Generational Entitlement (It’s Not A Thing)
It’s happened a couple of times this week.
Head-wagging and tongue-lashing rants about the rise of the millennial generation.
You know - the entitled bunch of 20 and 30-somethings who are ruining everything but will soon be running it all? They are taking over the workplace but not working because they’re too physically attached to their phone to do anything. Swiping right (or is it left?) for casual “relationships” while eating avocado toast and drinking expensive coffee with a craft beer chaser. The Snowflakes. The “everyone gets a trophy” generation.
You know. Millennials.
Here’s the thing.
Accusations of entitlement happen every couple of decades with every new crop of young people.
I land solidly in the netherworld of Generation X - the unpopulated thus irrelevant generation that snuck in between Boomers and Millennials. Guess what? We were also accused of being a bunch of entitled brats back in the '80s.
I don’t know this for sure, because I was just getting started with life in those days, but I am guessing that 20 to 30-something hippie Boomers in the ’60s and ’70s were also accused of entitlement. Same as modern-day Millennials.
Let’s be clear. No generation gets exclusivity on entitlement. Entitlement is an attitude of individual choice. I’ve met some pretty entitled Boomers - as current senior citizens. Let’s stop throwing that word at entire generations.
And while you and I may have taken one path to get where we are today, those who follow don’t necessarily have to take the same path. In fact, they may very well find a better one.
Finding a better path is not entitlement. It’s just smart.
