Oh no, it is another diatribe. This time I decided to discuss the largest population in the United States of America – no not baby boomers – I speak specifically about the offspring of baby boomers: millennials. Yes, with the death of more and more baby boomers, millennials are now the largest demographic in America. Which means, everyone and their mother is trying to get cash from millennials. Which is funny for me, because I know that most millennials experienced the calamity of the great recession and will never make as much as their parents because the average salary has actually decreased over time and there is a larger pay gap between the super-rich and the super-poor. But enough of that; I am not here to discuss the financial stability of my generation, rather, I wanted to discuss their mentality and the real issues that face them – the mental issues that come from telling an entire generation that they are amazing and special.
I grew up being told I am special, as most of my generational counterparts were told. How do I know that we are all very similar when it comes to us thinking we are individuals destine for great things? Well, I have run massive marketing projects on millennials in terms of selling them products (we may not have as much money as our parents, but credit can make up for that little discrepancy). Now, it is important to note that I don’t use market research when it comes to my writing, and I will never use market research in my writing, because I don’t think a writer should ever be pandering to the market. However, my writing isn’t the topic of discourse.
What I really want to discuss is the constant malaise I run into when I speak with millennials. I am no scientist, but I do know myself well and I happen to be a millennial. Using myself and those around me as subjects, I find that we were consistently told that we were special and could do anything. This is a mistake because most things in the world take a lot of time, patience, and focus. Our parents understood this, but by the time they had us, we were disillusioned by the instant gratification they provided us. That means, we believe we should be the best in the world at whatever we want to do and it should be accomplishable in five to ten days.
And thus, my generation has ended up with a quarter life crisis where we just can’t believe that we have to work this job for the next forty years with nothing changing. While that is happening and we are freaking the fuck out, we get bombarded with people jumping from helicopters onto snowcapped peaks, some are discovering new caves in the bowels of Antarctica, and it appears that everyone is enjoying an adventure while we struggle to pay our mortgages (I don’t have one of those but I am also an unpublished author getting his master’s degree in business). Even our friends from college are out doing amazing things – at this point I will point out that most of these people only post exciting things and since you have a 1,000 friends on social media, you get 1,000 amazing times shoved down your throat. For more on that topic check out: Often we Forget Life is a Megillah.
It is at this point where I have to point out that my life isn’t glorious. Neither is the guy jumping from a helicopter with a snowboard strapped to his feet. Everyone is struggling like the person next to them, and each of us is trying to have some semblance of self. So stop comparing yourself to someone else. Our generation isn’t special; we are very similar to the point that businesses can target us in bulk and nail it. And remember, our parents didn’t get that house, two cars, and sadness in their eyes in one day. It took years and lots of payments to die inside. Just kidding, kill the malaise, enjoy life, ignore what other people are doing, and stop thinking you are so got-damn special!