The irony of writing this article is that it’s probably the most millennial thing I’ve done. But never fear: my self-entitlement has way more to do with the fact that I’m the youngest of four and less to do with the fact that I was born in the year 1990. So, for the love of God, please stop minimizing my entire character and all of my desires, dreams, purchase habits and needs down to one generational label.
The other day I was innocently scrolling through Twitter, minding my own feed, when I was affronted with an article: “Why Aren’t Millennials Buying Diamonds?” I paused for a moment then quickly asked myself, WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!
Millennials of Twitter swiftly shut them down. My favourite of the responses: “Uh, because I work at a grocery store.” But seriously, must everything—even the success of the diamond industry—be reduced to what we are and are not doing?
If you type “millennials are” into Google, you get the following suggestions:
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Internet. I’ve met hundreds of millennials that are none of the above. Hell, I hope I’m none of the above, though I have been known to watch seven straight hours of The Wire. Any of these sentiments can be shared across all generations. I’m almost certain there were moments in my sisters’ lives, all Gen Xers, where they felt pretty damn screwed, but they’re all doing swell now.
Limiting a mass group of people to any generalization sets you up for failure. Sure, millennials are more prone to be tech savvy than Baby Boomers and Gen Xers. That’s because we were brought up in the transient period between old and new technologies, where new technologies appear as if by magic every twenty-four hours. But I also know twenty year olds who loathe the Internet, and if you met my mom, you’d know she writes a mean Facebook status.
If you actually dive into some of the information online about appealing to millennial employees, this is one of the “facts”: millennials like transparency and career advancement. Um, last time I checked, no one in a career wants to stay stagnant or be lied to. Please tell me you did not pay to attend a seminar to discover these key millennial traits.
I’m fed up with being told I don’t understand how to take criticism because of the year I was born. I think what we are most exhausted with is people putting so much stock in us and the things we do at all. This whole generational mist has led to an entire new industry: decoding millennial behaviour. There are people getting PAID to be millennial whisperers in the workplace. Something’s gotta give.
To conclude this rant: millennials literally can’t even with all of this generational talk. We think all other generations are bae, on fleek even. The struggle is so real for us rn. But, TBH, the only trend you can be certain of is that millennials are tired of being referred to as millennials, and we’re #sorrynotsorry.
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