Is this a generational thing?

I was talking to a friend last month and the topic of the newer generations came up. We came to the conclusion that my generation was the last one with consideration for others. The next generation can be very selfish at times. This is a broad generalization and it is based off of the people that we see on a daily basis.

The kids today need instant success. They always need someone to tell them how great they are. They get participation trophies. They have no idea how life can be without a cellular phone. The tragedy of September 11 is in their history book. They don't really understand struggle, unless it is their Snapchat being hacked or someone talking bad about them on Twitter! The hunger for food is gone and it has been replaced with a hunger for social media and instant gratification. The hunger for knowledge has been replaced with a hunger for attention and money. I saw a girl, no younger than 21, walk across the street, with traffic coming at her, with her head down. She was looking at Instagram rather than look at oncoming traffic. If she would have gotten hit, I bet you her mother would have come out of the woodwork. She would be crying on the television about how great her child was and how the driver should be punished.

I cannot sit on my porch on the weekends without being bombarded with loud music that shakes my living room walls or the clouds of weed smoke hitting me in the face. I cannot go one week without the sound of motorbikes and four wheelers being revved up before noon.

There are some who choose to live the drug game lifestyle. They chose to be in gangs. They want that rap life persona. The problem is that it comes with a cost. With so many going for the few spots at the top, you will not live to see 40. The turnover rate for that lifestyle is higher than any retail store. Yet, we are burying young people at an alarming rate. Metallica said it best, your lifestyle determines your death style. If you are abusive to women, have numerous felonies on your record, you have killed someone else, attacked strangers for money, among other things....I cannot cry at your funeral. I just cannot see myself doing it. I am not family. I don't have family who have chosen to live that path so far. I hope that I never do. I do have younger relatives who feel that the world is theirs and they are entitled to everything that it has to offer without actually working for it. This is not their fault completely. I can put some blame on the people that raised them. I believe that these parents worked really hard to get everything, and they didn't want their kids to struggle. STRUGGLE IS NECESSARY FOR LIFE. I believe you should have to struggle in order to learn how great something truly can be. I wanted new things. I got a job that paid well, and I saved until I could afford them. I got the things that I needed and wanted. This generation doesn't have that option. When they were younger, it was handed to them without the concept of earning it. Now, they are older, and they are just now learning it. And we wonder why they want the quick money lifestyle?

I was thinking about a job interview that I had. I was being interviewed by 2 older White men. Picture this, I am sitting in a room with 2 old guys and we are discussing current events. They are talking about sexism in the 60s and I am talking about post-Obama racism and sexism in the country. It was like talking to a brick wall on both sides. We could not relate to anything. They wanted me to work within their traditional values, very dry and political. I am not that way at all. I was more relaxed and energized. I wanted to work with more modern and stylistic approaches to the work. Needless to say, I didn't get the job. I am grateful that I didn't get the job. After talking to them, I knew that this was not the right atmosphere for me. I can see where the current generation is going. The kids just want to fit into society, but they are doing it by creating their own at the expense of others. Gone are the days of respect for others. It is about the self. It is about getting ahead, no matter the cost. I may be wrong for some of my readers of this generation. Like I said before, this is based off of the people that I have met.

Let's talk about it! Email me at narrativetherapygirl@gmail.com

Okay, songs for the week:

In the Air Tonight-Jon Howard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuDvyUPKNrs

In the Air Tonight-Natalie Taylor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5yl4Sv4Lic

In Common-Alicia Keys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E_xptxQOyA

#culturallesson #lifelesson