but gen x is also very similar to the parents of the boomer generation in many of the ways discussed here, who grew up during one or two major wars, and faced near death after being forced to fight in one or both of them. there's a reason for that: a lot of us were raised by our grandparents, not by our parents.
i was a latch key kid and the first person i saw in the evening was more often than not my maternal grandmother, who would show up to check on me when my mom disappeared on cocaine binges. my dad would pick me up twice a week due to a court order for him to and drop me off somewhere like at a soccer field or a karate club, then go watch the game in a bar and pick me up to drive me home a few hours later, until he was able to move me into his basement to evade paying child support.
but i actually spent a lot of time with nana that i didn't actually spend with either of my parents.