The Space Between Us: Why Are Millennials Frowned Upon?

The year is 2016 and the Millennials that have superseded society are a breed of incapable lolly- gaggers, settling around their elders like a mass of mosquitoes to a stewing puddle. They don’t do “real work,” nor do they appreciate the value of it (at least mosquitos bite people and do something). That fifteen year span between 1980 and 1995 has produced the worst of us; the up-to-no-good miscreants, the leaches, those slothful son of a guns.

All of this is poppy cock, but I’ve heard it in various forms, nonetheless.

The point in my bringing up this very tired out topic is to once again beat a dead horse for good measure. The topic, of course, is the fact that many of the older population looks down on Generation Y, clinging to the assumptions that result from the behavior they witness from a small section of the larger group (I will continue with this in another paragraph). How might this commonly-written-on point be made clearer? If the audience is obstinate, then the words we all write are as effective as sails on a windless day. However, repetition seems as effective a choice as any other, and thus the reason for this article. It seems likely that the more often a concern is pronounced, also the more likely it will be received, because none of us have the will power to resist ignorance forever (because I have faith in human intelligence).

Despite the irony of my aforementioned statement, I aim to avoid generalizations (but it’s a bad habit we all have). For it is generalizations that have caused the problem that I like to call “collective incomprehension,” and there are many layers to this statement.

Firstly, I would like to know why someone’s bad day constitutes a dismissal such as “well he/she is just being a teenager, what do you expect?” In no way do I support blatant rudeness to anyone, so I am not defending the fact that people in my age group HAVE been disrespectful. What I mean is, why is any semblance of emotion from anyone under the age of twenty-five ignored with words as unfounded as “oh he/she is just a teenager”? or “oh, they don’t get it. They’re too young.” The incomprehension illustrated here is lack of awareness of how hurtful a dismissal is, and how, in all honesty, scenarios like this are often the springboard for later emotionally immature behavior. If you ignore a toddler’s cry, he or she will scream louder, just sayin’.

What makes a young person’s struggles less important than those of someone fifteen years his or her senior? Is it because he or she will have so many more struggles in the future, and therefore the trivial bad days should not be taken for granted? Is it because our youth makes it easier to absorb negativity, because we’re ready and open for whatever life throws? Unfortunately, such elasticity only applies to our skin, and it’s harder for our spirit to be resilient when it is damaged just as bad by corporate America as a forty-five year old co-worker. Moreover, the ability to roll with the bad times is affected by the support, or lack thereof, received by family members and adults who have lived through high school and college, and now have their lives “together.” Speaking as a millennial, if we complain, we are not ungrateful. We are tired.

Then there is the incomprehension of Generation Y. Why do I get the stink eye from elderly men and women when I am walking down the street laughing with my friends? Why do I get questions like, “have you gotten a job yet?” or reminders such as, “you better start thinking about money!” As I said previously, repetition is effective, and the amount of times I have heard variations of the above statements has informed me sufficiently of what I need to do as a pseudo-adult. To the authentic adults, the real troopers in the real world: I am aware that I need a job that pays more than minimum wage if I want to live in acceptable conditions. I am aware that money is a key factor in survival (it has been a means of commerce for how many years now?) I appreciate your advice, but I cannot bare your patronizing even if you mean well.

Perhaps, everything I have said thus far has been a giant generalization of older people, and perhaps that might annoy those people outside of the Millennial Age. But therein my point is made. Which leads to the “seeing the tree and not the forest” phenomenon. I will readily admit that there are some of those around my age (16-22) who give our generation a bad name; that we are irresponsible, selfish, narcissistic, and rude.

But one person’s fault does not mean it is everyone else’s too. This is why I find the grouping together of the generation to be what some may call…stupid. It rather denotes a lack of understanding and once again illustrates collective incomprehension. It’s as if some older people have decided in their minds that there is no use in seeing the positive traits of millennials; our creative vision, our drive to prove the world wrong, or the work ethic we have developed in response to the growing financial crisis stemming from overpriced tuition and life-long debt (but this issue can be discussed at a later date.) Once again there is dismissal. A dismissal of what is good about young people as a whole.

How does this collective incomprehension disappear? It's quite simple, and the answer has been dressed in sequins, flapping its arms up and down, and yelling out for the worlds's attention; because the answer wants you to listen. Not only to it, but also Generation Y. The more an older person is willing to listen, the closer they are to understanding why we act the way we do and why we complain the way we do. Because it is hard being young, we are physically and mentally tired and we need a shoulder to cry on. It would be a dream if young, middle-aged, old, what have you, tried to see eye to eye and respect the stages of life. Whether it be the crippling four (or more) years of trying to pass through college, or the dawning of true adulthood coupled with mortgages and taxes. My plea is for a perfect world, I know, but generally speaking we all want that, don't we?