Do you hate the way Baby Boomers talk about you? Well, I want you to remember something:
The Baby Boomers were also the generation of the Hippies. And the so-called Greatest Generation said the exact same things about the Baby Boomers as the Baby Boomers say about Millennials.
The exact same things. The only thing missing was the word “selfie”.
Hippies/Baby Boomers were called lazy and entitled. They were called selfish and self-important. They were treated as if they didn’t know how to work or show proper respect for their elders and everybody thought that they wanted some sort of special treatment. The Baby Boomers were perceived as this group who thought everything was all about them. If you asked the Baby Boomer Hippies, at the time, they’d say they were just exploring sexuality and fighting racism and trying to do away with the old ways because the old ways weren’t working. They fought and they protested and they were passionate.
Then, to borrow a phrase from The Dark Knight, “you either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become a villain.” That’s what happened to the Baby Boomers. But, there’s a third option.
Remember.
Remember what this feels like. Remember what it’s like to be in your teens and twenties. Remember that it’s not easy. Remember everything the past generation says about you.
Because there will come a day when the Millennials are in their 30s and 40s and 50s. Where the President and Congress will all be Millennials. Where you will be the establishment. You will be in charge.
And there will be people of your generation, your age group, who will look at the Post-Millennials and say “Look at how selfish and disrespectful they are! What is wrong with their music? What is wrong with their hair? They can’t be separated from their technology for one second, can they?! People in my generation knew how to work hard! They weren’t lazy and entitled like these kids are!”
It will happen. Don’t let it.
Fight it. Fight for yourselves now but, when you’re older, fight for the next generation.
Break the cycle.
If you hate the way you’re treated by the older generation and the media, then remember that and don’t do it to the ones who come after you.