Millennials are just an entire generation of spoiled narcissists who were raised getting trophies just for showing up, right?
That’s the rap the group of kids born roughly between the early 1980s and 2004 can’t seem to shake regardless of how many facts to the contrary we’re presented with.
The wildly talented Gemma Correll just released a new illustration about the plight of the millennial generation that will make you think the next time you feel like mocking the millennial in your life for their perceived failure to “grow up.”
Image: Gemma Correll via Tumblr
And although skinny jeans are funny and kale is totally overrated, we can’t forget the world millennials have inherited. The economy is rigged against millennials. The entry-level job market is clogged up with Generation Xers too afraid to make a move and baby boomers who aren’t ready to retire.
Here’s what millennials get instead.
How about an unpaid internship? You can live with your parents and dream of a day — maybe in your late 30s or 40s — when you might be able to afford the luxury of getting married and having kids. Probably won’t be able to buy a house, though. And since that’s the crappy economic reality previous generations have left you, we’re going to go ahead and make ourselves feel better about it by mocking your lack of opportunity. K?
“Haw haw! You live with your mom!”
Image: Giphy
Millennials can’t find a decent job or afford an apartment or a car, so they treat themselves to a nice cup of coffee. It’s a small luxury they can access. Why do we take such glee in making fun of them for it?
Millennials have spent the better part of the past decade waiting for the economy to recover from the Great Recession. In the meantime, they’ve invested in education — something they’ve been taught is always a smart investment. Now they’re saddled with more than their fair share of a record-shattering $1 trillion in American student load debt.
And to millennials’ credit, they don’t really seem bitter about it.
A Harvard study shows more than one-third of 18- to 29-year-olds (millennials) in the U.S. performed some kind of community service in the previous 12 months. When was the last time they saw you down at the soup kitchen?
So the next time the millennial in your life starts to look like they’re gonna cry, remember the future they face. It’s scary and uncertain. Put an arm around them, take them out for a fancy cup of coffee, and try to help them dream a new dream. The old ones just don’t seem realistic anymore. But maybe that’s OK — maybe the new dreams will be even more beautiful than the ones we could ever imagine.
More on millennials
4 Millennials who have given up riches for farming
Alarming facts about migraines and millennials
VIDEO: Kevin Bacon schools millennials on ’80s awesomeness
Leave a Comment