Who are the millennials and why are they buzzing around? According to studies and research articles, you are a millennial if you are between the age of 23 and 38. Just like the generation of baby boomers (most often used for people born between 1946 and 1964) are associated with redefining traditional values, you might be able to relate to the millenials as the entitled generation.
If you were born in the early 1980s, have played outdoors more and can’t actually associate yourself with the children born in the 1990s who are always glued to their iPads, it is mostly because you are more closely connected with Generation X (predecessors of the millennials).
Millennials branches out into Gen Y (born between 1981 and 1991) and Gen Z (born after 1991). Not so surprisingly, Gen Y has a lot of common attributes with Gen X. At times, I think that we could rename the second half of the millennials as the “baffled generation”; don’t you think that it would reduce a lot of confusion?
Why Gen Y and Gen Z are millennials is because both the generations have seen the world becoming digital. Though Gen Y did not have technology in their hands, it had still entered their lives in the form of the big computers, brick-like phones and video games in which eating mushrooms gave you powers to grow. Gen Z has grown up with technology at their fingertips with gears like BBMs and iPhone. No matter how easy and tiny, technology is still the thing that ties Gen Y and Gen Z together into the generation of millennials.
Though I am technically a millennial, born in the fag end of the 1980s, I still feel the disconnect between people my age and the younger lot. When I say something about the 1990s kids, it’s not that I am against them; it is merely the element that I have not been able to comprehend them. It is weird when young teens or the early 20-somethings come up with statement like “I need to travel more so that I can discover myself” or “I am trying to figure out life” or “I need to find my true calling.” Travelling was usually for fun and not a way to uncover yourself.
Another thing that has changed in the blink of an eye for the true-blue millenials is the definition of errands. In my teens, mowing the lawn, washing a car or fetching groceries were tasks, but for the younger lot these days, it is taking responsibility, committing to things and revelation of themselves.
It is completely acceptable for someone to try to analyse life and choose the right lane for themselves, but do you think a trip to the slopes of Himalayas or getting wet in the rains of Mawsynram will help you pave the path to a happy future? With the ease of accessibility these days, a lot of us have very little to no admiration towards time and money.
Many may want to buy the Chanel Chance or the Dior Intense perfume but the slight difference here is that some are willing to work towards buying it. A part of the new lot thinks that it is their parents’ duty to buy it for them. It is more than fair if things come easy to us. I am completely in favour of not having to struggle in the way the previous generations did, but I think it is “not cool” to stretch the safety band around us to an extent that it snaps.
The fact that we have a solid foundation makes it easier for us to choose a path and pave a way for ourselves. We should make the best of what we have and keep on doing our maximum to move things forward. If we become complacent now, then the generations to come will have to start from scratch again. We should be careful not to mess with the steady establishment that has already been laid out for us by the generations before us.
Let us just try not to be entitled. If you have already got a car from your parents on your 18th birthday, its great but just make sure you are able to provide fuel to keep it running.
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