I have a younger sister, three years younger to be exact. Though it does not sound like much, the generation gap, if you want to call it that, between us is astounding. Not because we associate different movies and TV with our childhood ( we often watched the same shows together), but because her outlook on life and her definition of tough and hard work is vastly different from my own.
We went through the same school system, to the same high school, very similar trades even (it was a vocational school). But, when I came back from my first year of college, I really noticed how little she took to doing unasked work. It's not to say she's lazy -- she can work hard when she's motivated -- it's just that she sees mundane tasks as something to be put off or given to someone else. I'm no saint in this department, but I can accept that cleaning, mowing the lawn, doing the dishes, etc. are unasked and non-praised chores that need to be done, and they still remain something that she needs to be almost ordered to do, and even then there is much huffing and puffing. Copious procrastination and simple means of entertainment often cause her to lose interest in doing work, until it piles up and takes an entire day to do what could've been done over the week.
On another note, the sense of entitlement between myself and people her age is drastic. As a kid, I wanted an iPad more than anything. My only source of income was a $5 paycheck each day from walking the neighbors dog. So, I walked that dog and saved my money for months and months until I could walk down to the Best Buy and put down my $500 in $5 bills and buy my very own iPad. That was one of my proudest moments, and I still look back on that day with a smile. I used that iPad until it was full of bugs and glitchy. The same goes for my laptop for college. I spent over $1000 of my own money to buy it, and I'm using it currently to make this article.
The vast majority of things I own I worked for and bought. But my sister, and other people her age, did not. She received: a Kindle Fire, two laptops, three iPods, and a room stereo, all as presents. These things, half of which I don't even have, all came as gifts from parents or relatives.
The largest distancing factor between us, is that she has yet to spend months and months working towards a goal and really accomplish it. For everyone in that generation, I hope that soon they can appreciated the time and dedication it takes to make large purchases on your own and that many of your good deeds will go unnoticed, but still need to be done.
