XENNIAL

Apparently, I’m a Xennial. That’s someone on the cusp between Generation X (which I really thought I was) and Millennials (of which I really thought I wasn’t).

But no! 1977-1983 saw the birth of a group of people with a unique relationship to the changing world. We had Encyclopedia Brittanica on CD-ROM for help with our GCSE coursework, but we missed out on MSN Messenger (which wouldn't have helped). We grew up with Knight Rider and Airwolf, but we were too old for Power Rangers. We got phones in our twenties, and we remain consistently and happily, too old for Snapchat and TikTok.

How do they work out the boundaries for these generations? And is it defined by our relationship with tech and TV, as I implied?

In theory, a generation is the cohort of contemporaries who are the offspring of the previous lot. In other words, one generation is inside the classroom, while the previous one is waiting to pick them up. (Meanwhile, the previous previous generation are at home watching Cash in the Attic with the volume turned up.)

But my parents (Boomers) had children over the course of fourteen years! So, two children squarely in Gen-X, one Xennial (me) and my little sister, who, I think, is a classic Millennial. How can one generation produce children in three different ones? The boundaries are sketchy - which is probably why you end up being defined by the signs of the times you grew up in, instead of the classical definition.

These labels are useful for social historians, I suppose. They serve as a handy shortcut for explaining why people of particular ages voted for Brexit, why there’s existential doubt among so many Ys/Millennials, and speculation about the impact of the world on Zs, Alphas, Covid Babies or whatever comes next. Labels reflect trends (although imperfectly) and they give you a framework for someone that might help you understand them better.

Anyway, it turns out I’m in the micro-generation, the sweet spot between X and M - with my memories of Dogtanian and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, my analogue childhood and pre-digital happiness. I had to call my friends on their house landline and ask their parents (excruciating) if they were in, I got my first email address at university, and I happen to think of plans as solid and immovable until changed, rather than a fluid arrangement of whim and fancy that you can do whatever you like with on your smartphone.

Actually that might explain why I’m not sure about the boundary lines of generational constructs. I like solidity. And I’m less than comfortable with the way the world is changing so quickly - and how that’s inevitably going to lead to more specific definitions of generations and micro-generations in the coming years. That intransigence about change puts me closer to the Gen-X boundary than the Millennial one. Which given that I was born at the beginning of the xennial spectrum (1978) probably means the whole thing rather holds up.

But it is just a label.