19 Pics and Memes That Mock People Who Were Born In The Wrong Generation

Some people are committed to make it known to the rest of us that they’re just miserably stuck in the wrong generation. Nostalgia can be blinding in its own way. When we look back on the old times, sometimes we conveniently skim right over the rough patches that inspired us to look forward to when things with change. We rounded up collection of pics and memes that are dedicated toward satirically mocking any nostalgic people who believe the past to be undeniably better than today.

1. “Every generation has cool, whiny, and cranky people.”

A meme featuring a still from "The Breakfast Club" with text above and below. The text reads: "Just remember, for every boomer that hates millennials, and every millennial that hates boomers, there's a generation in between that hates you both. Generation X – less cranky than boomers, less whiny than millennials. Cooler than both.
u/dogtron64/via reddit.com

“Cooler than both, which is why they try to prove how cool they are by telling everyone about it.” – u/Prof-finklestink

“Sounds pretty whiny to me.” – u/Nirvski

2. “As a Gen Z, I don’t agree with this.”

A social media post with a headline stating "Gen Z feel uncomfortable about thumbs up emoji because it's 'passive aggressive'." The post includes an image of a person looking concerned and a cartoon showing stick figures reacting negatively to a large thumbs up gesture.
u/immistyer/via reddit.com

“A solid pro tip is to never assume that anyone knows your texting etiquette.” – u/OwlsWatch

“Millennial here and if I give you a thumbs up it’s my polite way of saying I don’t care about what you just said, and I’m going to do what I want.” – u/jonnyson14

3. “Born in 2001, I’m basically a ’90s kid.”

Screenshot of an Instagram comment thread. A person comments, "I didn't existed in 2001 😢." Other users reply, discussing what it was like in 2001, with one mentioning that life was simpler and happier back then, and another sharing they were born in 2001.
u/honeypup/via reddit.com

“I too think things were better when I was a baby with no responsibility.” – u/screamingpeaches

“I was born in ’91 and I hardly remember anything from the nineties.” – u/Novaer

4. “The Beatles are pretty underground and you probably haven’t heard of them.”

A post on a social media platform reads, "The Beatles should be celebrated more." The user argues that this generation should listen to more Beatles music, which they find inspirational and deserving of recognition, advocating for more music and less war.
u/yakplayz/via reddit.com

“Can’t wait for people to say this about Taylor Swift in a few decades.” – u/Witeleopard

“The double spaces makes me think it’s a boomer.” – u/crazdave

5. “Bro says being a teen in the late ’50s and ’60s was the best.”

Four young men dressed in matching red sweaters with a white letter 'D' stand together against an orange background. Below, a comment says, "Late 50s & 60s best times to be teenagers when life was simple.
u/ytmasterfrank/via reddit.com

“It’s amazing how they somehow always choose a time period where they would have been drafted.” – u/deleted

The fact that they dropped the bit about life being simpler back then took this one to a whole new level of boomer nostalgia.

6. “Kids today are wild.”

A meme with four panels. The first panel shows a person planking with the text "First it was planking." The second panel shows a person with face tattoos labeled "Now it's face tattoos." The third panel shows a person eating a Tide Pod labeled "And eating Tide Pods." The fourth panel shows a man from the movie "Office Space" saying, "If using your brain could be the next trend, that would be great!
u/jocoselyvest/via reddit.com

“Good thing my generation never did anything dumb.” – u/Jorymo

“Boomers confusing internet trends with the real world will never not be hilarious.” – u/deleted

7. “Just don’t use the slang.”

A Reddit post in the r/GenZ subreddit titled "Can't Get behind gen z slang." The poster expresses their dislike for current slang, finding it overused and preferring older slang as today's is mediocre. The post has 260 comments, 565 upvotes, and has been shared once.

“New slang double plus bad.” – u/BraveRock

“Can’t believe they think our slang is mid.” – u/needlesfox

8. “Hit the nail on the head.”

A tweet by Barry McCockiner (@SportsTalkBarry) reads: "People who comment, 'who's watching this in 2019' on YouTube videos of old songs are the worst people on the planet." Another tweet by the same user below reads: "they don't make music like this anymore.
u/blaisec00/via reddit.com

“I don’t understand YouTube comments at all. It’s like a script for every video. It’s a race to see who posts each category of post.” – u/deleted

“I hate lazy comments.” – u/Sleepy_Sleeper

9. “Just saw this on Facebook.”

Black and white photo of a young child with curly hair making a disgusted facial expression. The text above and below the image reads, "MY FACE WHEN I HEAR TODAY'S MUSIC.
u/wayoftheship/via reddit.com

“Just skip a day and listen to it tomorrow. Problem solved.” – u/deleted

“No one’s forcing you to listen.” – u/j10brook

10. “Found this in a post about the worst songs ever made.”

A blurred profile picture next to a comment that says, "Any songs made after 1987. After that it's just crap." Beneath the comment, there are options to reply, upvote (with -3 votes), and downvote.
u/kitty3032/via reddit.com

“That’s a really specific year.” – u/sinshock555

“If you can’t find music after a certain time period, you’re not looking hard enough.” – u/OwlflighttheCat

11. “Just, wow.”

A meme by "Culture Critic" juxtaposes two buildings: The top image shows a modern, minimalist house from 1975, labeled "Designed by a PhD, 1975." The bottom image shows a rustic stone house from the 1500s, labeled "Built by illiterates, 1500.
u/humblerazzmatazz581/via reddit.com

“Ah, a new addition to the trend of, modern is bad, old good, education bad, dumb good.” – u/deleted

“They wouldn’t last a week living in the bottom house. Prone to whatever weather conditions are outside and not much utility inside compared to modern homes.” – u/Par31

12. “Clearly a child.”

Meme with two images: Top image shows a green alien giving a thumbs-up with the caption "2024 Kid's: This Is An Alien". Bottom image features a tearful man with the caption "2000s kids:". Instagram interface visible on the right.
u/kanaajrally/via reddit.com

“To be honest, it’s definitely an alien.” – u/mond4203

“Oh no, this green thing still exists.” – u/overwhelmed

13. “We’ve come full circle.”

A young man wearing a green shirt is taking a selfie-style video on a bridge, with people walking in the background. A YouTube comment below by user @Warmonger6785 reads: "They need to make music like this again because the music industry really be letting the most wack artists in." The comment has 1.5K likes, 296 responses, and has been up for 1 month.
u/kyleicp420/via reddit.com

“I can’t believe I’m this old.” – u/bimmom

“The cycle never ends.” – u/deleted

14. “I thought you grew out of this when you turned 20.”

A Reddit post titled "I feel like I was born in the wrong era, or possibly I am just odd." The user, a 1994 baby, dislikes modern music and prefers music from the 60s and 70s. They express nostalgia for older music and wonder if modern music is objectively worse.
u/thatguywhodoesthat/via reddit.com

“If you think modern music isn’t good, you’re just not looking.” – u/vertigo90

“Good thing they live in a generation with easy access to all of that music.” – u/Goofballs

15. “Even video game music isn’t safe.”

Screenshot of a comment thread on a video of a pixelated Mario figure floating in space. The thread includes comments discussing childhood and familiarity with classic video game music. Some responses argue not everyone had a childhood with access to these games.
u/moneysmooth5971/via reddit.com

“I feel like even Gen Alpha knows what Mario is.” – u/Immmistyer

“Ah yes, the 2019 kids were born adults.” – u/AlbiTuri05

16. “Those were ye good old days.”

A meme depicts a cartoon pirate joyfully dancing next to a boombox. The top text reads, "me listening to modern pop music: arrr....... no good...." and the bottom text reads, "me listening to 1700s sea shanties:" indicating a preference for older music.
u/ibrahimjd/via reddit.com

“I just listen to the Spongebob soundtrack all day.” – u/teetaps

“I was born in the wrong gen.” – u/deleted

17. “Nostalgia comes for us all.”

A Reddit post with the title "I'm so tired of people gushing about the 90s" followed by the text: "I always continue to hear people always talking about the 90s like it's the second coming of christ. Like it was the best thing that ever happened. I'm just so sick of it. The 90s probably wasn't all that great and is just an exaggeration of what people thought it was like. In reality, it's just nostalgia, which happens to any human being. 90s kids are just so annoying about it.
u/pidgeotgoneformilk29/via reddit.com

“Every generation feels superior to the one that came after them. Just like the 90s kids feel superior to me and I feel superior to the iPad Fortnite kids.” – u/deleted

“I don’t understand why people can’t be appreciative of things from a certain time without venerated to the point of absurdity.” – u/kingkongworm

18. “No one has good taste any more.”

Text from a social media post: "Noone has good taste anymore." The user clarifies "Noone" refers to their friends, not Gen Z members or Dead Heads. They express frustration that their friends dislike the 60s and 70s music they enjoy, deeming it lame and annoying. They ask for others' opinions and music recommendations.
u/soupcan122/via reddit.com

“Let me guess, they think that all music nowadays is mumble rap, despite the fact that mumble rap has been gone for years.” – u/rectangle_salt

“I’m not like other zoomers.” – u/gGiasca

19. “They went all in.”

A graphic with text celebrating people born in the 1950s, highlighting their experience of seven decades, two centuries, and two millenniums. It emphasizes the enjoyment of life's milestones like music, cars, drive-in theaters, soda fountains, and happy days.
u/nearby_employee_2943/via reddit.com

“The fastest cars? Look I’m not a car guy, but I’m pretty sure that they weren’t that fast.” – u/gGiasca

“Actually Happy Days was aired in the ’70s.” – u/madface7