. They don’t want to try new things and new ways, just don’t, because they are not sure whether new stuff will work. Whenever I introduce to them anything, they tend to take a step back and verify it very carefully. When I came with my aunt to Costco to buy a hand mixer, it turns out that the store did not have what we want, then I recommended her to visit Home Depot, she was pausing a beat because partly Home Depot is not registered as a place she usually goes and partly she wants all-in-one stop shop. Don’t even talk to them about challenges, that’s way too risky. I one time shared with them that I want to bike far on the road with cars they were really worried. They want assurance and guarantee, best in front of their eyes. Therefore, it’s hard for them to be open.
Money is important. While gen Y and Z seek for experience, gen X goes for money. They have suffered from poor conditions and they want their family to have a better life. Better life for them is defined by having money to meet every family’s member’s need and that they can live comfortably. Using money to buy an experience is totally out of their mind, it’s crazy to them. For them, saving is the most important, I save today so that tomorrow will be taken care. They live today but their mind worries about tomorrow, about next day and even the day after.
Take care of your health. Over 50, being in the down slope of life, they see a clear downgrade in their health and it comes with a reflection of what they did to their health in the past which makes their current health condition. Disease is a sensitive word to them. It’s like something they don’t like but they are going to have to live with. And since there is not much they can do, they will tell their children “don’t eat this or that because it’s not good for your health”, to a certain extreme level, they can be obsessed by the way they eat.
Don’t let it be too late. Reaching their retirement, they are better than anyone realizing a truth that there is not much they can do to change something. Their energy is going down. If there is something they want to but have not got to do it, they take it a lesson for their children. Therefore, they are scare of “late”. It’s too late to do something is their pain.
Although those are what observe from gen X I interact with, they do not necessarily apply for all gen X. Depending on someone’s exposure, his way of thinking and living can be different.
