We are considered to be diverse, innovative, connected, educated and idealistic. However, we are also thought of as narcissistic, lazy, entitled and coddled.
I guess that is my generation, the Millenials, in a nutshell. I wouldn’t consider that to be completely wrong but on the contrary, in my opinion, I see Millenials as mobile, progressive, creative and full of expression. We aren’t kids anymore, the oldest of us are now almost 40 years old.
Sure some of us fall under the cliches such as selfie driven, indecisive and debt-ridden individuals, but we are coming of age and have a different way of going about that.
We grew up in a time of rapid change, our priorities and expectations have shifted because of that.
A lot of us have grown out of those cliches … for the most part.
If you Google search the word Millenials, the results are quite depressing. The doom and gloom of my generation is ranked to the forefront and everything else follows.
Yeah, there are the statistics. I know a lot of us might still be living with our parents, like my 28-year-old sister, who still hasn’t quite figured it out or those of us who are postponing big commitments like marriage, a house or children.
I have friends who are doing that right now, but sadly a lot of them never left the small town we grew up in and I feel sorry for them. I had bigger and better plans.
In school, when they thought about a life in that small town, I was thinking about my next growth spurt or at what age would I grow chest hair - things a teenage should be thinking about.
I knew I was going to settle down one day, but I knew I had things to accomplish first.
I understand why elders might not fancy us Millenials - we squashed the good things of the past like department stores, knitting and lunch. We took those and elevated them.
Instead of department stores, we are thrifty and started shopping second hand. Instead of knitting, we took up macrame, which is a form of textile art produced by knots that you can hang on your wall or hold pots in for your indoor plants.
Instead of waking up for breakfast, we go to brunch which can include fun things like a make-your-own mimosa or bloody mary bar.
While my generation might be the worst for some people, we are the greatest to others.
We are facing financial hardships but we are still very optimistic about our future. We want the best education possible and will put ourselves in a lot of debt for it. We adapt easily and learn quickly. While we might have a different idea of what a work environment should be like, we still work hard and efficiently.
I don’t think it’s the Millenials you should be worried about, it’s Generation Z, I mean they didn’t make turtle necks and corduroy pants fashionable again.