[flip]

Great article in Macleans magazine from a few months ago. Really nails it right on the head with people my age.

Parts I found interesting:

They’re not genetically lazy or spoiled, any more than children of the Depression are inherently thrifty. Whatever overblown expectations this generation has are the product of decades of conditioning, and not only by overzealous boomer parents. Well-intentioned attempts to make this generation feel good about itself have, in fact, left them poorly prepared to weather a tough economic storm.

From the age of eight, Millennials saw themselves reflected everywhere: in ads for tween shampoos, designer fashions, and fragrances. By the time they got to university, credit card companies were handing out application forms along with student orientation packages. The message, as always: if you want it, you should have it.

It only makes sense that the environment in which they were raised would inform what they expected from a job—namely, flexibility, authority, instant respect and continuous affirmation. (This is a generation, after all, in which seven out of 10 rank themselves “above average” in academic ability.) “They’re not going to put up with the ‘paying your dues’ and being in the mailroom for the first three years,” says Rothberg. “In their mind it’s, ‘I graduated. I’ve always succeeded. I’ve always got a trophy for everything I’ve done. All of my friends and everyone I know is above average, so when I go into a place of work, I’m either going to set that place on fire or they’re not good enough for me and I’m out of there.’ ”

“What is interesting about this generation,” says Max Valiquette, president of Toronto-based youth marketing firm Youthography, “is that a lot of the carrots and perks they’re asking for have nothing to do with money, and almost everything to do with how they work.” Very few of them have had hard experience scrimping to make rent. (In fact, in 2006, 44 per cent of Canadian adults ages 20 to 29 were living with mom and dad).

Anyone not agree with this? I thought it was bang on.

http://www2.macleans.ca/2009/01/14/d...80%99s-my-job/


And just because Carlin always says it best: (relevant part starts at about the 4 minute mark)