Okay, so there's a lot of disagreement on the internet about what years go into what generation, so you can take this article with a grain of salt depending on where you think everything falls.
Anyway, I was born in 1997, which either is right on the cusp of millennial and Gen Z, or Gen Z through and through. Either way, there are some millennial things that I remember, and some Z things I definitely remember, but there are also things associated with both generations that I just can't identify with.
1. VHS tapes were definitely "there," but short lived by the time third grade hit.
When I was little, my family had a bunch of VHS tapes, and in different colors. Regular ones were black, "Veggie Tales" ones were green, and Nickelodeon ones were orange. They were cool... For a time. Then when you were maybe 7 or 8 your parents got a DVD player, and you got more movies for that, and pretty soon all you watch are DVDs in the pre-streaming days.
2. You still have no idea what "Yeet" means.
You can hear things like "YAS", "Spill the tea", and understand, you know when something's a "mood" and when to say "bye Felicia," you even know pre-emoji emoticons and the old internet practices of pwning n00bs while ROFL, but there are still a few words you don't get... Like "yeet." Someone said it in a Vine while throwing a bottle? What? Is it a curse word? Is it a noun, adjective or verb? There are other forms like yeeting, yeeted, is it a form of wumbo?
Who even knows??
3. Your first phone had a keyboard, your second was a smartphone.
I'm not sure what brand my first cell phone was, but it had a large screen with a number keypad, and it slid open to reveal a whole keypad. I could take pictures, make calls, and text. It wasn't exactly a defining moment, knowing my parents had cooler phones (at least, back when the early touchscreens with the keyboards and blackberries were still cool), but it was still a phone, and it wasn't at the point where "everyone" had an iPhone. At least for about two years, then everyone, including me, eventually switched to a smartphone.
4. You were alive for Y2K, and 9/11, but don't remember either.
It took me about 20 years to find out what Y2K was, and when I did, it was for a project. I remember my parents saying "Oh yeah, everyone was afraid the computers were all going to shut down, then the market would crash and the world would end and stuff..." So... What they were saying was, there was a bigger apocalypse hype than 2012... And we missed it. (God forbid that kind of thing happened today... *Shudders*) and don't forget 9/11... It's obviously just as big, big enough that almost everyone who was alive then knows exactly what they were doing that day... Except for us cuspers. We had to be TOLD what we did, and we probably didn't even understand the gravity of it...
5. The Disney Channel "Golden Age."
I personally don't consider "Hannah Montana" and "High School Musical" Disney masterpieces, but they were a huge part of my age group's kid culture. There were also the classics like "Kim Possible", "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody", "Wizards of Waverly Place", and others. You're also part of the reason "Hi, I'm *blank* and you're watching Disney Channel" thing became a meme.
6. You have no clue what MySpace was, and joined Facebook on the verge of it becoming uncool.
And if you joined at the height of its coolness, you probably lied about your age. Yep, this is the time where Farmville was starting to be a thing, and where best friends "married" each other. Also, webcam videos were still a thing, and profiles were walls, not timelines. Social media just seemed so cool then instead of a dumpster fire. Oh, 2010, what a simple time you were.
7. You don't understand TikTok.
Wait, so it's NOT that one song that was always on the radio when you were in middle school? Okay, you know what Vine is... was, but there's something else now... trying to replace it? Putting its own spin on it? Is that where the E-Girl thing came from? That song that goes "Take my horse down the old town road?" Hit or miss? What... In that moment, you realize that you sound like an old person... And you're in your early 20s.
8. But you also had no clue what MTV was originally for.
Wait... the "M" in MTV is supposed to stand for "music?" It doesn't seem that way, with all the trashy reality shows like "Jersey Shore" and "16 and Pregnant." When millennials and Gen Xers reminisce about when MTV used to primarily show music videos, you just can't relate. At least you can make them feel old when you ask, even if you're met with an indignant answer.
9. You will always simultaneously feel too old and too young.
"Pfft, it's a 90s kid thing, you wouldn't understand, you don't remember how great it was then." Well duh, because being born in the late 90s is a sure guarantee you won't remember or understand anything. So what if I don't remember to dial up? "What? Are you saying you don't get dabbing? You've never wanted to eat a Tide pod? ... You don't know what Yeet means? ... Oof, you're so old." I'm 22, thanks, not 40.
1997 was a weird year, okay? I still remember a time where we had manual sharpeners! Geez...
I'll have to make a disclaimer, once again, the year 1997 is under high debate for what generation it falls under, but I definitely feel like a cusper.
