LIFE SUCKS

One Generation Suffers from the Ideals of Another

THIS IS THE TRUTH ABOUT OUR KIND: THIS GENERATION OF TWENTY-SOMETHINGS HAVE SUCCUMBED TO REALITY. WE ARE PISSED-THE F-OFF, DISILLUSIONED, AND TOTALLY APATHETIC. WE ARE MAD-AS-HELL AT OUR PARENTS, RESENTFUL OF OUR GRANDPARENTS, AND SERIOUSLY HOPELESS FOR OUR CHILDREN. BUT FOR OURSELVES, WE ARE ONLY NUMB. . .

For how long as a child were you told time and time again that you were special? How many times did you hear teachers or parents utter the words "special" and "unique?" How many of you (like me) were duped into believing that you could "change the world," or "make a difference," or perhaps that you "have a purpose." Well, guess what, GEN Y - we are not, can not, do not, will not. We are the same as our parents, our grandparents, and the GEN's before that. Our parents are not to blame entirely - they really thought that we'd be different because they assumed the world would be different. It's not that we were so special, just that there should have been more opportunities available. And now that things have not gone as planned with our economy, job market, and entire country, our generation is left unfulfilled and totally disappointed about our parents' empty promises. Things aren't SO BAD for everyone, but they are MUCH different than the expectations we had.

UNFORTUNATELY - there is not enough emphasis on the tens of thousands of 20-yr-olds exiting college without ANY job prospects and a TON of student debt! Our parents' generation nags us about moving out of the house and "finding a job," yet they fail to see the Catch22. We can't find the job that makes sense for us - the job that will pay the bills, validate our degrees, and fulfill our passions until we have the experience to do them (how do we get the experience??). AND FOR THE RECORD! - NONE of us sought higher education for the purpose of returning to the type of jobs we held in HIGH SCHOOL! Now it's OUR ideals that are suffering at the hands of our PARENTS' expectations! You have to wonder if all that stuff they used to tell us as kids was just a bunch of fluff?

FORTUNATELY - we do come from an age of idealism (even if it was just fluff), and I DO think that we can make a difference if we all make the DECISION to. . .if it really is OUR generation, we need to command it and control it. Even if we are disappointed, it doesn't mean that SOME of what we were told can't be true. It's hard to know exactly WHAT changes need to be made, and how to go about making them. It's hard to get your opinions heard and your ideas out there! But we definitely CANNOT get them out there if we don't at least try. . .right?

Things are not so good for us right now. They say that once you hit bottom, there's no place to go but up. That's not so true. We can dig a hole of misery and apathy even deeper (we may even dig our way to China eventually). We need to rely on each other as stepping stones to the top. This really is our time to make a difference! Why should we let a bunch of old people make our decisions and ruin our lives when they won't live long enough to see the results? Things happening in our country will affect us for many generations to come. . .we must make the choice to change now!