an open letter to millennials

dear millennials,

you're not unique.

the generation before you also wanted to be accepted for who they are, and didn't want to grow up, and thought the generation before THEM was idiots. same for the generation before that. and, before that. and, here's where you should hold on to your beanies: the generation that FOLLOWS you will think the same of you!

so, you're not unique. what you are is rude.

i'm not saying your wanting to be treated differently is rude. the young folk always want special treatment. and, not only is there nothing wrong with that -- there's a lot that GOOD with that. it's how customs change, how society moves forward. it's good that you're pushing the envelope or we'd all turn back into monkeys.

thing is, though, you practice a complete and utter disregard for how others want to be treated. expecting special treatment and extending disdain in return -- that's just rude.

i have faith in your capacity to do better. here are some places to start:

-- use your lingo. fine. but limit the use to when you're chatting amongst yourselves. when you're in the workplace - especially customer-facing jobs - use real words. i.e., "minute" means 60 seconds, not an indeterminate length of time.

-- stop expecting the workplace to cater to you. that's not how work works. work is called work because YOU cater to IT. if you want the workplace to treat you differently, create your own workplace. otherwise, buckle down.

-- beanies in july are ridiculous. beanies at work in july are, just, "no".

-- stop claiming to be misunderstood. you are not misunderstood. you are so thoroughly understood as to be virtually transparent. we alllll get you. the reason we don't cater to you isn't that we don't understand you. we don't cater to you because we don't want to.

-- be more judicious in your declarations of tech savvyness. knowing how to work an iphone doesn't make you tech savvy. knowing how to CREATE an iphone - now THAT's tech savvy. once you get past "how to work it" and understand how it works, maybe then you can be tech savvy.

-- stop taking selfies. just... stop.

-- last but not least - walk a mile in a gen-x'ers shoes. you think YOU'RE misunderstood?? ppfth!

i'm not advising that you do these things "because we all had to do these things and if we had to knuckle under, so should you". no. i am advising you that a good way to get others to respect you is for you to respect others, first.

now get back out there and try again... try a little harder this time, and you'll be fine.

sinceres,
ace