You Damn Kids Get Off My Lawn!

I know a thing or two about Gen Y.  I've worked with them, am related to a couple and I count some youngsters as good friends of mine.  That said: complaining about them not only fulfills my obligation as an old person...it's also pretty fun.  And easy.  Even my twentysomething friends enjoy bitching about their generation.

But here's the thing, Gen X: they. are. out. to. get. us.  That perky Twitterer in the Vampire Weekend T, sitting in the cube over yonder?  Right now they are blogging about what an ahole you are. FYI.

So read this awesome article and laugh if you want.  As for me, I'll be over here building a better wand. 

Comments

[Eric Almendral]

I have a lot of Gen Y friends and (former) coworkers. I wouldn't go so far as to say that I could pass as one, but I can definitely hang. And here's some of what I know about them, in broad, sweeping strokes:

Many have this weird sense of entitlement. Seeing the Gen X Microserf types become instant gazillionaires somehow gave many Gen Yers the impression that paying your dues is an outdated notion. Many are waiting for the big break, thinking they can jump from college grad to accomplished whatever in one big step. Unfortunately, it works for enough of them to give the others hope.

Others are surprisingly smart and hard-working. Even some of the ones that seem a little dumb on the outside. (This was true for Gen X, too).

Gen Xers bore the fallout of the Baby Boomer generation ("Just say no," AIDS, bad '70s fashions). Gen Y is reaping the benefits.

Urban West Coast Gen Yers have totally different notions about race, gender and sexual orientation than even the most liberal Gen Xers.

Gen Yers do not, and likely never will, read the newspaper.

Gen Y social and political activism is real and it's much better than the "got the t-shirt, bought the bumper sticker" activism of Gen X. It's more along the lines of the Burrito Project and hands-on, local, real-world solutions. They're beyond the protests. They still buy the bumper stickers, though.

They are cuter than we are. Not just because they're young. They endured shorter and less severe pre-adolescent awkward stages and came out of it looking cuter (in the aggregate) than all of Gen X. I don't know how or why. Maybe better clothes and orthodontics.

They are unafraid of learning. In fact, they're sponges.

[stephen]

I love it when they blog about what aholes we are (in the abstract sense) and then try to get a job with me. Yes, it has happened. Guess what, kids! I'm old, but I can still Google! And when you say my paper sucks, I won't hire you!

Still not going to Twitter.