To My Elders:

I’m sorry for most of my generation. I hear you complain about things that my generation does all the time. I used to brush it all off and think that none of those complaints against me and my peers really applied to us. When I got my first job, though, I started to pay attention. I realized that things that my parents and grandparents were saying really did apply to my peers and some of it even applied to me. So, to my elders, I’m sorry for my generation.

I’m sorry that we feel entitled to just about everything. I’m lucky that my parents give me just about anything I ask for, but I also know how to work for things. I see a lot of my peers who have never worked a day in their lives pouting because their parents told them no when they asked for a shirt that they probably would have only worn once.

I’m sorry we are lazy. I’m not going to lie, I’m guilty of being lazy too, but I do have a job. I’ve learned the value of a dollar and what it means to earn a dollar and pay my own bills. I know a lot of people my age who do the same thing, though a lot of my peers don’t really do anything unless it involves hanging out with their friends or going to a party.

I’m sorry we don’t show you the respect you deserve. “Yes ma’am” was always a requirement in my house, but it doesn’t seem to be used as often anymore. The way I’ve seen some of my friends talk to their moms when they didn’t agree with them makes me cringe. I’ve said a lot to my mom that I regret, but I know that if I said half the things my friends have said that I would have gotten into so much trouble, I’d be grounded until I was 40.

I’m sorry we are always on our phones. We have gotten so wrapped up in our selfies, tweets, and statuses that we sometimes forget to pay attention to the world around us. We don’t hear people when they are talking to us anymore. Even if they’re trying to help us.

I’m not saying all millennials are bad. I know a lot of really responsible and hard-working people my age. Personally, I strive to be a different kind of millennial. One that past generations will feel confident in when it comes time for my generation to take their place.

Some of us are willing to work 40 plus hours a week just to make ends meet. Some of us do know how to respect the generations that came before us; it is their shoes we will ultimately be filling, so we might as well learn something from them while we can.

So, I’m sorry for the mistakes that a lot of my generation has made. I’m not saying that I’ve never been guilty of being an “entitled millennial,” but my parents did teach me how to be a functioning member of society. Don’t lose hope in the millennial generation. There are some of us who are hard-working and respectful, so the world isn’t totally screwed when it comes time for us to take your place.

-A Millennial