Entitlement generation

Lately I'm sure everyone has been reading articles, seeing status', etc. about my generation. The generation labeled the Entitlement generation, the Millennials, Generation Y. It's been pretty much everywhere. In fact, I read several articles about it this morning. Some were rather harsh, in my opinion.

As I was thinking about this today, at work I overhear a group of older ladies talking about one of their granddaughters and her sense of entitlement. It took a lot of will power for me not to voice my opinion and dig deeper as to why they thought what they did.  That, of course, only got me thinking more about the subject.

Do I come off an entitled? Is my generation really the Entitlement generation? If I am, how can I not be? Seriously, I don't want to come off as entitled. With these articles I kept hearing the same things. "Its all about me, blah blah blah… I'm entitled.""So lazy""All about Media." So I guess I feel the need to address my opinions about this. And its my blog so I'll do as I please. JUST A FAIR WARNING, I may not agree with what you believe and if so, sorry but at least hear me out.

Its all about me- I guess I don't necessarily know where to start with this one. I'll agree there are definitely people in my generation who are very self-centered. In fact, I probably see it more often than not. I'll even go as far to say its concerning but let me tell you a few things. When you jump through the hoops of life, aren't you always told look out for yourself? What can you do to make yourself better than everyone else? "Its a dog eat dog world"… so shouldn't you be the dog eating? I think it only makes sense. I feel the worlds at least a little bit to blame for it.  I also feel that, at least for me, I don't really know anyone who is too ALL ABOUT ME. The people I know in my generation are the type of people who are willing to put down anything to help you. They see a need somewhere, they get it done. They are the type of people who see you had a bad day and get you your favorite drink, take you out for dinner. I guess I feel that the people I surround myself with are the exception to the rule in this case.

Entitlement/lazy- Well not everyone is lazy. Yes, I'll agree there are more people out there doing nothing productive with their lives but there are some people who definitely aren't. I've had a job since I was fifteen. I've spent most of my summers working six days a week for ten to twelve hours. When I did get a week off, It was because I spent it doing volunteer work around the US or outside the world. I also know people who haven't worked a day in their lives, who live off their parents money and do as they see fit. I wouldn't put the two of us in the same category and I would probably only think one of us is lazy. I also currently have two jobs and am adding a third when school starts thats a perfect resume builder so no I don't think I'm lazy. &*^&% again you can have your own opinion about me, but i'm just stating mine^*%**&% Now entitlement, honestly I don't even know what to say. I feel like I don't feel entitled to anything, nor do the people I surround myself with. We were never given everything we wanted. If we wanted something, we worked for it. You earned it. If you didn't want to work for it, too bad you just weren't getting what you wanted. We know what we want isn't going to get handed to us. So we work our butts off so our aspirations can come true. We even have a back up plan.If it is what we've been told to do by everyone around us for years, I don't really consider it entitlement. If we worked for it and really deserve it then why oh why can't it be. Now if I didn't do anything to deserve it, didn't work for it and really believed I deserved whatever I wanted, then thats what I believe is entitlement. There is a clear difference in my opinion.

All about media- I'll agree to a certain extent on this one. Yes my generation is all about media but so are others. It saddens me when I go to work to see families sitting down to dinner with no one talking, having everyone on their phones. Parents included. We follow others footsteps. So watch yours. I challenge you, when you're with a person or group of people, put down the phone. Be present. I promise texting someone or checking facebook and twitter can wait. Unless you're getting details about sometime serious, important or urgent, PUT IT DOWN. I understand my generation is constantly on the computer or linked to some tv but I can tell you not all of it is absolutely terrible. I know this is shocking, but sometimes this thing called the news comes on…. Theres even channels that have news on 24/7. WHAT?!?!?! Sometimes we need to know whats going on in the world.

Heres a good article my friend posted this morning: http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/09/opinion/bors-millenial-comic-strip/index.html?sr=sharebar_facebook

I guess thats my quick, summed up, watered down opinions on the matter. Again you can disagree with me if you want. I feel as if you can't always put everyone in the same category but then again maybe we're the exceptions not the rule.

Communication is Key.

Howdy! I've been thinking lately and one of the things I realized was how important communication truly is. Honestly, think of the world without communication. We'd be a hot mess. FYI I'm not talking about communication over text,facebook, twitter… Ain't nobody got time for that. I'm talking about real communication. Face to Face conversion or just a phone call. Using our words and explaining things is a hell of a lot easier to understand. Let's be honest, we've all been in a situation where we send a text or some other form of communication and it gets taken the wrong way. Either it came off in a different way than we meant it to or the person you reads it takes it wrong. You then have to spend the next some odd texts explaining what you meant, etc. Its just a hassle. 

Thats were I'm at. I realized its so much easier to understand people when we don't hide behind a text message. Let's use our voice people. I get that its a pain to call someone or meet up to have an important conversion but it takes out about 80% of the miscommunication. And trust me, we all got time for that. I  also understand that its easier to say what we want in a text then to someones face, but if you have enough balls to say it over text than you can get enough to say it to someones face. If you want or need to say it, THEN JUST SAY IT. Not saying it isn't going to help and what's the point of communicating if you can't say whats on your mind. 

I've also realized another thing. If you have a problem with someone and need to voice your opinion or what not, its important that you do so. Also don't get other people involved. If its between the two of you, keep it between the two of you. No third or fourth person needs to get involved. It just gets messy and becomes a game of he said, she said.  The lines of communication gets crossed and to be honest there really isn't a lot of communication. 

So anyway I guess the moral of the story is communicate with each other. Not via text or facebook, that doesn't count if its important. You want your point to get across well. Don't cross the lines of communication, it has the possibility to get a whole lot messier than it already is. So pick up the phone, give whoever a call or set up a meeting. Miscommunication sucks and communication is key. It makes the world a hell of a lot easier.