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I'm a Millennial (born in '87) who works at a college in a digital marketing capacity, so I'm around younger Millennials and technology all the time. A few points:
I've been rear ended twice in the past 2 years by people who are texting. Millennials? Nope! One was in her 40s, the other was in her late 50s/early 60s with her grandkids in the car! My mom has been busted texting and driving, and my dad was in a 5 car pileup started by a Boomer on his phone. I won't deny that some of my Millennial friends use voice-to-text while driving, but most of us have mounts for our phones to use for navigation systems.
The last time I saw my parents, it was my mid-50s mother who insisted on wasting 10 minutes at the beginning of dinner (they only see me once a year) to take a selfie with me, check into the restaurant on Facebook, and write up a long post about how glad she was to see me -all while I was sitting there asking her to please put the phone down and talk to me. I won't deny some Millennials do the same thing, but I can tell you from professional experience that Millennials and younger are dumping social media channels like Facebook and Twitter at huge rates. I went from managing a social media account that mostly interacted with young grads and current students to ONLY interacting with parents and older alumni in a span of about 3 years. Look at your peers - they're making bad decisions digitally as well!
And yes, I am always glued to my phone. My brother and I were both chided by his in-laws about being on our phones during Thanksgiving dinner. Why? Work. Many Millennials in professional roles don't get to put away work when they clock out at 5. My dad was a VP in a high pressure, highly paid job but I rarely remember him bringing work home with him. Meanwhile, many of us are expected to answer email even on a holiday if that's needed. His in-laws were insulting about it and also gave him crap about "forcing" his wife to work 3 months after giving birth to a baby. They seem to not realize the only way that this young family could afford a home, marriage, and a child in their mid-20s is BECAUSE they both work and he works this uncompensated overtime on holidays, nights, and weekends in hopes of a promotion.
We are more competitive because we have to be. I don't know any Millennial just doing one thing. We all work AND go to grad school part time AND hold volunteer positions AND network AND try to brush up our skills AND have side gigs or part time jobs in some iteration. In some cases, we do that while still living with our parents because the COL has skyrocketed. Friends who were able to live at home for a few years are the only ones I know able to buy a condo or home in my region - they were the smart ones.
I find in the workplace that Millennials have a sense of urgency that some of my older coworkers simply don't have. They can take their time, clock out at 5, and go back to the homes that have quadrupled in value in the past 15 years while wages have stayed fairly stagnant. I have to always be on the ball and ready for opportunities that will introduce me to new people, new markets, or new options in order to get ahead.
It's interesting that the OP cites being judgmental as a flaw among Millennials, and then goes on to judge, judge, judge.
Agreed. The ones who were really good at following rules were those born just before WWII. They had it driven home in spades that they needed to tow the line and not make waves...ever! My parents are part of this generation, and they fit the profile to a T.
My parents were the same way, so what? Tow the Line, yes, why else wouldn't you? We were taught to follow rules, for they are most certainly there for a reason...may not seem fair, but to do otherwise, eventually led to chaos...like for instance, our illegal immigration program would be a perfect example. It starts all little at first, then someone else's problem is just as serious as yours, so they should get a free ticket, and over the years, boom, now you have a problem.
Yet, no one can recognize that in today's world....
I started competitive swimming at 8 years old....which required travel....at 13 worked at a bakery on weekends, wore my bathing suit under my clothes, and went right to swimming practice after work was done, which was from 3 a.m. in the morning, to 10 a.m. Rode my bike to practice.
yes, fun, yes, competitive, but not stressed...while a lot of my friends went to college, we didn't conscentrate on competitions, we used our minds, and acquired scholarships, and yes, some did sports, but not nearly as many as today, and what is this crap, everyone wins?
Now, you say a lot of pressure? I think everything should be looked at, as an experience, and kids shouldn't have to worry about winning all the time...sports sure are different today.
Even cheer leading has become a huge money maker. And that's what it's all about. So tell me, how is cheer going to get a kid into college?
our generation wasn't perfect....by any means, but it just seems like we had so much more maturity, responsibility and respect for rules and the law....?
We weren't as nasty, to others....yes, we had some, but as a whole, our generation seemed so much more able...we babysat....worked, my brother had a paper route...my two sisters worked....I mean, kids don't work today? Why?
And my parents were not poor, by any means....however, we all worked...we were not given every new thing...we didn't walk around with our phones in our hands, walking into others...I mean, people can't go to a movie without their cells? they should have phones surgically implanted into their heads?
I'm sorry, I just don't see it...it's way hard to understand....
For years there have been athletic scholarships for cheer for both men and women. Cheer is getting kids into college on scholarship just like all the other sports.
We weren't as nasty, to others....yes, we had some, but as a whole, our generation seemed so much more able...we babysat....worked, my brother had a paper route...my two sisters worked....I mean, kids don't work today? Why?
Kids don't work today because the type of people who worked in low skilled but livable wage manufacturing jobs when you were growing up now work in grocery stores and fast food.
Even a decade ago when I was looking for a job in high school, there were few openings because the chicken processing plant in town had closed a few years before and the job market could not absorb below-average intelligence workers. They ended up in low-skill service jobs that you would typically expect to see a teenager in. Babysitting was an option, but not steady work. Those coveted summer nanny positions all went to college students or laid off/unemployed neighborhood grandmothers in my upper middle class neighborhood.
We are quickly approaching an employment market where there simply will not be enough jobs of any sort for all who need them. Automation continues to displace workers - and it will be displacing middle class workers before you know it.
My parents were the same way, so what? Tow the Line, yes, why else wouldn't you? We were taught to follow rules, for they are most certainly there for a reason...may not seem fair, but to do otherwise, eventually led to chaos...like for instance, our illegal immigration program would be a perfect example. It starts all little at first, then someone else's problem is just as serious as yours, so they should get a free ticket, and over the years, boom, now you have a problem.
Yet, no one can recognize that in today's world....
I think you're mostly just disoriented by rules that have changed to reward a different set of social behaviors. Every generation since Adam has had the same complaint. Being The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit doesn't get you very far today.
I'm a Millennial (born in '87) who works at a college in a digital marketing capacity, so I'm around younger Millennials and technology all the time. A few points:
I've been rear ended twice in the past 2 years by people who are texting. Millennials? Nope! One was in her 40s, the other was in her late 50s/early 60s with her grandkids in the car! My mom has been busted texting and driving, and my dad was in a 5 car pileup started by a Boomer on his phone. I won't deny that some of my Millennial friends use voice-to-text while driving, but most of us have mounts for our phones to use for navigation systems.
The last time I saw my parents, it was my mid-50s mother who insisted on wasting 10 minutes at the beginning of dinner (they only see me once a year) to take a selfie with me, check into the restaurant on Facebook, and write up a long post about how glad she was to see me -all while I was sitting there asking her to please put the phone down and talk to me. I won't deny some Millennials do the same thing, but I can tell you from professional experience that Millennials and younger are dumping social media channels like Facebook and Twitter at huge rates. I went from managing a social media account that mostly interacted with young grads and current students to ONLY interacting with parents and older alumni in a span of about 3 years. Look at your peers - they're making bad decisions digitally as well!
And yes, I am always glued to my phone. My brother and I were both chided by his in-laws about being on our phones during Thanksgiving dinner. Why? Work. Many Millennials in professional roles don't get to put away work when they clock out at 5. My dad was a VP in a high pressure, highly paid job but I rarely remember him bringing work home with him. Meanwhile, many of us are expected to answer email even on a holiday if that's needed. His in-laws were insulting about it and also gave him crap about "forcing" his wife to work 3 months after giving birth to a baby. They seem to not realize the only way that this young family could afford a home, marriage, and a child in their mid-20s is BECAUSE they both work and he works this uncompensated overtime on holidays, nights, and weekends in hopes of a promotion.
We are more competitive because we have to be. I don't know any Millennial just doing one thing. We all work AND go to grad school part time AND hold volunteer positions AND network AND try to brush up our skills AND have side gigs or part time jobs in some iteration. In some cases, we do that while still living with our parents because the COL has skyrocketed. Friends who were able to live at home for a few years are the only ones I know able to buy a condo or home in my region - they were the smart ones.
I find in the workplace that Millennials have a sense of urgency that some of my older coworkers simply don't have. They can take their time, clock out at 5, and go back to the homes that have quadrupled in value in the past 15 years while wages have stayed fairly stagnant. I have to always be on the ball and ready for opportunities that will introduce me to new people, new markets, or new options in order to get ahead.
It's interesting that the OP cites being judgmental as a flaw among Millennials, and then goes on to judge, judge, judge.
Your post was a good one, exceptional and from reading I have learned, however, your last sentence was in fact, a judge, judge, judge, in itself...which reflects your motivation for the post....
why is it, everyone misses, the parts where I've stated, that there ARE INDEED great millennials out there??????????
is that intentional?
I opened this up for a discussion...and like I said, your post was extremely beneficial....thank you....
I love conversations on this, and feel we can all learn together....
Observations, are not judging, and that is why I opened this thread, to discuss, and perhaps learn from one another....
What stagnates a conversation is when people take offense....then no one benefits....take it for what it is, a discussion...nothing more, nothing less....and perhaps from that we can learn and go forward.
Kids don't work today because the type of people who worked in low skilled but livable wage manufacturing jobs when you were growing up now work in grocery stores and fast food.
Even a decade ago when I was looking for a job in high school, there were few openings because the chicken processing plant in town had closed a few years before and the job market could not absorb below-average intelligence workers. They ended up in low-skill service jobs that you would typically expect to see a teenager in. Babysitting was an option, but not steady work. Those coveted summer nanny positions all went to college students or laid off/unemployed neighborhood grandmothers in my upper middle class neighborhood.
We are quickly approaching an employment market where there simply will not be enough jobs of any sort for all who need them. Automation continues to displace workers - and it will be displacing middle class workers before you know it.
I'm sorry, but if kids wanted to work, there are jobs out there they could do....
and I do see them working....a lot...but a lot don't b/c their parents provide everything for them....
Some people can't afford a nanny....so I disagree there....I work with a whole lot of people that have babysitters, twice a month or more....
yes, for every issue, we could find an excuse, but the bottom line is, if a kid wants to work, there are jobs out there for them to do...believe me.
laugh all you want, but, we boomers understood a lot of rules...we didn't as a whole generation go out and specifically break rules and laws, b/c we could.
Say what? The generation that pretty much embodied rebellion in the 1960s?
Your post was a good one, exceptional and from reading I have learned, however, your last sentence was in fact, a judge, judge, judge, in itself...which reflects your motivation for the post....
why is it, everyone misses, the parts where I've stated, that there ARE INDEED great millennials out there??????????
is that intentional?
I opened this up for a discussion...and like I said, your post was extremely beneficial....thank you....
I love conversations on this, and feel we can all learn together....
Observations, are not judging, and that is why I opened this thread, to discuss, and perhaps learn from one another....
What stagnates a conversation is when people take offense....then no one benefits....take it for what it is, a discussion...nothing more, nothing less....and perhaps from that we can learn and go forward.
?
I'll be honest, I have a very hard time deciphering your posts due to the lack of courtesy for your readers in how you choose to forgo standards of grammar and punctuation. If I missed your point, I apologize.
The only one taking offense here seems to be you. I'm simply making observations.
For years there have been athletic scholarships for cheer for both men and women. Cheer is getting kids into college on scholarship just like all the other sports.
yes, your right, I didn't say there isn't now...but back when I was a kid, cheer sure didn't....sports were not nearly as competitive, they were more for fun. Yes, some kids were great and got scholarships, but not nearly as it is today...there is huge money in sports athletics today...way too much....
I know one person from our swim team that got a scholarship from swimming, all the rest, no. Bet we had about 60 kids on our team.
It just wasn't nearly as competitive...and to be honest, I don't believe a kid should have to deal with that much stress. I hear one mother talking about the stress on her girl for volleyball...it's incredible....????
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