GenX - No Retirement, No Supervision, No Ponies

Remember when a birthday party meant friends, pizza, and a Mylar balloon that floated in your house for months? When financial advice was more reassuring than "we just don't know"? When the sound of race cars echoed through an entire city on Memorial Day weekend?

In this episode, Megan and Lesley dive into the unique experience of growing up as latchkey kids in the 1980s—a generation whose parents were busy "doing shit" and sometimes forgot we existed. The conversation takes a timely turn when Megan shares her recent financial advisor meeting, where the typical reassurances about market stability were notably absent. Suddenly, our grandparents' habit of hiding cash in aluminum foil and cereal boxes seems less paranoid and more prophetic.

Childhood birthday celebrations become a lens to examine generational shifts. The hosts reminisce about simple pool parties, roller skating outings, and Showbiz Pizza gatherings of their youth, complete with Rock-a-Fire Explosion animatronics and Madonna's "Lucky Star" blasting in the background. These memories stand in stark contrast to the elaborate productions many Gen Xers now create for their own children—complete with pony rides and themed extravaganzas. Is this overcompensation for our latchkey upbringing or just succumbing to party competition pressure?

The episode also pays tribute to George Wendt, known to most as Norm from Cheers, imagining his funeral where everyone shouts "NORM!" as the casket enters. As Memorial Day approaches, they explore what the holiday weekend means in Indianapolis—from the unmistakable sound of race cars heard throughout the city to family cookouts marking the unofficial start of summer.

Whether you're planning your weekend, reflecting on your childhood, or wondering if you should start hiding cash in your freezer, this episode captures the unique perspective of a generation caught between analog memories and digital uncertainties. Subscribe, leave a review, and share your own "Five Minutes of Fame" story with us!

Transcript

Gen X Intros and Photo Session

Megan 0:00

I'm Megan Bennett,

Lesley 0:01

I'm Lesley Meier

Megan 0:02

and this is Gen X Women Are Sick of this Shit.

Megan 0:08

Hi Lesley

Lesley 0:12

Hi Megan

Megan 0:14

as if you were surprised that I am sitting next to you

Megan 0:18

calling. Hi Hi. How the heck are you?

Lesley 0:20

I'm great. How are you?

Megan 0:23

I'm okay.

Lesley 0:25

What's happening to us today? I think I might have to do this because now I'm very conscientious of turning.

Megan 0:30

So I'm going to narrate what you're doing. She's moving her microphone.

Lesley 0:33

I'm moving it Not too loudly. I hope I can't hear, so I wouldn't know.

Megan 0:38

We don't have headphones on. It's weird.

Lesley 0:47

Why don't we have headphones on today, Megan?

Megan 0:47

We are getting our photos taken as we do a podcast which is hilarious

Lesley 0:49

as we over-articulate and over-express.

Megan 0:50

And don't lean too much and don't show your double chin and fuck there's so many rules.

Megan 0:57

Our photographer is like a taskmaster, Head down chin out.

Lesley 1:01

We're doing great, suck it in. We're hanging out. Yeah, anyway, we're doing a podcast and doing branding photos at the same time, which means we have makeup on and we look all glowy.

Lesley 1:10

We do. We look like we're either going to dinner or we're both the mother of the bride.

Megan 1:15

I'm going to Lowe's after this.

Lesley 1:17

I'm going to go to Costco.

Megan 1:19

We are fucking awesome.

Lesley 1:20

That's the real life. Yes, are fucking awesome, the real life yes, the one and only time of my life I've worn eyelashes. I'm going to costco.

Megan 1:34

Hell, yes, you are . I think you are gonna just badass that

Lesley 1:35

. I'm just gonna walk around and go up and down the alcohol aisles

Megan 1:37

and looking glamorous.

Speaker 3 1:37

you pick that up for me?

Lesley 1:38

I'm so sorry, I would like that it's been like a fun morning.

Speaker 3 1:41

We had like professional grown up people here, wonderful women.

Lesley 1:46

Making us look grown up.

Speaker 3 1:47

Who are much wiser about things than we are. Things like this Like looking lovely, precious and Consuela and they were awesome. They were good. Thank you for being so generous and kind, and my favorite part of our time together was hearing them complain about people that are younger than them.

Lesley 2:08

Yeah, there was a little bit of that.

Lesley 2:08

I'm so old. I was like okay, that's also my favorite thing, it's also my favorite thing when my 24-year-old daughter says the same fucking thing yes, You're like wait, Just wait, Just wait. But you know like our parents probably would say the exact same things about us, right right, like really, are we actually functionally different, as we know?

Lesley 2:28

I don't think so no, I just know we like to think that we are different than our parents. We probably are a little different from our parents. Let's be honest. Well, that's the truth, but and are our kids that much different than us?

Speaker 3 2:39

evidenced by many an article on the internet. The 80ss Feral man. I mean. We were just raised different. Yes, latchkey kids raised different.

Lesley 2:49

Yep, yep. Our parents were out doing shit Lots of people on the internet and kind of forgot that we were there.

Speaker 3 2:55

Yeah. They just assumed that they could be as then you know there's probably an issue when there's a PSA that says by the way, you old alcoholics, where are your kids?

Lesley 3:21

That's right.

Speaker 3 3:24

Then there could be something going on there.

Lesley 3:25

Yes, that probably means that maybe there is an issue. Yeah, for sure. So, boomers, we see you, we know what you did.

Lesley 3:33

We do and we judge you for it.

Growing Up as Latchkey Kids

Speaker 3 3:34

We do we do Stop hoarding all the wealth Retire you fuckers, die Don't, die, don't die. Yet Not before, don't die, don't die yet. Oh well, just retire, time, just retire, retire, just retire leave the senate, stop dying in the senate.

Megan 3:52

Consider maybe, yes, buying a farm in the country. Raise some chickens you've earned it, just relax.

Lesley 3:58

You're the only people that are going to have a retirement period.

Lesley 4:02

Go spend it that's fucking true, and so so timely and sad for me, I can't even tell you oh, this ties into what shit you're sick of today.

Lesley 4:12

Tell me all about what shit you are sick of today.

Megan 4:14

Well so, I'm, of course, I'm always sick of the state of the world because of the state of the world, um, but I went to see. I went to see my husband and I went to see our financial advisor. Today, you're so adult, I'm so glad you got one of those. It's because of him. It has nothing to do with me. I would forget. Good job.

Financial Advisor Concerns

Megan 4:31

You know, whatever, good job spouse. Yes, spouse does good. So went to see them. We have, you know, our portfolio. We were looking at our portfolio, we were going over all of our stuff.

Speaker 3 4:45

You hear this. We should get one of those. You should have one of these.

Lesley 4:47

You should have a portfolio, you should have a financial advisor. Everybody should probably have a financial advisor, because, whether or not you've saved for retirement or whatever, it's a good thing to have yes, somebody telling you what to do and you can start anytime.

Speaker 3 5:00

As we have learned in our workshops that you have done.

Lesley 5:04

Yep, you do not have to wait until the bitter end, right, you can start now. So we went over everything. It was fine. It looks like maybe we'll be able to retire, maybe. So that's good. Great sitting with your financial advisor and you're saying to them I am concerned about, maybe, the way that our current president is just sort of throwing shit at a wall like spaghetti and just doing shit all the time. Yeah, and we can't anticipate what the hell's going to happen. I'm a little nervous about that, certainly. And you kind of want your financial advisor to go. You know what? It's okay, everybody's always going to need toilet paper. Everybody's always going to need you know like tampons and stuff like that.

Speaker 3 5:54

Right. Yep so don't worry about it.

Lesley 5:56

That's what you expect.

Speaker 3 5:57

That's what you hope to hear.

Lesley 5:59

That's not really exactly how things went down.

Speaker 3 6:02

What did you?

Lesley 6:02

fear. Today he clearly is as nervous as we are. Oh, he was like he put on a good brave face right, Put on a brave face. Yeah, he was like you know, we just don't know. I'm like that's not what.

Speaker 3 6:16

I wanted to hear it's extraordinary, yeah, no one's never been.

Lesley 6:21

He's never done that Like we go every single year and every single year I'll walk in and be like I feel like I need to take all of my money out and put it in a gold bullion and hide it in my basement. He's like no, no, no. He's like oh hush your mouth.

Speaker 3 6:32

Everything's fine, the stock market is fine. Just keep gambling, just keep going.

Lesley 6:35

You got years before you retire, it's fine made the joke, the bullion joke, and he went well, you know, if you do that it's gonna he was. He didn't say do it uh-huh, but he didn't say don't do it nearly as aggressively as he has in the past.

Speaker 3 6:52

This is the moment you know, like how, when folks die let's say like silent gen folks maybe older boomers, but definitely silent gen and you go to like liquidate their house and you find like a half a million dollars in the mattress. Yes, yes, yes. This is why, yes, I know, and for years we've been like that's so crazy.

Megan 7:14

Why would you have kept those?

Speaker 3 7:15

Civil. War bonds up there. What did you do with all that money in the mattress that burnt down when your house burnt down and they were like do you remember the Great Depression?

Lesley 7:33

My grandmother would hide money in aluminum foil in either the freezer or in cereal boxes. So you would go and like pour yourself a big bowl of frosted flakes and a 20 spot would fall out.

Speaker 3 7:42

It's like winning the fucking lottery. What was the foil?

Lesley 7:45

for I think it was to preserve it.

Speaker 3 7:46

I don't know Like did it keep it from getting wet it might have been a.

Lesley 7:51

You know, I won't forget it if it's, you know, just Fair yeah.

Speaker 3 7:57

I mean you probably would protect it from the elements a bit too, like you wouldn't have dampen it, but now is the time. I mean, this is the first time where I'm like I think we should just stuff cash places like yeah, I mean they you know it doesn't.

Lesley 8:12

If you have money in the, in the market, it doesn't make sense to pull it out because you get taxed so much on it then it's like well, that's dumb. So he, you know, he of course advises not to do that. Yeah, he just wasn't nearly as aggressive about his advice not to do that.

Speaker 3 8:28

So my favorite part of this conversation is that there are two women who know nothing about investing in finance really talking like we know something, like that we're smart about it.

Lesley 8:41

Yeah, I don't know shit about it, but that's why I have a financial advisor.

Speaker 3 8:45

This is good. Okay, so on my list. Financial advisor find one get one of those there we go love it. Get one of those brilliant, good idea.

Lesley 8:54

Anyway, I'm sick of the fact that I can't trust my financial advisor to just make me feel, feel good that there's not enough confidence in the market currently correct.

Speaker 3 9:04

Does that make me sound smart?

Lesley 9:05

It does you sound very smart, thank you. Thank you, you sound like you know what the hell you're talking about. I went to college.

Who Died This Week: Norm from Cheers

Speaker 3 9:14

At some point in my life, you smarty, smarty. This is when we would do bullshit and hot goss, or as we like to call it. Who died this week?

Speaker 4 9:26

well, that's what seems like it's turned into probably start to.

Speaker 3 9:28

We need theme music for who died this week I I don't know what it's gonna be oh, I hope it's really gothic and dark and you know, oh, that's fan of the opera, that'll get you sued. That's not quite what we need for who died this?

Lesley 9:41

week.

Speaker 3 9:42

That'll get you sued, that's not quite what we need for who Died this?

Speaker 4 9:45

Week.

Speaker 3 9:45

That'll get you sued. Maybe we'll have producer Tim write a theme song for who Died this Week.

Lesley 9:50

Oh, a who Died this Week score. Who Died this Theme Song Week A score, a full score for the Gen X. Women are sick of this shit score.

Speaker 3 9:59

But it is a little sad because who died this week? Norm, norm From Cheers yeah.

Megan 10:07

He has a real name George Wendt.

Lesley 10:09

We were reminded Don't forget, norm had a real name. Norm had a real name besides Norm, and that is important because but you know, at his funeral people are going to be yelling that. Oh my god, like they carry the casket down the aisle Absolutely, everybody at one time, as they People are going to be yelling that oh right, like as like, they carry the casket down the aisle Absolutely.

Speaker 3 10:26

Everybody, everybody at one time, as they walk, as it walks in will shout Norm. So George went, played Norm and appeared on. I didn't know this. All 275 episodes of. Cheers All of them. Which started in 1982. Thank God for the Internet and ran for 11 seasons 1982, I would have been 11 whole years old. I was nine. That's crazy. I was an infant, yep, I didn't get any.

Lesley 10:56

I didn't get a lot of the jokes when I was 11.

Speaker 3 10:59

No, no, no probably not.

Lesley 11:03

Didn't understand you. You know things like drinking too much and stuff like that.

Speaker 3 11:09

I don't know, but those weren't on the list. Ted Danson, rhea Perlman always funny, yes, uh, john Ratzenberger.

Lesley 11:20

I do so. Cast, and crew, who all is still standing?

Speaker 3 11:24

we know this is one of the Ted Danson's around there's so many I don't know Like right Rhea. Perlman.

Lesley 11:30

Rhea Perlman. I think John's passed.

Speaker 3 11:32

Kelsey Grammer Right. John Ratzenberger, I think he passed. He died, didn't he?

Lesley 11:37

I think so.

Speaker 3 11:37

We're looking at.

Lesley 11:38

Producer.

Speaker 4 11:38

Tim get on it.

Lesley 11:40

Kelsey Grammer's around. He's a drummer, kirstie Alley.

Speaker 3 11:45

I heard that.

Lesley 11:46

Shelley Long. You can cut that out if you want to no or not.

Speaker 3 11:49

Whatever, Bebe Neuwirth still around.

Lesley 11:52

Yeah, some of these other.

Speaker 3 11:54

Of course, Woody Harrelson.

Lesley 11:55

Were you a Shelley Long person or a Kirstie Alley person?

Speaker 3 11:59

I didn't realize I was supposed to have a team. I really love Kirstie Alley as an actress, particularly then. One of my friends in high school, Dave, loved Kirstie Alley's voice, Like we were all in theater together. So when we were seniors, he would just go on and on and on about her and like her eyebrows and he was like you kind.

Megan 12:24

I kind of have these like Kirstie Alley eyebrows and I was like, oh, You're like okay, buddy, but I Shelley Long was a little annoying, I think.

Lesley 12:30

Kirstie Alley had the like kind of sexier vibe. I don't know why.

Speaker 3 12:33

Well, I don't know who I would say, but like both Her character was a little annoying, Sure yeah.

Lesley 12:38

I kind of I don't know, I mean, but they were supposed to be annoying.

Speaker 4 12:43

I'm just sorry that the women Are you getting?

Lesley 12:46

a phone call I just got a phone call from Walgreens because I haven't picked up a prescription.

Speaker 3 12:50

Look at our technology. We both have watches that call us. It's really dumb, it's preposterous. I know, dick Tracy, do you talk in it sometimes? I have before. It's really weird. Weird like walking the dog and like talking in my watch. I'm a dumbass.

Lesley 13:08

We used to have phones that were just like on the wall with a cord, and now we're talking into our watches just like star trek. I wish no. But then we go back to previous podcasts where I'm like, yeah, okay, so when do I get to beam from someplace to another place? This is the thing.

Speaker 3 13:19

What, oh god something all I get is to talk into my watch. I was like I just, I just want to beam. Can you beam over? I don't know what it was. I literally said this Beam over my door dash, beam over my door dash. I guess it would be beam dash, it's fine Beam dash no.

Speaker 4 13:35

I'm so disappointed in both of you, right now. Because you don't have to beam your food, you replicate it in a device in the wall.

Lesley 13:44

Oh, of course, of course, you know what?

Speaker 4 13:46

I'm so sorry, you make a very good point.

Lesley 13:48

I am sorry.

Speaker 4 13:49

Thank you.

Lesley 13:50

You're right, I should be replicating my food Earl Grey, earl Grey, hot, hot, there it is.

Speaker 3 13:55

That takes us all the way around. So did you watch Tears as a young person? Not, I mean, like in your teens.

Lesley 14:04

Not a whole lot. It wasn't one of my go-tos.

Speaker 3 14:08

Right, like everybody knew the theme song right, yeah, it was always on. Always on.

Lesley 14:12

And wasn't there like a time, in the 90s too, where it was like reruns all day, every? Day of Cheers, like you could turn on any number of channels and you'd be like, hey, cheers, cheers, any number of channels and you'd be like, hey, cheers, it's a comfort show.

Speaker 4 14:25

Yeah, because what they would do is they would run through their season and when the season ended, they would start the reruns until the next production because they didn't want to lose the time slot.

Lesley 14:37

They don't want to lose the audience.

Speaker 4 14:39

They don't want to use the revenue from the spots Yep good points. And it was funny.

Speaker 3 14:43

I mean yeah, there you go. It was funny.

Lesley 14:47

That was kind of the prime time of television though too, yes Like there were so many good things you could watch Yep, so there you go.

Speaker 3 14:53

That's that I have a tiny Cheers related five minutes of fame.

Lesley 14:57

Oh, I want to hear it.

Speaker 3 14:58

I want to hear it. Should we do it now or should we do it later? What else are we talking about today?

Lesley 15:03

Birthdays. I think you wanted to talk about it because, well, we'll get into that in a second. We'll get into that Go ahead and tell your story. Okay, we'll do it early.

Speaker 3 15:09

Okay. So we did that segment and that segment and now we're going to so five minutes of fame. Woody Harrelson on Cheers right, if we were doing video, I could like share a photo. So I went to Hanover College in Southern Indiana. Woody Harrelson graduate Hanover College in Southern Indiana. I did not know that. Yes, that's where he went to school for theater and left and went off and made his career. So his theater professor and my theater professor were the same Tom Evans, wonderful human being. So I happened to be there. I was like a junior. I think I was a junior the year that the school and Tom got Woody to come back and do like an alumni show.

Speaker 3 15:54

So, there was a class, the class of 1973 was like a big damn deal. At Hanover they had gone to the Kennedy Center and done a play called the Diviners, written by Jim Leonard Jr, nice. So the timing was right for everybody. Tom brought back, doc Evans brought back some actors from the class of 73 from that original show. I love it. And then Woody came back to do the lead role, so my roommate leila and I were the only two undergrads cast in that show well congratulations.

Speaker 3 16:28

All an alumni cast and then the two of us. So we were like we're big fucking shit no shit in our brains, uh. So we hung out, so we did it during our spring term. We did like two weekends for the public. Of course we sold out. It was a big deal that woody was back, so, yeah, we all hung out for like a month.

Lesley 16:48

Everybody is sitting here thinking did you get high with woody? I did not. Oh, I feel like that might have been a missed opportunity.

Speaker 3 16:56

I drank a lot with everybody in the cast Like they were all. It was sort of like this A lot of the guys who had been in theater in the 80s had also come back that's when Woody graduated and it was kind of like this sort of like frat theater reunion. Like all the guys had one house and all the women were in another house because they were housed, while they were intent to do the show.

Speaker 3 17:18

Uh, everybody showed up. You were all supposed to be memorized. Of course, woody was not memorized, so that was my big like running lines on the lawn hanging out. We drank a lot of beer. The show made no money because they spent it all on food and beer and then salaries for all of the SAG-AFTRA actors.

Lesley 17:39

So if you just ran into Woody right now, would you feel comfortable going up and being like hey.

Speaker 3 17:47

Woody, in the right situation. Contextually, if we were at a fundraiser or some sort of something, something I would be like yeah.

Lesley 17:56

But if you're just having dinner at a restaurant and he's across the room.

Speaker 3 18:00

I'm going to be 52 and I was 20. So.

Lesley 18:06

I was a little younger, a little hotter.

Speaker 3 18:09

Not that you're not hot but the photo like we, we all have like the same photos together. Like it was cool it was really fun. That's really cute, like a really great, like a neat opportunity for all of us to get to participate. And he was a nice guy In that, and he was a nice guy.

Megan 18:26

I mean he was there.

Speaker 3 18:27

His partner was there. She had one of their babies there. Cute it was you know, but it was wild because then the partners or the other adults would leave and we were all just fucking wasted all the time. It was great. I mean, it was a big fucking party.

Megan 18:43

I love it, but the universe.

Speaker 3 18:45

We weren't a universe. The college made nothing. I think it lost money. The goal probably wasn't to make money right, Maybe I was supposed to make a woman. Oh wow, they shouldn't have spent more than they made. How about that? But it was very cool. So, there you go. I love it. Thank you for sharing that.

Birthday Celebrations in the 80s

Lesley 19:06

Five minutes of fame. I think Woody Harrelson's great. I'm very happy to hear that he's a nice guy.

Speaker 3 19:08

Yeah, he's a nice guy. We had a good time Cool. He likes everything organic, unsurprisingly.

Lesley 19:15

Gen X Women Are Sick of the Shit is supported by Lilas Love you like a sis, A Gen X Women's Social Club. What's Lilas Megan? Lilas is our off platform, off the books of faces, off all of the other traditional social media. It is our space and place for Gen X Women to come together, have conversations, meet each other.

Speaker 3 19:39

It's a social club. It is a social club. It's a membership-based club. Memberships are $10 a month. That does help support us in growing the platform. We purchased a platform that would host a network of women so that you could come together and meet each other in real time.

Lesley 19:58

In a safer space than a traditional social media platform and a much more personal space. So what do we do there, Leslie we?

Speaker 3 20:09

host movie nights where we live stream some of our favorites as they are available to us, favorites as they are available to us for group watches of films from the 70s, 80s and 90s. We host a space for a monthly book club. We host trivia nights once a month. We have a live text chat.

Speaker 3 20:32

Four prizes. That's true. The space is to host like weekly text chats so that you can kind of check in in real time with people. I would say the critical difference between kind of what this space is and any other social media space that I've experienced is that it is active. You will have to engage in it or be engaged in it by other people, so it's not like a passive consumption thing.

Lesley 21:01

It's like making connections, yep, and if that's what you're looking for the opportunity to meet other people, to find people who are maybe in the same similar spaces as you are like-minded, same time, phase of life navigating all of those transitions, then this might be the right place for you. So check out Lylas. You can learn more about it at genxwomenpodcom. Well, hi, we're back.

Speaker 3 21:34

Hi, and we're back, and we're back. Oh my gosh, leslie.

Lesley 21:37

Megan, and we're back, and we're back. Oh my gosh, leslie, megan, it occurs to me it is your birthday coming up super duper, fast Soon the end of the month, you sweet, sweet young Gemini Early early.

Speaker 3 21:51

Gemini. I am an early Gemini. I'm the freshest of the season, the freshest of Geminis. So happy early birthday. Cheers, thanks cheers. I'm excited about it. I'm gonna be the big five. Two, uh, so technically still, I'm two inches taller than my age, which I'm excited about. Yeah, very nice, but at some point that won't be true anymore.

Lesley 22:14

Yes, this year for me, I will be shorter than my age.

Speaker 3 22:19

Oh.

Lesley 22:21

Ouch Okay.

Speaker 3 22:23

By a year. Oh, I'll be 54. The big 5'4" yeah.

Lesley 22:28

So that's mid-June.

Speaker 3 22:29

Oh, okay, so we can do a birthday episode there too. I'm a later Gemini, that's exciting. Oh, you're a well-seasoned Gemini.

Lesley 22:35

That's exciting, oh you're a well-seasoned Gemini. Yes, I'm an old crotchety Gemini. Why did it?

Speaker 3 22:40

say that. Yes, it's true, my birthday is the end of May and birthday party weekend would always fucking correspond with fucking Memorial Day.

Lesley 22:51

You really have a mad on about Memorial Day, don't you? And do you know why that sucks? I'm going to guess yes day, don't you? And do you know why that sucks? I'm gonna? I'm gonna guess, yes, it's because you were overshined, yeah, by, like you know, hot dogs and cookouts, and family shit.

Speaker 3 23:06

Nobody comes racing. Gd birthday party. I had a fucking pool. I couldn't get people to go to my gd birthday party. You want to know?

Lesley 23:14

why? Because they went to the indianapolis 500 race yes, they did, those motherfuckers yeah, we used to leave town. My husband and I used to leave town for memorial day.

Speaker 3 23:25

Yeah, like to get away from it or just we're kind of.

Lesley 23:28

Now we're getting more into the race, so backstory right for everybody like just if you're not from indianapolis. You have no clue what we're talking about um, and if you're not a racing person, but we have a very large racetrack, two and a half miles oval in.

Lesley 23:43

Speedway Indiana, which is, yeah, it's what like a 15 minute drive from here, probably 20 minute, maybe 20. The thing about the racetrack in Indianapolis is it doesn't matter where you are in the city on race day, you can hear the cars. It's loud, yes, which is kind of it's kind of cool. I mean it's kind of cool, it is. I think it's kind of cool.

Speaker 3 24:08

But it is cool. Yeah, I mean as an adult I can say that. As a child I know that, what the fuck is that.

Lesley 24:15

Yeah, I was like what the fuck is that? Yeah, I've got Father's Day around my birthday.

Speaker 4 24:18

And it's like fuck you Father's.

Speaker 3 24:20

It's my birthday, so I hear that I hear that, yeah, fuck you Father's Day. Right, we can change it. We could. Let's petition. I've heard you can just change holidays at will. Now, yes, this is what I've learned.

Lesley 24:34

Yes, because I think Memorial Day weekend now is World War II.

Speaker 3 24:42

Victory Day or some bullshit. That is so Well, and you know the working people of the United States. They have too many days off anyway. Let me tell you.

Lesley 24:50

It sucks being plebes.

Speaker 3 24:52

So birthday party or not is kind of like the theme of the day Right party or not. Is is kind of like the theme of the day like right. We were like, okay, well, what did gen x kids do for their birthdays?

Lesley 25:04

what was so okay, so nobody came to your pool party.

Speaker 3 25:08

I mean, you probably still had eventually people did come to the pool party, but it always conflicted with the race I guess we were having it on sund too, which seems dumb.

Lesley 25:17

Were you always doing a birthday I mean always doing a birthday party at the pool, or did you have birthday parties in other places?

Speaker 3 25:26

So let me give you a big long uh okay, I remember in preschool they were just at my house. This was before we had a pool. We were a family in the 80s who owned a pool. That's pretty cool.

Lesley 25:40

In ground above ground.

Speaker 3 25:42

It was an in-ground pool. My parents. This is in the olden days, kids, when you could save up money to acquire things in a reasonable amount of time with a single income in your family.

Lesley 25:57

Yeah, pools are like 20 grand now family that was well under three digits.

Speaker 3 26:02

Like my dad just worked for GM. Right, we were not wealthy, but you could afford to do stuff, save up enough to put a pool in. So my parents had built a house out in the middle of nowhere. To me it was a giant house.

Speaker 3 26:17

In retrospect, when I go back and see it, it is a very small house but they built a house, like in the olden days when you could just go build a house on a little acre of land and I think within the first probably two years that we were there, they saved enough to at least put like the down payment down and have so of course, we invited people over yeah and that's cool, but I also did live very far away from everybody.

Lesley 26:42

I'm sure that was also a deterrent like I want to go to the pool. Yeah, it's gonna take me half an hour to get there, so you're not. Yeah, slow your roller.

Speaker 3 26:50

So like home parties, though, were a lot of the things that kids did. And then I think, like I remember distinctly, I had a home party. It was probably kindergarten, okay, and the only reason I remember this is I think it was a boy named David gave me a little crystal snow white, it was really plastic, but to me it was crystal, yeah and I just thought that surely meant that he had the crush, oh yeah, on me.

Speaker 3 27:17

But I do remember getting that gift and I have big like sensory memories of that being in the backyard. And then when I was a bit older like over, you know, probably like 9, 10, 11, 12 pool parties would have been the thing, um, but I do remember, like when showbiz came about, that was a party place. Oh heck, yeah, I recall that and I recall run out the.

Lesley 27:41

I think they always had like the.

Speaker 3 27:42

You could get a big table in there yes, like in the performance room right yeah, yeah, yeah, you get a big table there and you could do like the whole rock, fire, explosion cake and pizzas and and that's when they had real video games like and I think did the rockeflier explosion cake.

Lesley 28:01

It didn't have icing on it. Is that right? Didn't they just put like? Oh, I think they just put like like ice cream on it I have no memory of this I hear our producer tapping away.

Speaker 3 28:13

I know he's like, he's like, well, I gotta know this, uh, but I don, I don't know, was it an ice cream cake?

Lesley 28:19

I don't. I think it was just like here's your cake, no icing, and your and your ice cream. I could completely be making this shit up.

Speaker 3 28:27

I mean, we make up many things. It could totally be possible. I don't know. I have no memory of that. Oh, here's a party. Did you ever go to a McDonald's birthday party?

Lesley 28:36

Oh my God. So I'm sure I did, I'm sure I did. They were weird.

Speaker 3 28:44

Ronald was on the cake. I mean you were at a McDonald's first of all. And you had like hats, and shit, and then you were getting Happy Meals.

Lesley 28:50

essentially, you had like a Grimace hat.

Speaker 3 28:52

Yeah, and then like a Ronald McDonald cake.

Lesley 28:54

But like that was the thing they had icing they had icing Okay.

Speaker 4 28:57

All right.

Lesley 28:58

Then I take it back. I'm sorry. Rock-a-fire Explosion.

Speaker 3 29:03

I didn't mean to insult your cakes 80s cakes and say that they were unfrosted.

Lesley 29:07

Please don't sue me.

Speaker 3 29:08

Part of me was like who would serve a child an unfrosted cake? But whatever, you'll serve a kid whatever and they'll take it.

Lesley 29:15

Yeah, and they'll take it and they'll like it. They'll be like thank you.

Speaker 3 29:17

Please may I have another?

Speaker 4 29:19

Especially in the 80s.

Lesley 29:20

Right, we were fucking lucky, you were lucky, you've got cake.

Speaker 3 29:23

So I I went to one showbiz party clear memories of this I was definitely under 10 years old. It was my friend, rebecca Robinson, and her mother who was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my whole life. She looked like Diana Ross and she smelled so fucking good. Gave her a to us life-size wall hanging of Michael Jackson, and you have never seen little girls lose control of their faculties so fast as with a life-size wall hanging of Michael.

Lesley 29:58

Jackson, oh wow.

Speaker 3 29:59

A, there's just the like group. We're all going to have the same feeling kind of experience. Yes, and then it was just, it was Michael Jackson.

Lesley 30:07

You just fed off of each other. We were just.

Speaker 3 30:09

And you had to like out, squeal one another. And it was just, it was Michael Jackson. You just fed off of each other. We were just. And you had to like out, squeal one another. And like she cried, you know, we were all he could have walked in the fucking showbiz.

Lesley 30:16

It would have been less, maybe less exciting if he walked in.

Speaker 3 30:19

Because we would have just shit our pants. My God, what's happening? So that's one party. This is just a wild rambling. Yeah, so that's one party. This is just a wild rambling here we go. And then the other one also a Rebecca Robinson birthday party. She used to live downtown at the Glove Factory and that was posh business.

Megan 30:45

We were probably 12, maybe 13.

Speaker 3 30:46

And her mom rented the like rec room or something down there and I remember the lineup of tapes included madonna lucky star. Okay, we were, that had just come out, we're playing and we were doing all the dance the dance from the video right, 12 year old girl should not be doing. Right, we were doing that. And then we had prince purple rain and cindy lapper she bop. Oh, girls just want to have fun. Oh, you had a full education Unknown to us.

Lesley 31:13

You didn't have any Raspberry Beret or anything right, Because that would have been like a no, that was probably.

Speaker 3 31:20

That was probably Purple Rain. Raspberry Beret would have come out. Give me a date.

Lesley 31:26

No, no, darling Nikki, this is what happens.

Speaker 3 31:28

No, that was on Purple Rain. Oh shit, we had the adults the whole thing. Darling Nikki was on. There was no edited tape.

Lesley 31:34

You just bought the tape. No, there was no radio version 1984.

Speaker 4 31:38

84 was.

Speaker 3 31:40

Paisley Park.

Speaker 4 31:41

It's Purple Rain.

Speaker 3 31:42

Oh, nice, so I was 11. Okay, yep, that all lines up. O, that all lines up. There we go, but we just thought we were the best man gloves and the black bracelets, the black madonna bracelets and her lucky star album cover she was like. So you know, we were all trying to be so sexy and emulate that we were 12 little mesh over one eye oh yeah, yeah, so fucking hot.

Speaker 3 32:03

So those are my like middle school, like elementary to middle school. This is what I remember about. Yeah, that's pretty awesome, I don't know we did.

Lesley 32:12

We did the roller skating birthday parties. So we place it around the corner from us, that the roller cave, and we would do birthday parties in there, so that was pretty fun. Is that the roller cave that still exists? Yeah, you can still go to the roller cave and it looks remarkably like the roller cave of old oh yeah I could walk in there with you and be like, oh yeah, that was here and that was here.

Lesley 32:39

Like the same lockers are there. They still have the same tables around, uh, around, like their little food court thing. Oh, I love that, I'm sure, like you know, the pinball machines, the video games and stuff like that obviously changed up, but like the walls look the same and oh yeah oh, yeah, the bathroom's identical. Yeah, so pretty fun. I love that so I'm.

Speaker 3 32:59

But I most of my memories are like of home parties. I'm kind of wondering, like when the pivot point was for like oh people, people doing like big roller skate parties, showbiz pizza parties.

Lesley 33:11

Yeah, well, and there wasn't that like desire really to outdo people, like it was cool just to have people come over and stay overnight and do like stay up and watch movies and eat pizza and absolutely, that was your birthday, right.

Speaker 3 33:23

Yes and for me. Oh and no, fucking balloon arches.

Lesley 33:27

No, no, no no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You might get a Mylar blow up. Happy birthday, maybe, one, maybe. And that sucker would like, over over the next four weeks, would slowly like come down from the ceiling and like be at eye level for a while and you'd get up in the middle of night, go to the bathroom and it's right there and scares the shit out of you.

Speaker 3 33:46

Yes, and you'd get up in the middle of the night and go to the bathroom and it's sort of like floating and it's right there and scares the shit out of you. Yes, a couple feet from the ground or in the middle of the night, it's like right here. Yeah, it's like.

Lesley 33:54

Or your cat gets a hold of it.

Speaker 3 33:56

Yeah, all kinds of things, I love that.

Lesley 33:58

That mylar balloon would last into your next birthday. Yep, just having friends come over and okay, and you know, not really like party party um.

Speaker 3 34:14

I remember my 16th birthday.

Lesley 34:14

Um, my, my aunt, my great aunt, uh, owned a bakery and she, um, so she made my cake that year for my, for that big sweet 16 thing. So I remember that when that was a backyard party what was on your? Cake I can't remember. I wish I could remember, but it was special. But I know she made it and then Made with love.

Lesley 34:35

Yes, we just had a backyard kind of hanging out party Okay, and my kind of not really sort of maybe really wanted him to be boyfriend. A couple of years older than me, his name was Donovan.

Speaker 3 34:50

Donovan came over and brought me a pink teddy bear donovan. Yeah, and the pink teddy bear oh, I loved him kind of not maybe, but I wanted him to be yeah kind of maybe not really, I'm not sure, but he brought you a pink teddy bear. He did it was very sweet. He was that's commitment, super sweet guy.

Lesley 35:06

So I love that yeah but it's very sweet. That was kind of that's kind of the birthday that I sort of remember. My traditional cake, though, was yeah baskin robbins ice, ice cream cake roll, so they make like they rolled up with their you know thin amount of cake and a lot of um mint chocolate chip ice cream because it always has to be that, and then that icing on top and there.

Lesley 35:28

Icing is ridiculously good, Like I. There's something about Baskin Robbins colored ice cream or icing that's so good so I still, to this day, get a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake roll.

Speaker 3 35:41

As well you should.

Lesley 35:42

That sounds delicious I have eaten my weight plus, I don't know, a pack of derm in ice cream cake rolls.

Speaker 3 35:52

You talking about. That reminds me of the very unique 80s experience of the cookie cake.

Megan 36:00

Oh yeah, when you could get them at the mall all the time yeah.

Speaker 3 36:03

Because that was my go-to cake and the early the real the OG cookie cake cake places you would get a two-layer cookie cake and it was like this really fudgy frosting that was in the middle so delicious, and I did have this memory of wanting a dolphin cake one year, okay. So my mom ordered me one and it had like it was like on a dolphin, but it was sort of like a frosting me with like a dolphin on it. I do remember that Yum.

Lesley 36:33

That was a good time.

Speaker 3 36:35

But they don't.

Lesley 36:36

you can kind of get them now, but they're like single layer, they're like they're not, I mean maybe, maybe a producer Tim could be on the hunt for, for an original I wonder if you could have one special made you?

Speaker 3 36:45

can I mean I special made you? Can I mean I'm sure I've ordered? I ordered a cookie cake for my son's birthday one year because he was super into this like very hyper specific movie, video game, high school, and he wanted a video game, high school cake. So I like, sent the logos and they screen printed it on like a frosting thing and put it on a cookie cake. Nice, but he got what he wanted.

Lesley 37:08

You know, the kids like I'm thinking about our birthdays versus like what we did for my daughter- oh okay, yes, so talk about that ridiculous could not be any more over the top

Megan 37:20

why did that happen? No fucking reason.

Lesley 37:22

Well, so she's my one and only right like, so maybe there was some something there. But I mean who gives their three year old kid a fucking pony at their grandma and grandpa's backyard and like invites all the friends over and they do like pony rides in the?

Speaker 4 37:37

backyard, you did this?

Lesley 37:38

Yes, I did. I'm such a dork, but yeah, like not one year.

Speaker 4 37:43

You lost your mind, Not one year but multiple years we had a pony. Pony rides, yep, that's adorable, perfect, perfectly nice pony and psychotic.

Lesley 37:53

Yes, we also took a bunch of kids horseback riding at a state park. Okay, that was one year, let's. Uh, we did um place called monkey joe's one year with, like the I remember the monkey joe's big just absolutely like a cesspool of good germs.

Speaker 3 38:10

So many germs, so many buggers. You want to talk about poop in your pants. Oh, I know, monkey Joes would have been it. God, you just.

Lesley 38:20

And they must, just like they have to right, Spray that place down every night.

Speaker 3 38:23

One would hope.

Lesley 38:24

Oh God.

Speaker 3 38:28

Sort of like the McDonald's play place. Right, stay out of the ball pit, right, right.

Lesley 38:32

That ball pit's got more than just balls in it Uh-huh, hypodermic needles, whatever you want.

Speaker 3 38:37

Whatever. So why did that happen? Do you think it was because we were so neglected that we were like overcompensating?

Lesley 38:44

That is probably. Are you going to feel special? Yes, you tell me, but I think that's probably right.

Speaker 3 38:49

I think there's that, but also, like the party, competition. Yeah, oh that.

Lesley 38:54

Absolutely, absolutely. And we, gillian, went to a little elementary school like tiny little Catholic elementary school and when you only have X number of kids and you go through this every grade level with all of these kids there, then it's gonna be like a fucking cage match do you remember six?

Speaker 3 39:14

can you outdo six right?

Lesley 39:16

yeah, wait till my eighth man I got you eight. We're gonna be go-karting and slaughtering gerbils, that's right, we got first, we're gonna I'll bathe in the blood of my enemies.

Speaker 3 39:30

I was a violent child, I guess.

Lesley 39:32

So On the inside First we've got laser tag, and then we've got, you know, whatever else.

Speaker 3 39:38

I do remember laser tag. Laser tag was fun. Laser tag was so fun.

Lesley 39:42

I had a laser tag. I think I got it for Christmas one year and it was like a set that you had. Those were super hip man. I wish I had that now. I'd still play it. That'd be great fun.

Memorial Day Weekend Traditions

Speaker 3 39:52

We could do adult laser tag, but slow-mo, so we don't get hurt slow-mo laser tag I'm gonna do it in a wheelchair. So it is memorial day weekend in indianapolis and we talked about the race. Do you have any memories of the indy 500 as a child? How did you know what the Indy 500 was? When did it come into like awareness in your life? Because for some people, it's hardcore.

Lesley 40:17

It's hardcore. I mean, I think growing up here it's just kind of you just sort of know.

Speaker 4 40:22

Like it's on the radio at the same.

Lesley 40:24

it's always on the radio when I was really little I mean fresh baby, baby, fresh in a high chair. Um, we would take the train right, pink and clean and clean and fresh as a little daisy. Uh, we would. We would take the train from indianapolis down to florida. No shit, my grandma, my grandma and grandpa, that's cool. It happened that one time, either going down or coming back, we were on the train with paul page, who was the voice of the indianapolis 500 for many years wow, and that's cool.

Lesley 40:59

My mom jokes like he knew my mom they both worked in the radio world and my mom jokes that that was my first date. Was I sat in my high chair with Paul Page as my first date? I?

Speaker 3 41:10

don't know, that's adorable. Anyway, I'm a little weird, but okay, we understand A little creepy and it was always cute when small children were paired with much older men in the 80s. There's no reason why we're fucked up. It was the 80s.

Lesley 41:25

It's fine, but yeah, so like I think we growing growing up, we would always listen to the radio. Memorial day weekend you would have like you'd cook out, you'd have the radio on um yeah I never really paid a bit of attention to it. It was just sort of always in the background, sure, and over, you know. As you get older, over time, you know, then you start paying attention to oh who's racing blah blah, blah and there's a little more interest. And you pick your winner and all that stuff.

Speaker 3 41:52

Yeah, I do. I remember that, just like listening to it on the radio.

Megan 41:55

It was really important to my dad to listen.

Speaker 3 41:58

I mean just to have it on in that way. When did you first go to the?

Lesley 42:03

race. I have never been to the race itself.

Speaker 3 42:07

I've been to practices, but I've never been to the race Not in real life.

Lesley 42:10

I've been to the Brickyard, which is the NASCAR thing. Oh fun Do you like that?

Speaker 3 42:14

Okay, I would not have picked going, but I had different experiences of being invited to go. Yeah, but my first time going was in high school. Now I did not have a rational idea of what it was to go to the race because I went with my boyfriend, whose dad was a heart surgeon, and we went on a chartered bus.

Lesley 42:36

Oh wow, that is a fancy pants. So that was my first experience. I bet it was air conditioned and the whole bit I had to dress up. Oh my God.

Speaker 3 42:44

As a like 16-year-old girl. Oh my God, I remember him telling me like you gotta dress up, like we're going with you know what I I kind of.

Lesley 42:53

I kind of lied because I have been to the race, I guess, except I didn't. I wasn't there to watch the race, I worked, so my husband and I okay when we were dating, a friend of ours had like a t-shirt business or like worked with like somebody who had like one of the big t-shirt things, and so we were in during, like leading up with practice and stuff like that.

Lesley 43:16

We were selling t-shirts and so we had to get up at the ass crack of dawn even pre-ass crack of dawn to get there in order to open the trailer and be ready for race day To do all the things. It was a long, long day, because getting out of there is hell yeah, but you made bank.

Speaker 3 43:35

Did you? Oh, that's amazing.

Lesley 43:37

For a young, 27-year-old kid that was good money.

Speaker 3 43:40

You're like, yes, let's do it. I did eventually, I think, post-college with my now ex-husband. He won't be surprised to hear that he's aware we would go to the race he was super in, but it was all about like getting up at the ass cracker so I swear to god, we would be up at like three or four in the morning packing the car into the infield. You know all the stuff and this is like right out of college. So like I can still hold my own, yeah, lots of beer With quite a bit of things.

Speaker 3 44:12

And so just getting getting the car load into the infield. We did that a couple of times. He also went a few times without me, but yeah, so that was when I understood what the race was Right. Really.

Lesley 44:23

So, besides the race, what is, and your birthday, of course, what is the whole reason we have may right is what else is memorial day weekend like for?

Speaker 3 44:33

you guys, so that as a kiddo it was like family kind of picnics, hanging out pool. I think if we would go anywhere we would go visit my mom's mom in kentucky. So we kind of have like a thing there because Cause I remember my dad's family coming down like more like 4th of July Okay, because they would come down from Fort Wayne during the brief period when I got to have a pool before dead mom they would come- everybody would come down to swim.

Speaker 3 45:01

Yeah, and so that was like a big deal. Um, and then like now for um, it's a, I'll be working actually on Monday, but not not at my practice. Like I'll be working actually on Monday but not at my practice, Like I'll be working a little bit for the bar on Monday.

Speaker 4 45:15

Oh, that's cool, I'll be open.

Speaker 3 45:16

So we'll be doing that. But, like, mostly it's just like hanging out here. It's kind of the weekend we get. We try to get the yard and everything done.

Lesley 45:22

There's always yard work right, there's always something. It's like the official opening of outside right, it's the first day of summer kind of thing, that, uh, or the official start of summer, like we always did, yard work and we'll do that again this year it'll be like absolutely, because we're in the midwest so we do mulch oh yeah, you know so we'll.

Speaker 3 45:40

Yeah, I got mulch in my backyard right now waiting we'll mulch uh, but yeah, and we'll go to Menards to save big money, save big money. Call of the Midwest?

Lesley 45:52

Yeah, I think we did. I want to say we had family reunions also oh, interesting At the Memorial Day weekend.

Speaker 3 46:01

Say more about this family reunion.

Lesley 46:04

I mean, my family is so small now compared to what it was, but I remember as a little little kid just tons of people know the aunts, the uncles you know, extended, extended, extended family and we'd go meet at a park and you know, okay, you'd have your, your get together a little potluck.

Speaker 3 46:23

A little potluck, maybe some grilling, yeah, something like that a grilling a little potluck.

Lesley 46:28

some games Amazing.

Speaker 3 46:29

So it's the unofficial start of summer. Happy almost summer, Megan. I know we made it so nice.

Speaker 4 46:36

We're going to love the next four months. It was a slog, Leslie.

Speaker 3 46:38

You're not kidding, sister.

Lesley 46:39

It's still fucking cold here, I know I know.

Speaker 3 46:42

Well, we should let these fine listeners go.

Lesley 46:44

Hey, go have an amazing Memorial Day weekend you as well, unless you're, you know, listening to this later, in which case I hope your Memorial Day weekend was lovely.

Speaker 3 46:55

Yeah, but this will come out tomorrow. You have been listening to Gen X. Women are sick of this shit. Hey Megan, hey Leslie, what do people do if they want to find us?

Megan 47:08

Well, we have a website that people can find us on, and that is GenXWomenPodcom. We also have a Facebook page. We have an Instagram account as well. We have a YouTube account where we put YouTube shorts and other little tidbits up there. We have a TikTok account. I don't talk the dick or tick the tock. You don't tick the tock, I barely talk the tick. But I did put a TikTok up. We're explaining the internet to people again.

Speaker 3 47:39

That's okay, though it's great, we need to know how the internet works.

Megan 47:43

Can people buy merch? They absolutely can. We have a merch store on the website itself, and we also have an Etsy store too, so it's just pretty easy to find. It's just Gen X Women on Etsy.

Speaker 3 47:57

And if you are listening to this podcast, presumably you found it somewhere. And while you're there, give us a review. Yeah.

Outro and Contact Information

Megan 48:06

Let us know what you think. Throw some stars at us, that'd be great. We'll take one, two, three, four or five, ooh, five, maybe ten. And also make sure that you are hitting subscribe so that you're notified whenever a new episode drops. Most important, we also have a five minutes of fame that I think we should tell people about too.

Speaker 3 48:24

Hell, yes, we want to know your stories, your five minutes of fame stories. You can send those stories in on the website or you can call 1-888-GEN-X-POD and leave your story for us and we will play it live in our next episode we'll listen to it on a little red phone, just like batman.

Megan 48:48

That'd be cool. Let's get a bad phone A bad phone. I think that's it. That'd be great.