Don’t underestimate the spending power of Gen X.

Sure, we’re not as big in number as Boomers or Gen Y. But our money is just as good, if not better.

The women of our so-called “sandwich generation” are way more into beauty products than our moms ever were. Our small group still manages to account for 31% of all leisure travel and 36% of all business travel. Our annual income dwarves Gen Y (for now, anyway). And while Boomers make slightly more than us, our annual spend is equal to theirs.

So why doesn’t anyone give a flying fig about marketing to us? Gen Y turns 30, and you’re all over them like white on rice. We’re in our spending prime, and you treat us like a colony of lepers.

Well, we may be vain and self-absorbed, and sure, some of us have a little credit card debt. But I’ll tell you a secret you won’t see on any generational stat sheet: we don’t have the same sense of entitlement as our parents or our younger siblings. Many of us are affluent. And when a portion of us become ultra-affluent, luxury hotels won’t need to separate out the green M&M’s from our candy dishes. We aren’t the ones yelling or whining at sweet-as-candy customer service reps.

We’re friggin’ awesome, and we like to buy stuff. Give us a chance. We’re all sitting around on our iPads, waiting for you.