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This morning I’m reading the WaPo and there are 2 election related subjects that cover my 2 least favorite subjects. Millennials and Baby Boomers. My generation, the so-called Generation X, that disaffected, cynical, nihilistic, smallest generation to be born in the 20th century.
Who are we? The Simpsons (curse them!) summed up the 1990s embarrassingly well. Apparently we’re defined by Grunge Rock and uber-liberal campus attitudes and books like Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States.”

Nihilistic? Probably. When I graduated in 1990 we were told breathlessly by the media that our generation would never achieve the economic success of our parents generation, who in my humble opinion, were going to bankrupt the country before they all retired and/or died. This huge generation didn’t have very many kids, and I felt like this selfish, self-centered generation had left us saddled with a huge economic mess to clean up. Fortunately for all of us, the tail end of the baby boomers and the early Gen Xers got busy and out-reproduced the Baby Boomers with this so-called Millennial generation.
Yippee.

And the millennials. The really annoying millennials. This has to be the first generation raised by psychotic helicopter parents. The generation that needs “validation” and “praise” to feel fulfilled at work. These kids and young adults are benefiting (or suffering) from daily scheduled activities, grade inflation, constant validation, hyper-vigilant parenting, and omnipresent technology.

I had a roommate a few years back who loosely fit into this demographic. Completely unable to make a move without calling the parents. It drove me mad! This was a smart, funny and talented person, but every time dad got called I was internally screaming “OhMyGod FIGURE IT OUT YOURSELF!!!!!!!!!!”

I keep running into more stories like this. People who are legally adults (or in a couple cases almost adults) who can’t do something moderately complex without consulting mom or dad. Aren’t these “adults” wired up? Don’t they all have high speed internet connections and powerful computers? Don’t they have Google? Or even, maybe, a damned phone book? Why call your parents to answer a question that they’ll just have to look up for you?

Pardon me….
AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I don’t see how this sort of child is a desirable outcome in the competitive parenting that has been going on since the 1980s. Sure, your kid can play 4 sports and 5 musical instruments, speak 3 languages fluently and manage to volunteer for charity 5 days a week, but do they actually know how to apply their knowledge? Can they find a job, life partner, a house, car, and a vacation without consulting their parents? Believe me, I’m all for stronger academics and churning out more well-rounded kids than some of the numbskulls I went to high school with, but I can’t believe that the price you have to pay is having emotionally stunted kids.

So sure, the millennials are “smarter” and “savvier” and have “grown up with technology” and there’s a lot of ‘em and they vote (or so we’re told.) I’m still not seeing a payoff other than their fulfilling work will fund my social security fund in 40 years or so. If they move back in with their parents when work turns out be boring and unfulfilling, we’re all doomed.

So Millennials please Google “suck it up” and ignore Michelle Malkin’s blog hits. You may find that this attitude towards your life may come in handy.