Gen Y, Generation Whatever

There are a lot of things about my generation that older generations find frustrating—our lack of financial responsibility, the inability to be told what to do, or the rebellion when it comes to attire or haircuts or manners. “Whatever.” That’s one that irks my father to no end.

One story comes to mind. A true California native, Scott grew up in San Clemente which is a beach-surf town outside San Diego. He has shaggy blonde hair and a surfer’s drawl. A few years after graduating and spending significant time traveling around the world, he moved to Washington D.C.—one, because of a woman and two, to start his career. He found that he wasn’t the most desirable candidate for the latter. On one interview, he knew he had completely bombed. It was pretty obvious that he wasn’t getting a call back, let alone the job. So he bravely asked his interviewer:

“Can you give me some advice so I won’t do so horribly in my next interview?”

“Yeah,” said the man behind the desk, “Get a haircut and go back to California.”

He eventually did find a job, and I’m guessing he got a haircut too. That said, I think there are a lot of things about my generation in general that are often misunderstood. These five thoughts are not scientifically tried and true. They are merely based on the thousands of conversations I’ve had with friends, parents and colleagues regarding work, life and our generation. Though I’m not sure if every theory holds water- I’m interested to hear what everyone else thinks.

1.We come from a multi-tasking world:
It is counterproductive, and doing two things at once only does a disservice to both. But MTV, channel surfing and video games taught us how to look at and absorb multiple images at a rapid pace. Our parents taught us how to get ready for work or school while packing lunches, reading the paper, and threatening your brother within an inch of his life to get out of bed (my house, not yours?). Now we are trained to do things in a rapid succession (from emailing, texting, reading, writing and talking).

2.We are the product of divorced parents: Maybe not everyone, but many of the Baby Boomers divorced each other in droves, and at a much higher rate than today. We learned from our parents that nothing lasts forever, and that working too much and living too little often resulted in strenuous marriages. We don’t want the same thing to happen to us, so we place a higher premium on time spent with the friends and family we care about.

3.There is a backlash to the feminist movement: My stepmother and mother cringe when they hear some of my girlfriends say those dreaded words: I just want a man to take care of me. The equality in the workplace that our mothers fought so hard for are falling on many deaf ears. A lot of women I know (myself NOT included) want to stay home, raise a family and not work.

4.We value time more than money: For Gen Y, time is truly money. And when it comes to working, we want things done efficiently, quickly, and instantly so that we don’t have to waste our precious time. Since technology has created an instant information portal with less and less wait time to get done what we need, we’re moving at a fast pace, which leaves more time for freedom to do the things we care about.

5. We grew up being exposed to diversity, natural disaster and violence: Times are different than they were decades ago. Our generation grew up in a more open society where social acceptability—whether it’s gay rights or tattoos—has been tested before us. We have been changed by 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, Columbine, and AIDS. Television, film, video games and YouTube, even CNN (remember the Gulf War), make current events visual and real, and thus less shocking to us.

Obviously, these come off as somewhat sweeping generalizations- and that’s not my intent. Unfortunately, blogs only allow for so much depth and clarity—and I’m starting to multitask, so I think it’s time I put this to rest.