Talking about my gen…meh! I’m bored already

I read this article recently about Gen Y. I got bored midway so ended up only reading the start and the finish but I got the impression that this was another crap-on article trying to understand Gen Y. Whatever. I don’t know why they have to make articles so boring and repetitive. Anyway whilst I did feel a slight urge to defend Gen Y, this urge was thoroughly beaten for about 4 hours by another urge to continue watching ‘True Blood’. That was truly excellent. Anyway the ‘Gen Y’ vampires got me thinking about the stereotype: GEN Y = ENTITLED + DISLOYAL + [insert photo of trendy boy and girl wearing thick framed glasses, colourful wool jackets and cardigans]. 

Now I know stereotypes are just generalisations and there are always exceptions but seriously can we quit mixing up HIPSTERS with GEN Y! Those thick-frame-glasses wearing hipsters are frankly not the stereotypical 20-something – if I looked that cool then of course I’d think I was better than you and deserved all sorts of rewards. They are the exception that tries to hide their privilege of never having to fight for any basic human right, by dressing with clothes we used to wear as children in the early 90s.

Ok so that’s the first lesson: HIPSTERS ≠ GEN Y.

Next is the notion that Gen Y are disloyal and entitled. You know because we get to about 10 months into a job, and suddenly we develop this burning rash which makes us allergic to our current workplace. We then start getting agitated, start the ritual of looking for other jobs and quit. Apparently showing no loyalty. But let’s just get one thing clear – most people my age who start to develop this allergy, often feel that they want more work, more learning and more skills….they are NOT necessarily after more money. Oh no, but SORRRRRRRY! For being this demanding! Sorry for wanting to improve myself to be a more skilled worker for less money. Sorry for happily constructing knowledge databases even though I know you’re just giving us a shit job that will occupy us for as long as possible. Sorry for being your cheap alternative to an IT Service Desk because you’ve never used any other program apart from this thing called ‘email’. Sorry for even learning how to fix the coffee machine rather than leave it to the technician.

These accusatory older bosses, made us go to schools, then dictated that going to university or getting some further education is integral for getting a job, so we spend the first 20-25 years of our existence indoctrinated with this notion of continuous education. Then we suddenly enter the workplace and are expected to learn one thing then keep doing that one thing for at least 2-3 years before even thinking about a promotion or uprate in skill??? We’re bred to be highly educated relative to previous generations and yet then we enter a workforce that just lets us down. Let’s us down so badly in terms of its lack of continuous education and epidemic of incompetent managers, that we end up quitting in a blaze of disgust and rock up to our last day in a giraffe costume. Just. Because. We. Can.

But I can already hear the standard older boss response: “you kids these days just always wanting more and more, showing no loyalty”. As if we’re meant to congratulate these people for living for longer and not being bothered to keep bettering themselves.  Well done for not being hit by that fucking bus that should’ve mowed you down when you were peeing by the road at Woodstock or some old-person-festival like that, then staying alive long enough to now be a terrible manager. When you’re biggest weakness is wanting more work to develop more skills for not necessarily more money, how is this viewed as ‘being entitled’? [Note to self: Remember that line for future interview answer to the question ‘what’s your biggest weakness?’]  How on Earth, is wanting to learn more construed as a bad thing? Anyway I’ve clearly put too much effort towards this and the fact that I’m writing this at work probably means that I should go and be ‘entitled’ and ‘demanding’ towards my boss now and ask for more work.