We’re a generation of socially awkward adults who can’t seem to function as we’re supposed to. Mental illness is higher in our generation than any other.
Gen X laughs at our expense. They joke about how we “can’t even” and freak out that we use “adult” as a verb.
They view us as the generation of lazy procrastinators who think we’re entitled to everything, while simultaneously working for nothing when the reality of the situation is far from it.
Millennials live in a generation almost completely controlled by our parents' generation. We are forced to pay thousands of dollars for a higher education that leaves most of us in the same sense of disarray that we entered college with.
We are expected to find jobs at an entry level which also requires us to have at least two years of experience. We’re expected to have all the answers by the time we receive our B.A./B.S.
But I know middle-aged adults who can’t even make themselves dinner. I know adults who aren’t even sure that they like the careers they’ve had for the past ten years.
I know adults who still enter relationships they know will eventually leave them hurt. I know adults who can’t fully take care of their children because they are so self-absorbed in their own lives.
Yet, these are all things Millennials and Gen Y are accused of.
Of course, there are Millennials and Gen Y’s who do all those things too. But the reality is that we are a group of young adults who were thrown into a world we were never completely prepared for.
A good chunk of new adults still are not sure how taxes work. There are groups of students who are still under the control of helicopter parents. There are still kids in college who are not sure how to do their own laundry.
This is because we are a coddled generation. Obviously, it’s not an excuse for the reasons why some of us cannot do these things, but it accounts for some part of our generation’s faults.
Our parents, who were given limited access to all of the things we take for granted, willingly gave us those things because they want the best for us. However, we’ve turned into a generation with people who can barely take care of themselves. They never had to develop independence.
But every generation has people like this, and just like past and future generations, we will blame our parents for these faults. Especially now, we are more than capable of looking up the information needed, but nothing will ever beat your mom doing laundry for you or your dad cooking you dinner.
None of this will change, but it does matter if we can’t do these for ourselves, which Gen X claims we often cannot do.
Those claims are clearly disputable with millions of Millennials and Gen Y’s with their bachelor’s degree and some more with graduate degrees. Our generation outvoted Baby Boomers in the 2016 election. We are changing the social and financial hopes of our country to be more accepting and open.
Yet, Gen X decides to knock us down because they don’t like the way we grew up—the way they raised us.