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Some things bring back so many memories they seem to take you back in time yourself; the smell of your favorite dish from when you were a kid, for instance, or a song you loved during the college years. It can also be a picture of something your generation had to deal with that would likely puzzle the current youth. A floppy disk, for example.

Loads of pictures depicting the ‘back in the day’ of one particular generation are shared on the Facebook group titled ‘Righteous Memes from Generation X’. With nearly 90k members, this public group is a gold mine of nostalgia-evoking memes that perfectly encapsulate the life of the baby boomer successors. Scroll down for the images and get ready to take a trip back in time.

Internet memes are a phenomenon that spreads like wildfire, and there’s no end in sight when it comes to their prevalence. You can create them about anything and everything, as long as there’s something on your mind. That’s why they cover topics from cat behavior to economic crises, and everything in between, including peculiarities of each and every generation.

The Washington Post pointed out that during the first seven years of its existence—from 2008 to 2015, to be exact—the page ‘Know Your Meme’ documented roughly 12,300 memes. It is difficult to determine how many of them there are now, but one thing is clear—it must be a lot.

Memes are typically witty and oh so accurate, and that can be seen just by looking at the examples on this list. Everyone with a birth date that starts with 19 followed by a six, a seven, or an eight (in the case of 1980 babies) can definitely relate to them.

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Pictures of the “remote control” from the seventies reminds them—the “remote control” in their family—of the times they’d be running between the couch and the TV to change the channel. Not to mention the nostalgia that seeing the patterns on the backs of computer game cards brings.

Nostalgia is likely one of the reasons such memes gain popularity. There’s something comforting about that warm fuzzy feeling (or a heartfelt giggle) they often bring, especially when you’re down and longing for the good old days.

According to the licensed psychologist and professor of psychology at LeMoyne College, Dr. Krystine Batcho, nostalgia is a feeling that unifies. In the podcast ‘Speaking of Psychology’, she explained that it unites “our sense of who we are, our self, our identity over time”.

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Dr. Batcho pointed out that we’re constantly changing, which makes us way different from what we used to be, whether it’s three years or decades ago. By encouraging us to remember past events, nostalgia unites us to the authentic self and allows us to compare it with who we are now. This way it also helps us to get a sense of what version of ourselves we’d like to be in the future.

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ShaZam Beaubien
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wow ... I feel like I have been called out ... I don't want to think about the punctuation.... and maybe I'm a little dramatic for no reason

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Medical News Today’ revealed that the term ‘nostalgia’ was first used to describe being homesick. It derives from the ancient Greek words nostos (home) and algos (pain), and was coined by physician Johannes Hofer back in the 17th century. He used it to describe the adverse feeling Swiss soldiers had being away from home.

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Adam King
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Any pennies I found, I got to keep in my giant crayon eraser. When it got near the top, it was time to buy more Crash Test Dummies action figures.

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Marcos Valencia
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was 5-6 yo, so everybody at the high school was at the end of their lives for me.

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Home is typically something dear to our hearts, a place we miss while being away and can’t wait to come back to (after the day at the office, especially). That’s why it’s not that surprising that the origins of the concept of nostalgia can be traced back to longing for home.

Science Friday’ revealed that nostalgic memories typically involve cherished moments or time spent with loved ones. They usually evoke joy, a sense of belonging and meaningfulness in life. And that’s a state every person is likely to feel fond of.

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Miss Frankfurter
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I got to know the routine of shows usually watched each evening. If it’s Tuesday at 8pm it’s “Combat” on channel 4, after it’s over I promptly get up and change to channel 7 for “Maverick”. I didn’t need to be told. I just got up and did it. Auto tune. Who new? A kid ahead of my time.

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Marcos Valencia
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When I watch Back to the Futore II, I'm always 16 yo and it's 1989. So, 2015 is clearly the future. It's great watching Starwars Return of the Jedi and being 10 yo again!

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Bringing positive emotions is one of the reasons people tend to feel nostalgic when they’re feeling blue. Clay Routledge, a social psychologist at North Dakota State University, told ‘Science Friday’ that people rarely ever choose to recall memories of mundane events, such as going to work or paying taxes.

Instead, they think about the special moments, such as weddings and graduations, or the people they love. That’s how, according to Dr. Routledge, nostalgia helps people deal with negative mental states. Bringing back beautiful memories becomes a coping mechanism, in a way.

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James016
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Weird Al is a treasure. It's a sign you have made it when he parodies your song.

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When it comes to generation X, they have plenty to feel nostalgic about. Due to the rapid pace of technological development and other changes in, well, basically everything, the world as we know it now is far from the one they grew up in. And adjusting to change is not always easy. That’s why it’s understandable to look back on the good old days, seeking the warm embrace of something familiar—recalling an image of a toy from one’s childhood or food grandma used to make, for example.

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BatPhace
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Stayed up late just to watch the world burn and wouldn't you know it nothing happened 😆

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In addition to the Gen X memorabilia, this list is brimming with descriptions of situations oh so familiar, as well as numerous pop culture references. For instance, the youth nowadays might not be able to name the movie by looking at a picture of the ‘Grease’ cast; however, it would take no more than a blink of an eye for a Gen X representative to do that.

And that’s just one example of a topic they would likely excel at. For more all-things-gen-X, browse this list previously shared by Bored Panda to see what things people consider the most representative of this generation.

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Marcos Valencia
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was using a chainsaw at 13 yo; now, I'm buying Lego plants for my office at 50 yo. So, yes.

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VonBlade
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I brought Appetite for Destruction after hearing the first 40 seconds of Paradise City. It started, I got my shoes and went immediately to do the shop. I probably had the LP in my hand before the song had finished.

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Kimba
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Aren't we still plugging in a whole bunch of wires into the back of our TVs?

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ShaZam Beaubien
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's when you held your head down ... sprayed a ton of hairspray ... and turned on the hair dryer. Bye Bye Ozone.

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That’s a whole lotta Gen X packed into one pic.

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LittleWombat
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Lmao! I love the payphone in the house!! Someone who doesn't know better will believe it, you know!

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ShaZam Beaubien
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well, that advice wasn't followed. Gen-Xers don't read instructions.

Donkey boi
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As "The Forgotten Generation", we were used to having to work things out ourselves.

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jdtimid123
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It obviously wasn't good instructions, considering it usually fixed the problem.

Nikki Sevven
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Then why did it actually work? (Also, I still have my grey box Nintendo, SNES, and Sega Genesis...and they all work.)

Donkey boi
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Holy fecking f**k! Is that genuine? Did it really say that? I had no idea!

Hobby Hopper
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Only that's a Nintendo 64 cartridge (3rd gen), and blowing was mostly done with the original 8-bit Nintendo.

Amy Bindokas
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ha! Got out the N64 the other week when siblings came over and yes I did blow into it

Tahani
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That’s. It a NES cartridge tho, those were the ones to blow in the most

Alecto76
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oops I was positive that was how to fix it - sometimes it worked

Blondie23
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

um, they didn't want us to do that because they knew that would fix it and they wanted us to have to buy new cartridges. We knew better!

Maryanna Baldridge
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Did they NOT want it to work? Blowing was the only way to solve that life problem.

JL
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We didn't ignore all the rules. For instance, I never once cleaned my games with benzene.

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Geoffrey Scott
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Traumatic when my daughter was no longer allowed to wear her PWH tee shirt. "Why daddy?"..."He did something wrong, hon"

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Spam Jam
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Isn't this Johnny Knoxville's childhood photo from Jackass 3's end credits?

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ShaZam Beaubien
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Nothing beat waiting in line for a perfect point on a pencil. You started with 5" and ended with 2".

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Marcos Valencia
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well, we were on Motörhead... My mother liked Mötley Crüe! But, thinking on this... she was 35 at that time.

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The Original Bruno
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In case you don't get it, that's 2023 Academy Award winner Brendon Frasier, Golden Globe winner Steve Buscemi and some guy named Adam Sandler.

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Kimba
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ugh, these things still exist in my kid's favor bags from his classmates.

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Andy Resh
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My children called me a liar when I told them grandpa made me wear bread bags over my socks instead of taking me to Kmart to buy new boots!!!!

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Marley Nachi
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The clothes transformation was not good. I wish they just let her be herself, even if she evolved on the inside.

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Marcos Valencia
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Many of us even have pictures with a cigarette in our hands. Like an adult costume, I guess.

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Kira Okah
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

All the Small Things? Wasn't that 1999? I would say more relatable to Y than X, given that would be their teenhood, but eh.

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Dawn Marie
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is how old I am~~Not 20 minutes ago on the news they started talking about him and I thought Oh please don't let him be dead. We just lost Harry Belafonte yesterday. No, he was just coming to Cleveland. I remember him at the height of his career. I was secretly in love, but never told my husband!! LOL!!

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Marcos Valencia
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's not a "scooter", it's a Vespa. Some respect! My adolescence passed on one like this (but black).

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VonBlade
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As per the previous time this was in a list, purple range is the joke I guess, although we call them cookers/ovens.

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