I can't wait until I am in my 80's

When I was a kid, I hoped that my Great Grandma would live to be 100, just because I thought it was cool and so very old. I want to live to be 100 to see how Generation Y kids are going to handle their adult lives. Settle down little doggie, I can see the GenY hackles rising. I say this with love. I enjoy the Gen Y group. They are smart, articulate and ready to take on the world. I thought Modite summed up the attitude of a lot of Gen Y kids (I can call them kids because, well, they are) in this column.

1) Selfishly entitled. Guilty. Generation Y believes that we deserve everything the world has to offer. And we do. Paying dues when we enter the workforce is a joke. Not only have we already paid dues in high school by working harder to advance our standing in college, but we then work even harder in college to get ahead once we dive into the real world.

We’ve worked hard. We’re willing to work harder. We deserve success.

2) Impatience. Impatience is a virtue. Trust me. We need a sense of urgency and impatience to solve some of the world’s biggest problems within the next few decades… Now here comes Generation Y, urgency coursing through our blood. No waiting here. We’re ready to get things done. Just show us how, or let us take the reins.

3) Commitment-phobia. Our lack of loyalty has made employers mad. They have a generally negative view of us, in fact, believing the only thing we’re good for is fixing the faulty computer. Employers invest in our talent and potential and we usually quit on them within two years of starting…

For Generation Y, commitment-phobia is more about being realistic about a situation then a lack of desire to work to be loyal. We don’t see the point in staying in a relationship that isn’t mutually beneficial. We’re practical about the extent of our abilities and reach. Millennials approach projects with an attainable goal within reach. There is no long-term commitment, but rather we’re involved with the project to achieve that goal, and don’t find it necessary to stretch it out further.

Dare I go on? The paragraph above says a lot about this generation of twenty somethings and how they think.

As a parent of Generation Y kids, (the Jones Generation), I feel like the middle child I am, sandwiched between my older siblings the Baby Boomers who get all the credit and the younger ones Generation Y, who don't acknowledge that without my trail brazing, they wouldn't be able to enjoy the freedoms they have today (coming from a family of 6, my 2 younger brothers were able to get away with a lot more).

I have more sympathy for the girls who were a year ahead of me at Concordia Grade School. They fought hard for the right for girls to be acolytes just like the boys. The policy was changed, not in time for them to participate but just in time for my grade. We were less then thrilled with our new status (I was deathly afraid of tripping and starting the whole church on fire). They didn't feel appreciated and at the time, they weren't.

So in another 20 years or so, I will be sitting in my home by the lake, responding to work e-mails and listening to my grandchildren complain about their parents and how "they just don't get it". You know, I guess things really don't change.