Generations of Pipe Smokers on Here

[Dusk]

This forum is one of the few places on the internet where more than 2 generations of people interact. That alone makes for some interesting discussions to say the least.

Anyhow, this poll is just out of curiosity as I've seen more of my peers (millenials) take up pipe smoking but I don't think they've migrated off YouTube yet. You could probably guess the age ranges based on post content but, there's a lot of lurkers out there that may change that. (sign up and say hi already!)

Edit: I added The Greatest Gen as I honestly didn't know what the name was and didn't want to just put "other". Gen Z is there as it can describe 90s kids depending on the study. This thread is actually the first time I heard the term Xennial but will keep the options limited otherwise we get into Doomers, Bloomers et al.

(I'm surprised at the results so far)

 

[chilllucky]

Just for reference:

Boomers born were born between 1946-1964.

Gen X 1965-1984

Millennials 1982-2004

Gen Z To be Determined (mostly below legal smoking age anyways)

 

[Waning Embers]

I have an aversion to contributing to statistics.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

I fall directly between Boomer and GenX, and I don't really identify with either categories. My parents self-identified as Boomers, as they were born right after WW2, to returning vets. But, Gen X seemed to be about drugs, lack of generational identity, and the search for slack. It brings to mind the movies, Slacker and Mall Rats. Plus, the whole Gen Y and Millennial overlap. They just seem to me to be terms meant to imply more than just when someone was born.

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Weird how as a child of the 80’s I’ve always considered “Millennials” anyone born after 1995. Basically anyone who started high school after the iPhone hit the market is 100% “Millennial”, so I guess that puts the cutoff for GenX around 1992.
I would put my vote on Gen Y but I can’t bear the thought of being categorized with Millennials.

 

[Dusk]

I fall directly between Boomer and GenX, and I don't really identify with either categories. My parents self-identified as Boomers, as they were born right after WW2, to returning vets. But, Gen X seemed to be about drugs, lack of generational identity, and the search for slack. It brings to mind the movies, Slacker and Mall Rats. Plus, the whole Gen Y and Millennial overlap. They just seem to me to be terms meant to imply more than just when someone was born.

I left out specific ages as I also feel the same way. I suppose a general mindset is a way to distinguish rather than going by birth year. The ranges vary across different sources anyways so I leave it to individuals to choose what suits them best.

Weird how as a child of the 80’s I’ve always considered “Millennials” anyone born after 1995. Basically anyone who started high school after the iPhone hit the market is 100% “Millennial”, so I guess that puts the cutoff for GenX around 1992.
I would put my vote on Gen Y but I can’t bear the thought of being categorized with Millennials.

I too, cringe at the term but it is what it is. Some charts I'm Gen Y, in others I'm a filthy Millennial but most people lump them together so the poll is simplified.

 

[seldom]

What about Xennials?
As far as describing people as belonging to a generation, I think that only the boomers make sense. Boomers are a large cohort born at the same time. Otherwise it is a continuum.

 

[Patrick_Green]

I'm 1993 so technically I'm a millennial. But Im one of those ancient millenials that can tell tales of the old days to the youngins:

Old crotchety voice
"Come gather 'round the snapchat children, and I shall tell ye the story of dial-up and the landline."

...Logging into compuserve will forever be ingrained in my brain. The horrid fax sounds followed by a bot voice: "Welcome to compuserve, you have mail!"

 

[lawdawg]

What about Xennials?
As far as describing people as belonging to a generation, I think that only the boomers make sense. Boomers are a large cohort born at the same time. Otherwise it is a continuum.

Lots of truth there. I was born in 1985 which would make me an "Xennial" which I've recently read is somewhere between Generation X and Millennials. I remember when the term "Millennial" first came into use maybe around 2008 or 2009, and I and many of my same-age peers made fun of those dang Millennials with their participation trophies glued to their technology gadgets. At that time, "Millennial" seemed to refer to people born sometime in the early 90's or later.

My demographic group had previously been referred to as "Generation Y" and our defining feature was that we all lived an analog childhood and a digital adolescence and adulthood. My life as a little kid was not very much different from my mom's and dad's in the 50's and 60's. We rode bikes without helmets or adult supervision, played outside, didn't have "helicopter parents", didn't receive participation trophies, still played dodgeball in gym class, came home when the streetlights came on, etc. Technology advanced rapidly when we were young, but I didn't have the internet until I was 13 or 14, and I didn't have a cell phone until I was 16. I didn't have text messaging for several years thereafter, and even then, texting was not a primary means of communication. Back when I was in college, if you got a girl's phone number, you still had to call for a date. Texting first would've seemed like wimping out. Now if you called first instead of texting, you'd look like you're either out of sync with social norms or getting too personal too fast.

Anyhow, I and a lot of people around my same age were not happy to be ex post facto lumped in with Millennials and we never really identified with the Millennials description to begin with.

 

[bluegrassbrian]

I was born in 1983 so depending on who you ask, I straddle three different generations.
Ultimately I identify most with X.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Wow, I just assumed that some of you guys were close to my age. This is interesting, as I am recalling some conversations. Not bad, but interesting to re-access some things. Uggg, I am getting to the age when most of the time I am the oldest guy in the room, ha ha. But, hopefully a few others have a few years on me. puf

 

[seldom]

I was born in 77. I was sent to university with a word processor (a glorified typewriter). Never saw nor had email until I went to University, only had an email in my sophomore year. First time I saw the Internet was at university. Never had my own computer until after well after I graduated with my bachelors degree. I have still never owned a smart phone.

 

[autumnfog]

Born in 1980. Quite skeptic to this iphone society we live in today.

 

[cortezattic]

I can remember Harry Truman as president; party line telephones; and tong-wielding icemen delivering "refrigerant" on their shoulders.

 

[tbradsim1]

1943 here, baby when Truman was president, going on 77, don’t know what bracket I fit in. Next dog I get I’ll name him after me, his name will be USELESS.?

 

[jttnk]

Solid Gen X 1970. I feel a lot like Lawdog

My life as a little kid was not very much different from my mom's and dad's in the 50's and 60's. We rode bikes without helmets or adult supervision, played outside, didn't have "helicopter parents", didn't receive participation trophies, still played dodgeball in gym class, came home when the streetlights came on, etc.

It seems pre technology life was, simpler, better, idyllic? (I am not suggesting this w as LD’s sentiment)
I try hard not to sound like “back when was a kid... things were better... I am not100% sure that’s always true. I do believe that technology is a blessing and a curse. We have to find the balance with it. Human history is very long and technology as we know it today is blip on the screen (pun intended) as far as time is concerned. However the breadth of its influence is unparalleled. I think we need a lot more time to figure out how to live good lives with it.

Back to pipe smoking! For those that see it as a hobby, not just a nicotine delivery system (and that’s cool too) I think some of the draw is the slower idealization of a previous generations past time. It slows us down and makes us feel pre tech age.

Good thread, interested to see what each generation posts.

 

[cortezattic]

Brad, you belong to The Greatest Generation, and it shows.

 

[chilllucky]

The Atlantic article I copied that chart from takes great pains to explain that none of these designations of terribly meaningful to individual lives nor agreed-upon by whomever is attempting the categorising.

 

[sablebrush52]

It seems pre technology life was, simpler, better, idyllic? (I am not suggesting this w as LD’s sentiment)

Pre technology life, meaning pre-digital life, meant lots slower. Mail took days, sometimes weeks. If you wanted to get in touch with someone sooner than that you made a phone call from a land line phone and if they didn't answer, you couldn't leave a message. The world wasn't delivered to your door constantly, nanosecond to nanosecond.
Many things were not simpler because it took more effort, and sometimes expertise to make something of quality and to get something done. Technology enables mediocrities to achieve at levels they couldn't dream of without it by smoothing the path.
Digital technology has brought about profound and pervasive change in many fields, in social practices, and has provided many conveniences for people. All you have to do is give up your privacy.
At the studio I'm certainly among the oldest people still working, which is fine by me, and is kind of flipping the bird at ageists. I enjoy mentoring younger artists, and as a by-product am also learning about a society that is becoming almost alien in its embrace of technology to unmoor it from any need, or even desire, to be real.

 

[lawdawg]

Solid Gen X 1970. I feel a lot like Lawdog

It seems pre technology life was, simpler, better, idyllic? (I am not suggesting this w as LD’s sentiment)
try hard not to sound like “back when was a kid... things were better... I am not 100% sure that’s always true. I do believe that technology is a blessing and a curse. We have to find the balance with it.

That was indeed my sentiment puf

Finding the technology balance is a challenge, and I think in many ways we are failing to find that balance. We all know about how people can get sucked into it, and we've all seen pictures of people nominally sharing a meal but all staring at their phones.

My wife is quite a bit younger than me, but we both fondly recall the pre-smartphone 90's, and I've made up a tradition at our house which I call "90's Night" which means putting away the laptops, iPads, and smartphones, and just hanging out together. Television is the pretty much most modern technology we use, but of course with modern streaming services. I declare a 90's Night sometimes when I can tell she's feeling stressed or hasn't had a very good day, and the normal human interaction that naturally occurs in the absence of smartphones and computers always seems to have a calming effect.