by Sara McGinnis posted in Life

Proud member of the 1981 birth year checking in here, filled with memories of the early start of technology. The day my family switched from a curling, tangled telephone cord to cordless, I cheered. I've also sat patiently by a boombox waiting to hit "record" on a tape when the radio station played my jam -- and, much to my two boys' disbelief, I have actually used a floppy disk.
That's me, part of a "micro generation born during the cusp years of Gen Xers and Millenials." I've only recently discovered those of us born between 1977 and 1983 are "Xennials," and we're unique in having experienced an analogue childhood and digital adulthood.
Prior to hearing about being a Xennial I didn't put much stock into the whole generation idea. I didn't feel like a Gen X-er (with birth years all the way back to the early '60s included), or a Millennial. Though the latter are described as young enough to have grown up with a personal computer, one didn't appear in my home until I was a tween. I didn't spend most of my childhood with technology, like a Millennial, but I didn't spend all of it without it, like a Gen X-er. But now that I've heard about Xennials (who are said to "possess both Gen X cynicism and Millennial optimism and drive") I'm starting to get it. There's a whole segment of us who thought we were living life in the technological fast lane with advancements such as these.

Things get a bit fuzzy when ...