About being thrown in with "snowflakes" and "Millenials"

[StewPots]

I'm just really fed up with the wording of all these articles slagging off under 35s as lazy, work shy and entitled. Not all of us are like how these articles describe!
I'm 33,I have a good standard of education, I can read and write very well, I work hard (worked 3 13 hour shifts on a busy hospital ward this week so far), I'm bringing up my two kids (15 & 3) to be thoughtful, polite, and hopefully hard working members of society, yet I'm in this stupid age bracket named "Millenial" where no one has a good word to say! Yes, I notice that some younger people can come across as lazy and perhaps entitled, but surely that happens with every generation!
I've told my DD (15) in no uncertain terms that when she starts work this summer, she will be expected to pull her weight, she will be paid peanuts, she will be at entry level and remain so for possibly years, but eventually hard work will pay off... and she is fully on board with this! Yet she too will be demonised as a "snowflake" purely on the basis of the year she was born!
Gahhhhh! Sorry just needed a rant this morning!!

Teeth - absolutely, I had a slightly similar childhood in a way. I didn't have much, especially after Dad went and me and mum lived on beans on toast a lot...I watched mum work so hard for not a lot but to keep a roof over our heads and I think it instilled a lot in me.
My first wage at 14, I went straight to the shop and got the basics for us with a few treats like cakes for us both to have.
I've never forgotten that. Also whilst pregnant with DS my DH lost his job suddenly, and we had nothing. Literally nothing, except my maternity pay. It was hell. But we got on with it, and are now stable ( no means well off, at all - we rent, have a clapped out old banger for a car, but can eat well, budget well etc). I think these kinds of experience shape you. My DD was 9 when this happened to DH. She never complained, got on with it and never asked us for anything.
I think she will remember this time like I did the hard time mum had, and use it to strive forward, work hard and also not take things for granted.
It's just a shame that because she's a "millennial" she may be incorrectly labelled as lazy and entitled. Stupid press (fucking Daily Mail).

'Gen X is often characterized by high levels of skepticism, “what’s in it for
me” attitudes and a reputation for some of the worst music to ever gain popularity.'

Wiggles - yes, I have heard things like that (in RL, not the bastarding Daily Fail ) and its always disappointing because that's exactly how these labels get created and bandied about.
But I also know some young people who've seen horrific things either personally or through work, who wouldn't dream of behaving like this.
God I wish I could buy my own house, any house! Those who can in the current market are very lucky to be able to do so and perhaps aren't being realistic...maybe that's due to TV like location, location or Grand Designs

SnowFairy - GenX music ...well according to some, I'm millennial, but others say not Who/what am I??? wails

Jux- spot on. I just needed a rant this morning and this fashion for negative labels winds me up, it's so divisive.

Also some younger people have very wise views. I am always telling my teenagers they are often right and I am wrong and I learn from them. Just because I am in my 50s (and I do genuinely have a lot of experience and knowledge and in some areas will know better than some younger people) does not mean I am always right and have nothing to learn from younger people. I particularly support younger people who are not prepared to work ridiculous hours losing nights of sleep and the like. We may have had a few decades of that in some professions but it came on after I started in my job so I remember the time before that and it was never good for people. If new graduates ask about work/life balance in interviews then they will be good employees. You only endure in my kind of career over 30 years + and still enjoy it if you get enough sleep and have some hobbies. if you don't look after yourself you burn out.

That does not mean I am suggesting young people should lie around all day not doing anything of course......

Also I support younger couples sharing parental leave when babies come 50./50 and indeed like my father in the 1960s sharing being a proper parent, rushing home to see the children after work whether you have a penis or not. Lots of new (and old) things are just core good sense.

I am not against freedom of speech and producing surveys showing women over 50 are wicked witches and feminists should be burned at the stake or whatever but we do get subjected to far too many dividing articles at present.

I think in real life, people are more likely to judge individuals, and not as a Millenial.
Also my friend who is a Uni Lecturer and moans about young people being snowflakes, adores those who are hard working and not like this at all.

Enormous - agree, there's this awful divisive climate everywhere right now, creating tension across all factions.
I listen to my DD and her mates a lot on their issues and opinions. They know how to debate well, put across structured points... this I'm sure will stand them in good stead.
Likewise, I'm keen to learn from my elders, always have. I'm like a sponge and soak up so much info from people (maybe that's a bad thing?) both young and old, try to see both sides etc.
It's just all about respect. Respecting a person for what they can do, no matter if they're old(er) or young(er). And these stupid labels don't promote that at all.

We get too many dividing articles because they are click bait. And that is the way to make money.

Brasty - I hope so, because surely that's how it should be. Merit not age, attitude not a number (works both ways, young and old).
I'm sure life would be easier if that's how we all did things.

Brasty - 100% agree, and I guess I fell for it

I may (just) fit into the age bracket of Millennials, but I sure as hell don't associate myself with the rest of the demographic.

Why not? Are you saying it's a bad thing? I'm 23. I've worked full time since I was 17 and now live alone, pay all my own bills and work hard. All around me are friends struggling to get jobs after (good) degrees and may never get on the property ladder because they're stuck in the rent cycle. Nothing winds me up more than being told I am lazy or entitled because it really doesn't feel like it.

And don't get me started on people of a certain generation gleefully telling me that my pension will be worth nothing by the time I come to draw it. Or saying that I'll be at least 80 before I can retire with a gloating smile on their face. Makes me feel fucking fantastic

Wasabi - it's so difficult isn't it? Every generation has their hard times, for one thing or another, but this increased trend for labelling at the moment is really creating tension between all sorts of groups.. particularly I feel between "Millenials" and " Baby Boomers"... I just wish people (of all walks of life, ages etc) were treated according to their merit, attitude, achievements etc rather than whatever age they happen to be.

So difficult Stew!! I just see unfairness wherever I go and this kind of language is helping to create more barriers between everyone which just isn't helpful. I'm actually proud of my generation, we stand up for what we believe in and it drives me absolutely nuts when people of older generations say we should just 'work harder'.

Wasabi - I don't have a degree (life didn't plan out that way for me in the end) but I still work really hard for what I have (not a lot, granted) and have done since my teens.
I will never, ever own my own house, never have a career paying 35k plus (can't afford to train at present) or new car, countless holidays etc but that's fine because my life is stable for the best part and I'm proud of what I have done with my life so far.
It sucks that I won't get (financially) the rewards but at least I can proudly say I'm not lazy or entitled, and hopefully neither will my two kids be.
But it's frustrating to know that there's the possibility that my kids won't get in the ladder either because I can't afford to hep them if they can't manage to raise capital themselves.
It's a damn shame that a lot of under-35s will never be able to own their own properties. But I also respect the fact that things were very different for, say, my ILs.
They worked very hard to own their house, and were in the right place at the right time to buy (their words!) with a little inheritance to help them too. Without that, they would have struggled and this was in the 60s!

Wasabi - and yes, 100% agree about language. That's what is causing division. I'm proud of me, I'm proud of my friends and proud of my kids so far.
I just wish people wouldn't judge others solely on what supposed age group they belong in, it causes so much crap.

I'm another 1970er here 🎉🎉🎉 I think we're generation "thank God we did all our stupid shit before the internet" aren't we?! 😂

Lord - 😂😂😂yes, that must feel liberating!

I am a baby boomer born in 1952. The Government actively encouraged people to have more children. They even introduced Family Allowance for second and subsequent children to help with the expense. So people did. And now there are frequent threads on Mumsnet calling us greedy, saying we are a privileged generation etc etc. I usually hide these threads because they are pointless and a waste of time.
As are any threads making wild generalisations about people just because of when they were born.

Larry - I agree, I guess my point in my OP (although worded a bit wrong) is that it's completely out of order to label whole generations as this or that. Yes there's a few who let the side down, but essentially everyone is an individual with different circumstances to the next person. For every millennial that's "lazy and entitled" there will be a "baby boomer" who is selfish or greedy, but then there will be thousands of each group who aren't any of these things... bloody labels.

These characteristics-a lot of them are just immaturity and it's probably true that as we age we forget what we were like and become more intolerant of younger people.
I work with an early 20s girl and yes she is a snowflake but that is just her personality-there have always been spoilt people. Like Verruca Salt and she wasn't a millennial
We sit on her as much as we can and try to keep her in line.
Also reality TV is a culprit-these qualities (narcissism, entitlement to name just two) are celebrated in the participants. I guess no one wants to watch a programme where the main protagonist is disciplined and modest. It's not exactly riveting.

Just skimread that DM article. Who are these people who expect to walk into a job and be paid 50k?

Everyone I know earns under 30k and they're all in professional jobs/have degrees etc. They all work very hard I would say (especially the teachers!) and I've never heard anyone say they're aghast at being paid less than 50k

Also younger people are much more worried about losing their jobs now as contracts are less stable and so on. Most of my friends graduated after the crash and struggled to get work at first when they left education. Older people often tell me you could just walk into any job in the 60/70s and if you quit one, it didn't matter you could just get another. It's certainly not like that now. Plus, we'll probably have barely any pension either. I think the 'lazy entitled' stereotype is nonsense TBH.

Bear hunt - yes, exactly. It's just so frustrating to read the comments sections slating all under 35s as lazy entitled sods who can't cope with life. It's utter BS. It's not like that at all. But I guess that's the Daily Fail for you

My friends are all in secure employment BUT they get paid peanuts, no chance of progression unless ££££ paid to train (myself included) so we just live within our means and get what we can when we can afford it.
That's fine, it's just the way it is for us, but we aren't lazy or entitled. No one gave me a hand out, I've worked long hours and done my best to get to where I am now (not very far, but that may be different in 10 years time)...and I don't begrudge anyone who has their own house etc etc times change and who knows what it will be like when our DCs are older...I just wish there wasn't this pointless labelling creating factions going on.

Chicken - oh my god, yes! There's a small example right there...people watch them on TV and assume all millenials are like that...and it's so far from the truth! I don't know anyone who is like that at all, young or old!

Chicken - also, Verruca Salt