Hey, you! Yes, you! You young man with dirty-looking, unkempt hair and trousers sagging down to your knees. You with the cigarette behind your ear. Has it ever occurred to you what you will think of those sorry attempts to look cool once you hit 50? And you young lady, do you ever think about how you will look back at those half-naked photos of yourself that you’ve been posting online? Just imagine your future son’s friends ogling at those images and taunting your son about how much they would love to “hit that”. Does any of this cross your mind while you’re out there being young, wild and free?
I recently attended a forum where established entrepreneurs were sharing their success stories and giving advice to young university graduates. One story particularly caught my attention. This lady in the fashion industry was telling us about an intern she had at her workplace. This intern would strut into the office late, in her impractical, ridiculously high heels. Granted, it was the fashion business, but this was in a warehouse of sorts – where the real work happens. You could count on her to always leave early, and only do the bare minimum to meet her internship requirements. Needless to say, her attitude was rotten as well. She would sulk and badmouth the boss any time her work was criticised. It was as though she was trying to prove she would not be pushed around just because she was an intern. The sad part is that she was actually a really nice person. After just two short weeks, she was let go. As I listened to the story, I looked around the room and saw the other panelists nodding in agreement.
To me, it is beyond frustrating that this is the kind of reputation we have as a generation. Unfortunately, we deserve it. When our parents were in their 20s, they had left their parents’ homes and might even have been helping them out financially. Today, a 22-year-old is still seen as an adolescent, depending almost fully on the parents. Even in the US where tradition demands that people above the age of 18 years leave the nest, most still depend on their parents’ money years after graduating from university – if indeed they do. Nevertheless, these are the people you will see out in night clubs every weekend, throwing their parents’ money around trying to impress. They’re the ones always taking road trips out of town and sporting Gucci bags, wearing Fendi fragrances and BVLGARI watches – which are just knock offs most of the time.
Let’s compare this with the previous generation. Our parents’ generation has become sandwiched between caring for their elderly parents and caring for their adult children. Something about this doesn’t sit well with me. As youngsters, they worked their fingers to the bone to support themselves and their parents, then as grownups they took on full responsibility as their children’s sole providers. And on top of that, should those children have their own children while still in high school or college, a whole new generation is added to their list of dependents. To me this is a unique generation that I doubt my own will be able to emulate.
Perhaps many of us don’t do better because we haven’t been taught better.
We cannot live our lives based on an imaginary future. This may be why many of us succumb to the generational stress that is sometimes overwhelming, especially in young adulthood. As much as this is a normal part of growing up, it can be your greatest downfall if you don’t overcome it.