Generation Y
April 18, 2013 10:06 AM Subscribe
31 percent of employers involved reported parents submitted resumes on behalf of their offspring and 14 other things you should know about the Millennial genearation.
Either way it's weird.
posted by jonmc at 10:12 AM on April 18, 2013 [10 favorites]
posted by jonmc at 10:12 AM on April 18, 2013 [10 favorites]
All I need to know about the Millennial Generation: THEY WON'T STAY OFF MY LAWN.
posted by entropicamericana at 10:15 AM on April 18, 2013 [35 favorites]
posted by entropicamericana at 10:15 AM on April 18, 2013 [35 favorites]
BRANDS APPLAUD INFORMATIVE LISTICLE
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 10:15 AM on April 18, 2013 [7 favorites]
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 10:15 AM on April 18, 2013 [7 favorites]
Fact 16: If you continue to call them Millennials they might just let you all languish in the worst old folks homes they can find, and you will deserve it.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 10:15 AM on April 18, 2013 [55 favorites]
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 10:15 AM on April 18, 2013 [55 favorites]
Huh, so now I'm a gen x-er?
posted by MartinWisse at 10:17 AM on April 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by MartinWisse at 10:17 AM on April 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
On the one hand: It's weird.
On the other hand, it's a little like the argument over unions: Why does management get to work together/use years of experience but labor can't? If your parents know more about negotiations and whatnot, why NOT involve them?
posted by DU at 10:17 AM on April 18, 2013 [8 favorites]
On the other hand, it's a little like the argument over unions: Why does management get to work together/use years of experience but labor can't? If your parents know more about negotiations and whatnot, why NOT involve them?
posted by DU at 10:17 AM on April 18, 2013 [8 favorites]
Parents attending an interview is only a little bit about millenials and a lot about how their parents are FUCKING NUTS.
posted by mike_bling at 10:17 AM on April 18, 2013 [89 favorites]
posted by mike_bling at 10:17 AM on April 18, 2013 [89 favorites]
Maybe it's just a sign that I'm old, but my generation was told that any parental involvement meant no job: if you weren't adult enough to apply and interview by yourself, then you weren't considered adult enough to do the job.
posted by easily confused at 10:19 AM on April 18, 2013 [25 favorites]
posted by easily confused at 10:19 AM on April 18, 2013 [25 favorites]
What I want to know is, are we talking about 16 year olds applying to a summer job at the car wash? Or 24 year olds applying for professional jobs?
The answers to these questions, and more!, in the article linked above.
posted by ultraviolet catastrophe at 10:19 AM on April 18, 2013 [14 favorites]
The answers to these questions, and more!, in the article linked above.
posted by ultraviolet catastrophe at 10:19 AM on April 18, 2013 [14 favorites]
I don't see what's wrong with this. Then again, my mom posts all my Metafilter comments for me.
posted by yellowbinder at 10:19 AM on April 18, 2013 [45 favorites]
posted by yellowbinder at 10:19 AM on April 18, 2013 [45 favorites]
There's a survey in there about who uses social media. Only 41% of "all" (meaning all Americans, I assume) and only 75% of those 18-29. So there goes that "everyone is doing it" argument.
posted by DU at 10:23 AM on April 18, 2013
posted by DU at 10:23 AM on April 18, 2013
56 percent of millennials think technology helps people use their time more efficiently.
I assume the other 44% are waiting to hear back from their parents as to what to answer?
Because you see their parents do their work for them instead of doing it themselves because they are spoiled and entitled.
...and now put your hands together for Coldplay!
posted by griphus at 10:23 AM on April 18, 2013 [7 favorites]
I assume the other 44% are waiting to hear back from their parents as to what to answer?
Because you see their parents do their work for them instead of doing it themselves because they are spoiled and entitled.
...and now put your hands together for Coldplay!
posted by griphus at 10:23 AM on April 18, 2013 [7 favorites]
Huh, so now I'm a gen x-er?
Join us! It's cool- you get to wear boots with shorts, and comfy sweaters, and not really care too strongly about anything!
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 10:24 AM on April 18, 2013 [48 favorites]
Join us! It's cool- you get to wear boots with shorts, and comfy sweaters, and not really care too strongly about anything!
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 10:24 AM on April 18, 2013 [48 favorites]
80 percent of millennials sleep with their phones next to their beds.
Doesn't everyone?
posted by Splunge at 10:24 AM on April 18, 2013 [19 favorites]
Doesn't everyone?
posted by Splunge at 10:24 AM on April 18, 2013 [19 favorites]
"80% of millennials sleep with their phones multipurpose devices which include an alarm clock function next to their beds."
posted by Pseudology at 10:24 AM on April 18, 2013 [82 favorites]
posted by Pseudology at 10:24 AM on April 18, 2013 [82 favorites]
On the one hand: It's weird.
On the other hand, it's a little like the argument over unions: Why does management get to work together/use years of experience but labor can't? If your parents know more about negotiations and whatnot, why NOT involve them?
Yes. And on the third hand: If you zoom out a bit and look at a bigger chunk of the world and a larger stretch of history, what's abnormal is the idea that your family and your career should be totally separate.
It'll be too soon to call this one for another half-century or so. But it could be that when all is said and done, the Boomers and Gen X will come out looking pathologically independent rather than vice versa. (And I say that as a Gen Xer who's still living out that independent ethos. Who knows — maybe we'll realize we were wrong on that one.)
posted by Now there are two. There are two _______. at 10:25 AM on April 18, 2013 [12 favorites]
On the other hand, it's a little like the argument over unions: Why does management get to work together/use years of experience but labor can't? If your parents know more about negotiations and whatnot, why NOT involve them?
Yes. And on the third hand: If you zoom out a bit and look at a bigger chunk of the world and a larger stretch of history, what's abnormal is the idea that your family and your career should be totally separate.
It'll be too soon to call this one for another half-century or so. But it could be that when all is said and done, the Boomers and Gen X will come out looking pathologically independent rather than vice versa. (And I say that as a Gen Xer who's still living out that independent ethos. Who knows — maybe we'll realize we were wrong on that one.)
posted by Now there are two. There are two _______. at 10:25 AM on April 18, 2013 [12 favorites]
When being reprimanded or disciplined (see Brief 1-07), the employee refused
to meet with or respond to the supervisor before talking with his or her parents.
what
posted by jquinby at 10:25 AM on April 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
to meet with or respond to the supervisor before talking with his or her parents.
what
posted by jquinby at 10:25 AM on April 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
YOU CAN'T SAY THAT TO ME
MY DAD IS A LAWYER
posted by griphus at 10:25 AM on April 18, 2013 [10 favorites]
MY DAD IS A LAWYER
posted by griphus at 10:25 AM on April 18, 2013 [10 favorites]
80 percent of millennials sleep with their phones next to their beds.
Doesn't everyone?
Nope.
posted by DU at 10:27 AM on April 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
Doesn't everyone?
Nope.
posted by DU at 10:27 AM on April 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
"Oh, what's the matter with kids today? Why can't they be like we were, perfect in every way?"
posted by ChuraChura at 10:27 AM on April 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by ChuraChura at 10:27 AM on April 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
80 percent of millennials sleep with their phones next to their beds.
The remaining 20% have given up looking for work.
posted by [expletive deleted] at 10:27 AM on April 18, 2013 [19 favorites]
The remaining 20% have given up looking for work.
posted by [expletive deleted] at 10:27 AM on April 18, 2013 [19 favorites]
But it could be that when all is said and done, the Boomers and Gen X will come out looking pathologically independent rather than vice versa.
Shades of Childhood's End. Does this mean we can quarantine the Millennials on their own continent and then shoot'em into space?
posted by entropicamericana at 10:27 AM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
Shades of Childhood's End. Does this mean we can quarantine the Millennials on their own continent and then shoot'em into space?
posted by entropicamericana at 10:27 AM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
When being reprimanded or disciplined (see Brief 1-07), the employee refused
to meet with or respond to the supervisor before talking with his or her parents.
There's no shop steward to check with these days. Getting your options from someone who's been there is smart thinking.
posted by Slap*Happy at 10:28 AM on April 18, 2013 [15 favorites]
to meet with or respond to the supervisor before talking with his or her parents.
There's no shop steward to check with these days. Getting your options from someone who's been there is smart thinking.
posted by Slap*Happy at 10:28 AM on April 18, 2013 [15 favorites]
If I ever even hinted that I should do this, my 20-year-old would kill me. Appropriately. She could barely have me around at the high school college fair, which was designated for parents and students. How humiliating this must be.
About 15 years ago, when I was running a training program, a candidate's mother interfered a number of times. The only way I could excuse it was that she worked in the same building and was trying to use a personal connection to help her lazy daughter. And I ended up having to tell the mother to step away.
posted by etaoin at 10:28 AM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
About 15 years ago, when I was running a training program, a candidate's mother interfered a number of times. The only way I could excuse it was that she worked in the same building and was trying to use a personal connection to help her lazy daughter. And I ended up having to tell the mother to step away.
posted by etaoin at 10:28 AM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
my generation was told that any parental involvement meant no job: if you weren't adult enough to apply and interview by yourself, then you weren't considered adult enough to do the job.Since it's the parents who are doing the meddling, I'd say it's likely that this is your generation.
posted by MrMoonPie at 10:29 AM on April 18, 2013 [15 favorites]
I think these stats are less about millenials, and more about their parents.
posted by dry white toast at 10:29 AM on April 18, 2013 [9 favorites]
posted by dry white toast at 10:29 AM on April 18, 2013 [9 favorites]
But it could be that when all is said and done, the Boomers and Gen X will come out looking pathologically independent rather than vice versa.
I think they'll come out pathological, especially late era Boomers/early era Gen X'ers. One of the messages that started to get pounded into our heads was that the ends justify the means. If that means finding your children employment so that they and you don't look like deadbeats, so be it.
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:31 AM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
I think they'll come out pathological, especially late era Boomers/early era Gen X'ers. One of the messages that started to get pounded into our heads was that the ends justify the means. If that means finding your children employment so that they and you don't look like deadbeats, so be it.
posted by ZeusHumms at 10:31 AM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
If you were a member of the millennial generation, wouldn't you have given up by now too?
posted by 2bucksplus at 10:35 AM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by 2bucksplus at 10:35 AM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
I think I told this anecdote in that other thread about helicopter parents, but:
At my last job, I would attend college career fairs with our HR recruiter. We made avionics for small aircraft and would usually have one of our boxes at our table running a demo loop. One particular career fair at my alma mater, an older woman came up to me alone and started talking to me.
HER: "So what does your company do?"
ME: airplane, avionics, blah blah
HER: "Are these video games? My son really wants to program video games!"
ME: "No... as I just said, they're devices that go in airplanes-"
HER: "You really should speak to my son, he'd be great for your video game company! Here's his resume!"
ME: "Like I said... you know what, forget it. Where exactly is your son?"
HER: "Oh, he's over there!" [gestures vaguely into the auditorium]
ME: "Right, well, we'll certainly keep him under consideration. Thanks for stopping by!"
As soon as she left I binned his resume. He never bothered coming over to talk to us himself and I don't think his mother ever figured out what our company did.
If you want to go in to the tech sector, do not let your luddite parents talk to recruiters.
posted by backseatpilot at 10:35 AM on April 18, 2013 [26 favorites]
At my last job, I would attend college career fairs with our HR recruiter. We made avionics for small aircraft and would usually have one of our boxes at our table running a demo loop. One particular career fair at my alma mater, an older woman came up to me alone and started talking to me.
HER: "So what does your company do?"
ME: airplane, avionics, blah blah
HER: "Are these video games? My son really wants to program video games!"
ME: "No... as I just said, they're devices that go in airplanes-"
HER: "You really should speak to my son, he'd be great for your video game company! Here's his resume!"
ME: "Like I said... you know what, forget it. Where exactly is your son?"
HER: "Oh, he's over there!" [gestures vaguely into the auditorium]
ME: "Right, well, we'll certainly keep him under consideration. Thanks for stopping by!"
As soon as she left I binned his resume. He never bothered coming over to talk to us himself and I don't think his mother ever figured out what our company did.
If you want to go in to the tech sector, do not let your luddite parents talk to recruiters.
posted by backseatpilot at 10:35 AM on April 18, 2013 [26 favorites]
I think part of what happened is that for people of my generation, parental help was supposed to come in the form of money. If you were poor, the expectation was at least your parents payed to feed and clothe you so you could go to school. (I mean, not that everyone's parents did even that much — but if they didn't, everyone would have agreed they were falling down on the job.) If you were rich, you might have gotten a trust fund. In between, there was help buying a car, private school tuition, rent money so you could take an unpaid internship, whatever.
But when kids relied on their parents in non-monetary ways — living at home longer than "necessary," using their parents' contacts to find work, letting their parents open doors for them socially — then that we saw as fucked-up. Either the kids were immature or the parents were too pushy or who knows what the problem but Something There Wasn't Right.
And... well, maybe. On the other hand, I think if I'd grown up in a less devoutly individualistic culture, I'd look at my early 20s and think "What, the only way you guys allowed your parents to help you is by opening their wallets? That's cold. It's so impersonal. Something There Ain't Right." And maybe there's some truth to that too.
posted by Now there are two. There are two _______. at 10:36 AM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
But when kids relied on their parents in non-monetary ways — living at home longer than "necessary," using their parents' contacts to find work, letting their parents open doors for them socially — then that we saw as fucked-up. Either the kids were immature or the parents were too pushy or who knows what the problem but Something There Wasn't Right.
And... well, maybe. On the other hand, I think if I'd grown up in a less devoutly individualistic culture, I'd look at my early 20s and think "What, the only way you guys allowed your parents to help you is by opening their wallets? That's cold. It's so impersonal. Something There Ain't Right." And maybe there's some truth to that too.
posted by Now there are two. There are two _______. at 10:36 AM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
If 27% of millennials are self-employed, how many consider their parents money venture capital?
posted by jeffburdges at 10:36 AM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by jeffburdges at 10:36 AM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
People just really don't have enough to worry about do they?
Haven't really rich folks been setting up their kids with jobs and CEO positions for ages now? And didn't the ideal used to be just a couple generations ago that the kids would take over the family business? Maybe the kids and parents are just absorbing those lessons from the upper echelons of society at the lower levels now. So of course, this should be mocked mercilessly.
posted by saulgoodman at 10:36 AM on April 18, 2013 [18 favorites]
Haven't really rich folks been setting up their kids with jobs and CEO positions for ages now? And didn't the ideal used to be just a couple generations ago that the kids would take over the family business? Maybe the kids and parents are just absorbing those lessons from the upper echelons of society at the lower levels now. So of course, this should be mocked mercilessly.
posted by saulgoodman at 10:36 AM on April 18, 2013 [18 favorites]
> There's a survey in there about who uses social media. Only 41% of "all" (meaning all Americans, I assume) and only 75% of those 18-29. So there goes that "everyone is doing it" argument.
I wonder how many of the other 59%/25% can't afford computers and smartphones, and are implicitly not counted in the surveys about applications for colleges, applications for jobs, purchasing power, and so on.
posted by ardgedee at 10:36 AM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
I wonder how many of the other 59%/25% can't afford computers and smartphones, and are implicitly not counted in the surveys about applications for colleges, applications for jobs, purchasing power, and so on.
posted by ardgedee at 10:36 AM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
Also, as a millenial, I have to say that in my 10+ years of working a motley assortment of jobs (including being Mr. Manager management) I've never once seen or heard a parent involved in any way.
posted by griphus at 10:37 AM on April 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by griphus at 10:37 AM on April 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
I wonder how much of this is simply parents getting their children a job at the place they work at, or a place that the parent's friend work at. That seems like a very normal thing to me (a millenial) but statistically it would happen more frequently now because a) young people's primary networking contacts in the real world are older family members (as opposed to people 30+ who have personal friends in various industries) and b) networking is more important than ever - it is almost unheard of to get a job without a personal contact. Otherwise, this all seems very overblown.
This quote also stood out to me:
15 percent of millennials, versus 7 percent of Gen Xers at a similar stage of life, said having a high-paying career is important.
I think the concept of "high-paying career" has changed in the last decade. I am very aware that there are many jobs out there that have cut hours, low wages, and no benefits, that, yes I want a "high-paying career" so I can live without a roommate before I retire and not enter bankruptcy if I break a leg.
posted by fermezporte at 10:39 AM on April 18, 2013 [17 favorites]
This quote also stood out to me:
15 percent of millennials, versus 7 percent of Gen Xers at a similar stage of life, said having a high-paying career is important.
I think the concept of "high-paying career" has changed in the last decade. I am very aware that there are many jobs out there that have cut hours, low wages, and no benefits, that, yes I want a "high-paying career" so I can live without a roommate before I retire and not enter bankruptcy if I break a leg.
posted by fermezporte at 10:39 AM on April 18, 2013 [17 favorites]
it is almost unheard of to get a job without a personal contact.
This really can't be emphasized enough, as it's one of the main failures of our current economy and leaves a lot of people out in the cold where opportunity for social advancement is concerned.
posted by saulgoodman at 10:42 AM on April 18, 2013 [13 favorites]
This really can't be emphasized enough, as it's one of the main failures of our current economy and leaves a lot of people out in the cold where opportunity for social advancement is concerned.
posted by saulgoodman at 10:42 AM on April 18, 2013 [13 favorites]
Tsk tsk tsk, those materialistic young people and their desire for high-paying jobs and their student loans.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 10:44 AM on April 18, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 10:44 AM on April 18, 2013 [6 favorites]
How about 14 things the Millenial Generation should know about the rest of you because ya'll the ones done fucked up in the first place.
posted by Our Ship Of The Imagination! at 10:45 AM on April 18, 2013 [20 favorites]
posted by Our Ship Of The Imagination! at 10:45 AM on April 18, 2013 [20 favorites]
When being reprimanded or disciplined (see Brief 1-07), the employee refused to meet with or respond to the supervisor before talking with his or her parents.
Interestingly, between 2000-2004, all employees in the US actually had the legal right to have a representative of their choosing present at any meeting that might result in discipline—this was an extension of the Weingarten rights that union members have traditionally enjoyed (in which case it is the shop steward or business agent or similar) by the Clinton-era NLRB. In 2004 the extension of these rights to workers in non-unionized workplaces was rolled back by the Bush-era NLRB.
posted by enn at 10:46 AM on April 18, 2013 [7 favorites]
Interestingly, between 2000-2004, all employees in the US actually had the legal right to have a representative of their choosing present at any meeting that might result in discipline—this was an extension of the Weingarten rights that union members have traditionally enjoyed (in which case it is the shop steward or business agent or similar) by the Clinton-era NLRB. In 2004 the extension of these rights to workers in non-unionized workplaces was rolled back by the Bush-era NLRB.
posted by enn at 10:46 AM on April 18, 2013 [7 favorites]
I guess I'm technically a Millennial (born 1981, but since I didn't go to college I entered the workforce with the tail end of Gen X so I identify much more with the Xers - articles on "Millennials" didn't start coming out until I was years into my adult life.) I'm slightly puzzled by these stats, too - I've never met any of my younger coworkers' parents in any context but social (if that.) I drag my folks to meetups - does that count?
To be fair, my mother totally spent three months cyberstalking Matt when I started working here. But she never contacted him.
posted by restless_nomad at 10:46 AM on April 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
To be fair, my mother totally spent three months cyberstalking Matt when I started working here. But she never contacted him.
posted by restless_nomad at 10:46 AM on April 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
(Um, she didn't, right, Matt? ...Right?)
posted by restless_nomad at 10:48 AM on April 18, 2013 [13 favorites]
posted by restless_nomad at 10:48 AM on April 18, 2013 [13 favorites]
I think these stats are less about millenials, and more about their parents.
If you treat your own children as lazy, immature spoiled brats who need your help for basic everyday tasks, you bet your children are going to internalize that message. Treat a person like an adult and they'll learn pretty quickly they need to act like one.
posted by capricorn at 10:48 AM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
If you treat your own children as lazy, immature spoiled brats who need your help for basic everyday tasks, you bet your children are going to internalize that message. Treat a person like an adult and they'll learn pretty quickly they need to act like one.
posted by capricorn at 10:48 AM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
I think these stats are less about millenials, and more about their parents.
This, this, this.
Parents are tripping over themselves to show that their children have succeeded as members of society, and thus, they have succeeded as parents. Realistically or not, many parents feel pressure that if their child doesn't have the traditional notion of "SUCCESS!!" stamped all over their life — high test scores, good grades at a top university, excelling at a minimum of two extracurricular activities, impressive resume and career trajectory with high earning potential — then they've failed to do their job as parents. Parents transfer this pressure to the children.
I'm curious to see what the next generation will say about the Millenials, or more precisely, what my children's generation will say about mine.
posted by The Girl Who Ate Boston at 10:50 AM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
This, this, this.
Parents are tripping over themselves to show that their children have succeeded as members of society, and thus, they have succeeded as parents. Realistically or not, many parents feel pressure that if their child doesn't have the traditional notion of "SUCCESS!!" stamped all over their life — high test scores, good grades at a top university, excelling at a minimum of two extracurricular activities, impressive resume and career trajectory with high earning potential — then they've failed to do their job as parents. Parents transfer this pressure to the children.
I'm curious to see what the next generation will say about the Millenials, or more precisely, what my children's generation will say about mine.
posted by The Girl Who Ate Boston at 10:50 AM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
I think the concept of "high-paying career" has changed in the last decade. I am very aware that there are many jobs out there that have cut hours, low wages, and no benefits, that, yes I want a "high-paying career" so I can live without a roommate before I retire and not enter bankruptcy if I break a leg.
Yeah, and check out these other stats:
There are about 79 million millennials in the U.S., versus the 48 million Generation Xers (born between 1965 and 1980). (ComScore)
The purchasing power of millennials is estimated to be $170 billion per year. (ComScore)
Putting those together gives $2151 per Millennial per year. Combined with 13.1% unemployment, one can imagine a "high-paying career" might not exclusively mean high finance.
posted by nave at 10:53 AM on April 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
Yeah, and check out these other stats:
There are about 79 million millennials in the U.S., versus the 48 million Generation Xers (born between 1965 and 1980). (ComScore)
The purchasing power of millennials is estimated to be $170 billion per year. (ComScore)
Putting those together gives $2151 per Millennial per year. Combined with 13.1% unemployment, one can imagine a "high-paying career" might not exclusively mean high finance.
posted by nave at 10:53 AM on April 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
Fact 18: Millennials are more likely than the professionals at the Michigan State Collegiate Employment Research Institute to know that you can't fuckin' use a pie chart to show the relative proportions of something across different groups. Like, for instance, on page 1 of the PDF.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 10:54 AM on April 18, 2013 [16 favorites]
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 10:54 AM on April 18, 2013 [16 favorites]
Generation Whut.
posted by buzzman at 10:55 AM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by buzzman at 10:55 AM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
If you treat your own children as lazy, immature spoiled brats who need your help for basic everyday tasks, you bet your children are going to internalize that message. Treat a person like an adult and they'll learn pretty quickly they need to act like one.
I think more than not, millenials are embarrassed at the way their parents hover over their lives, and it's the parents who can't let go. I also don't believe it's about being lazy and spoiled (though, sure, some kids will end up that way). It's about giving your kids the wherewithal to stand on their own two feet, and accepting that they're not children any more.
posted by dry white toast at 10:55 AM on April 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
I think more than not, millenials are embarrassed at the way their parents hover over their lives, and it's the parents who can't let go. I also don't believe it's about being lazy and spoiled (though, sure, some kids will end up that way). It's about giving your kids the wherewithal to stand on their own two feet, and accepting that they're not children any more.
posted by dry white toast at 10:55 AM on April 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
If y'all would read the article, you'd realize this is not about parents getting jobs for their kids using connections.
I suppose it's easy to dismiss this as "off my lawn, kids these days" griping. Do the people dismissing it genuinely not see an issue with heavy parental involvement in the job-obtaining process? Not introducing kids to colleagues or reviewing a resume and letting the kid take it from there, but in actively campaigning at random companies for their child and submitting resumes for them? This indicates we as a society may be doing a seriously poor job of imparting the need for self-reliance, both in kids recognizing the importance of it and parents recognizing the need to instill it.
posted by Anonymous at 11:00 AM on April 18, 2013
I suppose it's easy to dismiss this as "off my lawn, kids these days" griping. Do the people dismissing it genuinely not see an issue with heavy parental involvement in the job-obtaining process? Not introducing kids to colleagues or reviewing a resume and letting the kid take it from there, but in actively campaigning at random companies for their child and submitting resumes for them? This indicates we as a society may be doing a seriously poor job of imparting the need for self-reliance, both in kids recognizing the importance of it and parents recognizing the need to instill it.
posted by Anonymous at 11:00 AM on April 18, 2013
networking is more important than ever - it is almost unheard of to get a job without a personal contact
Do you have a source for that?
A lot of money goes into widespread job advertisement, which seems weird if that is the case.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:03 AM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
Do you have a source for that?
A lot of money goes into widespread job advertisement, which seems weird if that is the case.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:03 AM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
First they told us to go to college (and good, named, largely private schools) and we did, then they told us college is the new high school so we went to grad school, then they told us to intern to get our foot in the door and we did, then they told us jobs aren't like they used to be and not to expect full time or benefits and many of us acquiesced. But when I hear the dismay that millennials aren't listening anymore, how can you blame them? We've been getting shitty advice our entire lives.
posted by 2bucksplus at 11:03 AM on April 18, 2013 [49 favorites]
posted by 2bucksplus at 11:03 AM on April 18, 2013 [49 favorites]
41 percent of millennials have no landline? That's... putting a lot of faith in cellphones. In a disaster they're always the first thing to go down.
posted by Kevin Street at 11:04 AM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Kevin Street at 11:04 AM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
41 percent of millennials have no landline? That's... putting a lot of faith in cellphones. In a disaster they're always the first thing to go down.
They all ultimately go through the same switches, chief. Even this old fart Xer got rid of my landline years ago.
posted by entropicamericana at 11:06 AM on April 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
They all ultimately go through the same switches, chief. Even this old fart Xer got rid of my landline years ago.
posted by entropicamericana at 11:06 AM on April 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
If y'all would read the article, you'd realize this is not about parents getting jobs for their kids using connections.
I did read both articles. I didn't see anything other that anecdotal evidence, and I didn't see any fair comparisons between Millenials and Gen X-ers or baby boomers at the same period in their life.
networking is more important than ever - it is almost unheard of to get a job without a personal contact
Do you have a source for that?
No, only anecdotal data, so perhaps I am overstating my case. I really can't think of many of my friends that got a job other than restaurant staffing/front line retail without a personal/family/alumni contact.
posted by fermezporte at 11:08 AM on April 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
I did read both articles. I didn't see anything other that anecdotal evidence, and I didn't see any fair comparisons between Millenials and Gen X-ers or baby boomers at the same period in their life.
networking is more important than ever - it is almost unheard of to get a job without a personal contact
Do you have a source for that?
No, only anecdotal data, so perhaps I am overstating my case. I really can't think of many of my friends that got a job other than restaurant staffing/front line retail without a personal/family/alumni contact.
posted by fermezporte at 11:08 AM on April 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
Do the people dismissing it genuinely not see an issue with heavy parental involvement in the job-obtaining process?
I don't know. I had a serious problem with former President Bush's heavy parental involvement in the job-obtaining process (I could say more about another of the Bush clan but won't), but the stewards of personal accountability in our society dismissed my concerns as irrelevant, so I guess I'm just trying to return the favor.
Also, this whole inter-generational conflict shtick in general is getting to be really stale.
posted by saulgoodman at 11:10 AM on April 18, 2013 [6 favorites]
I don't know. I had a serious problem with former President Bush's heavy parental involvement in the job-obtaining process (I could say more about another of the Bush clan but won't), but the stewards of personal accountability in our society dismissed my concerns as irrelevant, so I guess I'm just trying to return the favor.
Also, this whole inter-generational conflict shtick in general is getting to be really stale.
posted by saulgoodman at 11:10 AM on April 18, 2013 [6 favorites]
"They all ultimately go through the same switches, chief."
Ultimately, but that system of fragile towers that's built to just have enough capacity for regular service is the most delicate part of the network. I can't imagine relying on cell phones alone.
posted by Kevin Street at 11:11 AM on April 18, 2013
Ultimately, but that system of fragile towers that's built to just have enough capacity for regular service is the most delicate part of the network. I can't imagine relying on cell phones alone.
posted by Kevin Street at 11:11 AM on April 18, 2013
My grandfather got his job working in the cotton fields on recommendation from his father when his father became terminally ill and died. I guess he was pretty spoiled and pampered, too.
posted by saulgoodman at 11:12 AM on April 18, 2013
posted by saulgoodman at 11:12 AM on April 18, 2013
First they told us to go to college (and good, named, largely private schools) and we did, then they told us college is the new high school so we went to grad school, then they told us to intern to get our foot in the door and we did, then they told us jobs aren't like they used to be and not to expect full time or benefits and many of us acquiesced. But when I hear the dismay that millennials aren't listening anymore, how can you blame them? We've been getting shitty advice our entire lives.
God, have we ever.* I haven't had a job that lasted longer than six months since 2010, and I live in one of the most economically robust cities in the US. Oh wait, that's just what people told me! (People like my husband, a gainfully employed, handsomely paid GenXer.) It's goddamn frustrating. I'm lucky to have health insurance, since I'm married, but I've pretty much forgotten what it's like to have vacations, paid time off, or job prospects beyond the next few weeks. Not that I had any of those for very long, mind you.
*I'm 30. Not sure if this makes me a millennial?
posted by timetoevolve at 11:12 AM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
God, have we ever.* I haven't had a job that lasted longer than six months since 2010, and I live in one of the most economically robust cities in the US. Oh wait, that's just what people told me! (People like my husband, a gainfully employed, handsomely paid GenXer.) It's goddamn frustrating. I'm lucky to have health insurance, since I'm married, but I've pretty much forgotten what it's like to have vacations, paid time off, or job prospects beyond the next few weeks. Not that I had any of those for very long, mind you.
*I'm 30. Not sure if this makes me a millennial?
posted by timetoevolve at 11:12 AM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
I gave up my landline because I couldn't make the telemarketers stop any other way.
posted by restless_nomad at 11:13 AM on April 18, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by restless_nomad at 11:13 AM on April 18, 2013 [6 favorites]
41 percent of millennials have no landline? That's... putting a lot of faith in cellphones.
ONLY 41 percent? I'm a late-model X'er and I don't think any of my friends have landlines.
posted by psoas at 11:13 AM on April 18, 2013 [20 favorites]
ONLY 41 percent? I'm a late-model X'er and I don't think any of my friends have landlines.
posted by psoas at 11:13 AM on April 18, 2013 [20 favorites]
Ultimately, but that system of fragile towers that's built to just have enough capacity for regular service is the most delicate part of the network.
The entire network is underbuilt now. (Thanks, United States v AT&T!) Infrastructure is expensive, so why lay more copper or fiber when you can just shape the data, squeeze out more fidelity, and squeeze in a little more traffic?
posted by entropicamericana at 11:16 AM on April 18, 2013
The entire network is underbuilt now. (Thanks, United States v AT&T!) Infrastructure is expensive, so why lay more copper or fiber when you can just shape the data, squeeze out more fidelity, and squeeze in a little more traffic?
posted by entropicamericana at 11:16 AM on April 18, 2013
Perhaps these parents feel guilty for destroying the economy and dutifully undermining the things that make America a great place to live and work? Just a guess.
posted by MetalFingerz at 11:17 AM on April 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by MetalFingerz at 11:17 AM on April 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
What no one mentions is that with excessive population comes the devaluing of each individual human life. Modern parents brought their children into a world that doesn't have any need for the vast majority of them or their services.
posted by Iknowno_one at 11:18 AM on April 18, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by Iknowno_one at 11:18 AM on April 18, 2013 [6 favorites]
Ultimately, but that system of fragile towers...
During Sandy and the Blizzard of '13, I had 4G internet longer than I had power or cable service. You are aware that land-lines are miles and miles of wires stapled to thin, dead trees 20' in the air, right?
posted by Slap*Happy at 11:20 AM on April 18, 2013 [9 favorites]
During Sandy and the Blizzard of '13, I had 4G internet longer than I had power or cable service. You are aware that land-lines are miles and miles of wires stapled to thin, dead trees 20' in the air, right?
posted by Slap*Happy at 11:20 AM on April 18, 2013 [9 favorites]
So if I'm clear: Parents are constantly bombarded with dire warnings from experts that if they don't control every single aspect of their kid's environment from the air they breathe to the media they consume to their friends to their playtime activity to their school, they'll be kidnapped by pedos and develop cancer and possibly come down with some undiagnosable condition and never get into college and develop a crack habit and worst of all move back home rather than get married at the ripe old age of 21--and if those kids screw up in any way, the tut-tutting and headshaking and fingerpointing all circles around the parents and how terrible they are--and then we are shocked and surprised these parents have a little bit of trouble letting go and not managing their kids?
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 11:20 AM on April 18, 2013 [15 favorites]
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 11:20 AM on April 18, 2013 [15 favorites]
I'm 40, and everyone I know has a land-line. I do know quite a few people without cellphones though.
posted by fimbulvetr at 11:20 AM on April 18, 2013
posted by fimbulvetr at 11:20 AM on April 18, 2013
As a Gen-Xer my experience is that my generation is the worst generation that exists, except for all the others.
posted by Justinian at 11:21 AM on April 18, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 11:21 AM on April 18, 2013 [6 favorites]
I'm 33 and haven't given up my landline. It works even when my cell phone doesn't, in Manhattan.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 11:21 AM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 11:21 AM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
What no one mentions is that with excessive population comes the devaluing of each individual human life.
You put the numerator of a single person's value over the denominator of all the people in the world's value, and it just makes sense!
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 11:22 AM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
You put the numerator of a single person's value over the denominator of all the people in the world's value, and it just makes sense!
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 11:22 AM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
Because people are fungible, identical widgets.
posted by saulgoodman at 11:29 AM on April 18, 2013
posted by saulgoodman at 11:29 AM on April 18, 2013
I wonder how much of this is simply parents getting their children a job at the place they work at, or a place that the parent's friend work at. That seems like a very normal thing to me (a millennial) but statistically it would happen more frequently now
Bear in mind that in industrial/mill towns this used to be the thing. Dad and Uncle would both work for The Factory and when Kid got old enough they'd bring him down and introduce him to the foreman and that's how he'd get a job. And it wasn't limited to industrial work, either. My mom's first job out of college was in the same office where her mother worked, and she got the job totally on the strength of being "Dottie's Girl".
posted by anastasiav at 11:30 AM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
Bear in mind that in industrial/mill towns this used to be the thing. Dad and Uncle would both work for The Factory and when Kid got old enough they'd bring him down and introduce him to the foreman and that's how he'd get a job. And it wasn't limited to industrial work, either. My mom's first job out of college was in the same office where her mother worked, and she got the job totally on the strength of being "Dottie's Girl".
posted by anastasiav at 11:30 AM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
this whole inter-generational conflict shtick in general is getting to be really stale.
I'll say... and I'm old enough to remember the Generation Gap.
posted by Rash at 11:32 AM on April 18, 2013
I'll say... and I'm old enough to remember the Generation Gap.
posted by Rash at 11:32 AM on April 18, 2013
OK, next time I have a job interview I'll bring Mom and Dad along. Everything's normal here folks, got it!
posted by Anonymous at 11:32 AM on April 18, 2013
posted by Anonymous at 11:32 AM on April 18, 2013
Jeez, all this talk in this thread about "those" Millennials... I guess I always just assumed that a lot of you were 20 something like me too.
BTW, we like the term Millennials, it's way better than that "Gen Y" bullshit.
Also, just like the mark of old age is a tendency to tell the kids to get off your lawn, maybe the mark of middle age is thinking that jokes about getting off of lawns are funny every time the youth is mentioned.
posted by malapropist at 11:33 AM on April 18, 2013 [11 favorites]
BTW, we like the term Millennials, it's way better than that "Gen Y" bullshit.
Also, just like the mark of old age is a tendency to tell the kids to get off your lawn, maybe the mark of middle age is thinking that jokes about getting off of lawns are funny every time the youth is mentioned.
posted by malapropist at 11:33 AM on April 18, 2013 [11 favorites]
BTW, we like the term Millennials, it's way better than that "Gen Y" bullshit.
Speak for yourself. It's all bullshit.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 11:35 AM on April 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
Speak for yourself. It's all bullshit.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 11:35 AM on April 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
Personally, I prefer the term "Raddest Generation" but that asshole Tom Brokaw refuses to not call the cops on me every time I show up in his living room to petition for it.
posted by griphus at 11:37 AM on April 18, 2013 [11 favorites]
posted by griphus at 11:37 AM on April 18, 2013 [11 favorites]
Kevin Street: "41 percent of millennials have no landline? That's... putting a lot of faith in cellphones. In a disaster they're always the first thing to go down."
The Serval Batphone is a wireless mesh voice system. If a substantial number of people install the app before said emergency, it might work out better than centralized towers. Or it might fail with the surge in load, as I know of no large testing.
posted by pwnguin at 11:39 AM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Serval Batphone is a wireless mesh voice system. If a substantial number of people install the app before said emergency, it might work out better than centralized towers. Or it might fail with the surge in load, as I know of no large testing.
posted by pwnguin at 11:39 AM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
41 percent of millennials have no landline? That's... putting a lot of faith in cellphones. In a disaster they're always the first thing to go down.Or, it's making a careful cost-benefit analysis and deciding that paying $150 a year for a service that offers a rather small chance of significantly improving one's experience in an emergency is a poor choice. For most of us, ditching the landline and spending the same money on more emergency gear or first aid training is far more likely to be beneficial in an emergency. (I'd make the same argument even if I didn't have a box of ham radio gear under the bed.)
Emergency communications may be a good argument for not doing away with all the landlines in the neighborhood, but it's not a compelling reason that I personally ought to pay for one.
posted by eotvos at 11:40 AM on April 18, 2013 [8 favorites]
The term 'Millennials' makes me picture a bunch of ants swarming across a calendar.
posted by postcommunism at 11:41 AM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by postcommunism at 11:41 AM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
...paying $150 a year...
I just checked my local VoIP landline provider (who is also my cable company) and it's $20 a month if you get it as part of the Internet-Cable TV-Landline package, otherwise it's $35/month and ha ha ha fuck that noise.
posted by griphus at 11:43 AM on April 18, 2013 [10 favorites]
I just checked my local VoIP landline provider (who is also my cable company) and it's $20 a month if you get it as part of the Internet-Cable TV-Landline package, otherwise it's $35/month and ha ha ha fuck that noise.
posted by griphus at 11:43 AM on April 18, 2013 [10 favorites]
I made a comment about the term, but I am a "millennial" by the standard definition. I hate it. It's stupid. Gen Y is also stupid, but defining my life by the fact that the calendar rolled over when I was a sophomore in high school is silly.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 11:44 AM on April 18, 2013
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 11:44 AM on April 18, 2013
BTW, we like the term Millennials, it's way better than that "Gen Y" bullshit.Of course it is. But since it's become sort of uncool to rant against the n******, women are no longer content to play wifey and even the gays are treated like human beings for the most part these days, we do need some bullshit to divide the working classes with. The generation gap is weak sauce, but it's the best there is at the moment.
Speak for yourself. It's all bullshit.
posted by MartinWisse at 11:44 AM on April 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
I first learned about Millennials from this article by Marilee Jones, Dean of Admissions at MIT. It got a good laugh among students, although I don't remember how it circulated to us. It supposedly was describing us, but we didn't recognize ourselves in it.
posted by madcaptenor at 11:45 AM on April 18, 2013
posted by madcaptenor at 11:45 AM on April 18, 2013
I think helicopter parenting was defined by the "razor blade in your apple" halloween craze that repeated every year until I stopped going trick-or-treating.
posted by Strass at 11:46 AM on April 18, 2013
posted by Strass at 11:46 AM on April 18, 2013
I am a millennial recession poster child, and I would never let my mom do my job applications because she has so little clue about what the market looks like for my demographic. She's been at more or less the same position, with a few title tweaks, for more than 30 years, and it's at a state university with excellent benefits. She doesn't know how many people my age apply for what few entry-level jobs there are. She doesn't know about that comes from sitting around with your thoughts and a string of craigslist postings every day. She hasn't met my new friends in my neighborhood, many of whom are being underpaid by the same trendy indie coffee shop. (All were promised slightly more money than they actually earn. One was promised health insurance, which the store has then gone on to deny every step of the way. So much for small businesses being better employers.) She hasn't done the "if I go back to grad school now, would I ever pay off the debt?" math.
One of the insidious, awful things about the current state of the economy for me is the sense that so few people in power, people with good jobs, really get it. My same-age friends do, and we can rant and be in solidarity with each other and drink in frustration all we want. But we're all competing in the same race to the bottom for jobs. It's harder to help each other find good work when everybody's in a dead end.
posted by ActionPopulated at 11:46 AM on April 18, 2013 [25 favorites]
One of the insidious, awful things about the current state of the economy for me is the sense that so few people in power, people with good jobs, really get it. My same-age friends do, and we can rant and be in solidarity with each other and drink in frustration all we want. But we're all competing in the same race to the bottom for jobs. It's harder to help each other find good work when everybody's in a dead end.
posted by ActionPopulated at 11:46 AM on April 18, 2013 [25 favorites]
> Millennials, the newest generation, are the subject of this article. Born after 1979, they will nearly eclipse the Baby Boomers in size...So that's the cutoff!
posted by postcommunism at 11:47 AM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
I hate that articles like these do not define what a millennial is. My definition is based on pop-cultural trends:
Born b/w end of WWII and Kennedy assassination = "Baby Boomer" (roughly 20 years)
Born between Kennedy assassination and MTV's birth = "Generation X"
Born after MTV but before 9/11= "Millenial"
Your definition may vary, but I'm curious as to what others think.
posted by Renoroc at 11:48 AM on April 18, 2013
Born b/w end of WWII and Kennedy assassination = "Baby Boomer" (roughly 20 years)
Born between Kennedy assassination and MTV's birth = "Generation X"
Born after MTV but before 9/11= "Millenial"
Your definition may vary, but I'm curious as to what others think.
posted by Renoroc at 11:48 AM on April 18, 2013
Convincing argument for the use of "Generation Y".
::Immediately checks whether Kabanos's profile lists his age::
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 11:50 AM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
::Immediately checks whether Kabanos's profile lists his age::
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 11:50 AM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
Hm, I wonder what percentage of those were behind the kid's back. When I was in middle school I entered a scholarship contest and my mom, behind my back, resubmitted the thing on neon paper because she thought that would make it 'stand out' (the town Ladies' Garden Committee must have been baffled by this, of course, because I was the only entrant). I was able to cut her off from continuing this behavior by password protecting stuff on the computer and basically not telling her anything about my life from then on. But hell, I'm really strong headed, and I caught her early. I bet some of these kids aren't aware of this meddling.
"Millenials" is not ideal, but anything's better than "Echo Boomers."
posted by troika at 11:50 AM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
"Millenials" is not ideal, but anything's better than "Echo Boomers."
posted by troika at 11:50 AM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
I work with people in their 20s/early 30s and with people in their 50s/up. The second group complains about the first a lot (and ignores us completely, but hey we are used to that), but I can't tell why, exactly. They seem nice enough to me, and don't treat me like Horrible Old Person Who is Stupid (at least not to my face) or anything. They seem fairly polite and laid back, and frankly less annoying than a lot of people my age. I like talking to them.
I mean, if people aren't doing their work, you can fire them, but if they are, I don't know what else you want from them. Butt-kissing? Evidence of misery? Lots of kids in this generation went to Iraq. I don't think they owe anyone shit.
People my age are generally too caught up in raising their teens and paying for two cars, a house, and Mom's nursing home to pay attention to any of this.
posted by emjaybee at 11:54 AM on April 18, 2013 [7 favorites]
I mean, if people aren't doing their work, you can fire them, but if they are, I don't know what else you want from them. Butt-kissing? Evidence of misery? Lots of kids in this generation went to Iraq. I don't think they owe anyone shit.
People my age are generally too caught up in raising their teens and paying for two cars, a house, and Mom's nursing home to pay attention to any of this.
posted by emjaybee at 11:54 AM on April 18, 2013 [7 favorites]
Oh, haha, those Millenials! With their smartphones alarms and their inability to find a job in the worst recession in 80 years, and their resentment for the generation that elected Reagan and Clinton and both Bushes and entered war conflict after conflict and destroyed the environment and the future!
Stay classy, Boomers.
posted by kagredon at 11:54 AM on April 18, 2013 [32 favorites]
Stay classy, Boomers.
posted by kagredon at 11:54 AM on April 18, 2013 [32 favorites]
Millennials, the newest generation, are the subject of this article. Born after 1979, they will nearly eclipse the Baby Boomers in size...
I don't think that's right. I'm 1980 and have always been referred to as late Gen X.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 11:55 AM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
I don't think that's right. I'm 1980 and have always been referred to as late Gen X.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 11:55 AM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'm not too offended by "Millenials" because I don't think it will be the term forever. What will really hurt is when we finally get labelled the "Lost Generation" due to the long term social and personal economic effects of the recession.
/wish me luck guys, I have an interview tomorrow! I'm hoping that a second job on the weekends will let me afford my rent AND my meds.
posted by Vysharra at 11:58 AM on April 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
/wish me luck guys, I have an interview tomorrow! I'm hoping that a second job on the weekends will let me afford my rent AND my meds.
posted by Vysharra at 11:58 AM on April 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
Whoops, missed a word in my above comment. Should be "the depression that comes from sitting around with your thoughts and a string of craigslist postings every day."
I'm almost magnetically drawn to terrible nytimes articles about millennials and the resulting mefi threads, but I really shouldn't read them. For all the awesome people who get the struggle, there's always some "needs moar bootstraps" jerk who comes out of the woodwork and makes me feel like I'm not trying enough.
posted by ActionPopulated at 12:04 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'm almost magnetically drawn to terrible nytimes articles about millennials and the resulting mefi threads, but I really shouldn't read them. For all the awesome people who get the struggle, there's always some "needs moar bootstraps" jerk who comes out of the woodwork and makes me feel like I'm not trying enough.
posted by ActionPopulated at 12:04 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
One fine day, the first of many paydays for a certain job. my mom decided to call my employer and go over my direct deposit slip to make sure they were paying me correctly. Without telling me. My employer kindly called me and assured me that Mother's concern was unwarranted.
Lo, did the Earth tremble that day.
posted by pleurodirous at 12:06 PM on April 18, 2013 [10 favorites]
Lo, did the Earth tremble that day.
posted by pleurodirous at 12:06 PM on April 18, 2013 [10 favorites]
Re cell phones going down: The one major emergency I've personally lived through was 9/11. Basically everyone in Manhattan was trying to reassure their families at once, so cell phones were down because all phones, including land lines, were overloaded. Internet worked, though! So when I switched away from a land line phone, I didn't feel like I was losing anything in terms of reliability.
posted by baf at 12:07 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by baf at 12:07 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
Good luck Vysharra!
I'm a "Millennial" who just got laid-off for the third time in five years. I agree with you on that Lost Generation tip.
posted by Katine at 12:14 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'm a "Millennial" who just got laid-off for the third time in five years. I agree with you on that Lost Generation tip.
posted by Katine at 12:14 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
80% of millennials sleep with their phones multipurpose devices which include an alarm clock function next to their beds.
Exactly. My phone is my alarm clock. And, I actually have it set to automatically turn off all sounds and notifications between certain hours (i.e., while I'm asleep). It reactivates just before my alarm goes off.
I'm not reaching out for my phone in the middle of the night.
posted by asnider at 12:14 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
Exactly. My phone is my alarm clock. And, I actually have it set to automatically turn off all sounds and notifications between certain hours (i.e., while I'm asleep). It reactivates just before my alarm goes off.
I'm not reaching out for my phone in the middle of the night.
posted by asnider at 12:14 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
100% of Millenials enjoy the smooth taste of Boone's Farm fortified wine. For those nights when all your job applications get met with silence (every night, forever)
posted by hellojed at 12:14 PM on April 18, 2013 [18 favorites]
posted by hellojed at 12:14 PM on April 18, 2013 [18 favorites]
Also, I'm happy to have my mom "network" for me if that is what it takes to find a decent job.
posted by Katine at 12:15 PM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Katine at 12:15 PM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
The generation gap is weak sauce, but it's the best there is at the moment.
I'll say it is. "Top-Secret Proletariat-Division Plot: Listicles"
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 12:17 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'll say it is. "Top-Secret Proletariat-Division Plot: Listicles"
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 12:17 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
And, I actually have it set to automatically turn off all sounds and notifications between certain hours (i.e., while I'm asleep).
100% of people writing the article in which the 80% statistic was cited aren't even aware their phone can be silenced.
posted by griphus at 12:17 PM on April 18, 2013
100% of people writing the article in which the 80% statistic was cited aren't even aware their phone can be silenced.
posted by griphus at 12:17 PM on April 18, 2013
41 percent of millennials have no landline? That's... putting a lot of faith in cellphones. In a disaster they're always the first thing to go down.
I tried ripping the line out of the wall and jamming it into outlets as I go, but sadly the only way I've found to have a consistent number while drifting between jobs and apartments is to use the "call" function on my socially mandatory tracking device.
posted by pleurodirous at 12:18 PM on April 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
I tried ripping the line out of the wall and jamming it into outlets as I go, but sadly the only way I've found to have a consistent number while drifting between jobs and apartments is to use the "call" function on my socially mandatory tracking device.
posted by pleurodirous at 12:18 PM on April 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
SMS is extremely reliable in a disaster -- probably even more reliable than landlines. Remember, kids, when there's a disaster, text don't talk.
posted by miyabo at 12:19 PM on April 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by miyabo at 12:19 PM on April 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
I just checked my local VoIP landline provider (who is also my cable company) and it's $20 a month if you get it as part of the Internet-Cable TV-Landline package...
Come to think of it, I do have a land-line. Our old place had terrible wireless reception, and to be frank, most mobile phones are terrible to talk on - very uncomfortable.
So we got a three-set cordless phone with answering machine, and an Obi - a SIP appliance that costs $50, and plugs into one of the ethernet jacks on your home router. You configure it through the company's web page, using pretty much any browser. It lets you connect to two SIP services - one, we pay $1.60/month for 911 service. The other is Google Voice, which charges you zilcho. Nada. For Free.
I set the "voicemail pickup" to 6 rings, so messages go to the phone that send you to the answering machine after 4 rings - that way, we can tell at a glance if we have messages instead of needing to log in.
So, after a $50 investment, our landline is $1.60/month. As long as we have internet through the cable modem, we have phone - which is also true for the cable's phone service. Only their's is $35/month. When we moved, we got to keep the old number - which Google let me pick, so it has the last 4 digits of my cell number.
posted by Slap*Happy at 12:22 PM on April 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
Come to think of it, I do have a land-line. Our old place had terrible wireless reception, and to be frank, most mobile phones are terrible to talk on - very uncomfortable.
So we got a three-set cordless phone with answering machine, and an Obi - a SIP appliance that costs $50, and plugs into one of the ethernet jacks on your home router. You configure it through the company's web page, using pretty much any browser. It lets you connect to two SIP services - one, we pay $1.60/month for 911 service. The other is Google Voice, which charges you zilcho. Nada. For Free.
I set the "voicemail pickup" to 6 rings, so messages go to the phone that send you to the answering machine after 4 rings - that way, we can tell at a glance if we have messages instead of needing to log in.
So, after a $50 investment, our landline is $1.60/month. As long as we have internet through the cable modem, we have phone - which is also true for the cable's phone service. Only their's is $35/month. When we moved, we got to keep the old number - which Google let me pick, so it has the last 4 digits of my cell number.
posted by Slap*Happy at 12:22 PM on April 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
I think more than not, millenials are embarrassed at the way their parents hover over their lives, and it's the parents who can't let go. I also don't believe it's about being lazy and spoiled (though, sure, some kids will end up that way). It's about giving your kids the wherewithal to stand on their own two feet, and accepting that they're not children any more.
Yeah, I think we're both on the same page here. Maybe my earlier comment wasn't clear; I was agreeing that it's the parents who are propagating the attitude that their kids need them to do everything for them.
posted by capricorn at 12:31 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I think we're both on the same page here. Maybe my earlier comment wasn't clear; I was agreeing that it's the parents who are propagating the attitude that their kids need them to do everything for them.
posted by capricorn at 12:31 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
I keep my mobile by the bed so I can get my early morning hit of sweet sweet blue and green first thing in the morning.
posted by biffa at 12:33 PM on April 18, 2013 [6 favorites]
posted by biffa at 12:33 PM on April 18, 2013 [6 favorites]
I'm almost magnetically drawn to terrible nytimes articles about millennials and the resulting mefi threads, but I really shouldn't read them. For all the awesome people who get the struggle, there's always some "needs moar bootstraps" jerk who comes out of the woodwork and makes me feel like I'm not trying enough.
I felt the same way when it was Gen X OMG! all the time. I didn't want to read the terrible terrible books and articles about us, and yet I couldn't help myself. Narcissism, maybe. The train-wreckiness of it all. I don't know. We were always getting told to stop watching cartoons and being politically apathetic, but also that the Boomers had doomed us and it was all hopeless.
I do remember one book talking about how Gen Y was going to have it so much better, because Boomers liked them more and they were getting all the shiny tech and personal attention and blahdeblah. I think it was supposed to fill me with resentment for my latchkey childhood and parents caring more about fulfillment than about me, unlike the bright new hopeful generation that was wanted and planned for and stimulated to the nth degree.
But nope, the new generation is getting it in the shorts, too.
posted by emjaybee at 12:35 PM on April 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
I felt the same way when it was Gen X OMG! all the time. I didn't want to read the terrible terrible books and articles about us, and yet I couldn't help myself. Narcissism, maybe. The train-wreckiness of it all. I don't know. We were always getting told to stop watching cartoons and being politically apathetic, but also that the Boomers had doomed us and it was all hopeless.
I do remember one book talking about how Gen Y was going to have it so much better, because Boomers liked them more and they were getting all the shiny tech and personal attention and blahdeblah. I think it was supposed to fill me with resentment for my latchkey childhood and parents caring more about fulfillment than about me, unlike the bright new hopeful generation that was wanted and planned for and stimulated to the nth degree.
But nope, the new generation is getting it in the shorts, too.
posted by emjaybee at 12:35 PM on April 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
80 percent of millennials sleep with their phones next to their beds.
ARE THE PEOPLE WHO CREATE THESE THINGS UNAWARE THAT CELL PHONES HAVE ALARM CLOCKS? Seriously, I've seen this tidbit a few times and it always drives me freakin' nuts. "Wow, millenials are so attached to their technological doodads that they even can't part with them while sleeping! We've created a whole new breed of techno-dependent semi-cyborgs! We're living in the future, Batman!"
NO. You know how, when you stay in a hotel you have to spend ten minutes screwing around with the alarm because you can never quite figure out how it works and you don't want to fuck it up because you'll miss that important meeting in the morning? WELL, WE'VE FIGURED OUT A WAY AROUND THAT. WE USE THE ALARM CLOCK ON OUR CELL PHONE. EVERY DAY. EVERY PHONE HAS ONE. IT'S SUPER-EASY. TRY IT.
/end rant.
posted by breakin' the law at 12:39 PM on April 18, 2013 [18 favorites]
ARE THE PEOPLE WHO CREATE THESE THINGS UNAWARE THAT CELL PHONES HAVE ALARM CLOCKS? Seriously, I've seen this tidbit a few times and it always drives me freakin' nuts. "Wow, millenials are so attached to their technological doodads that they even can't part with them while sleeping! We've created a whole new breed of techno-dependent semi-cyborgs! We're living in the future, Batman!"
NO. You know how, when you stay in a hotel you have to spend ten minutes screwing around with the alarm because you can never quite figure out how it works and you don't want to fuck it up because you'll miss that important meeting in the morning? WELL, WE'VE FIGURED OUT A WAY AROUND THAT. WE USE THE ALARM CLOCK ON OUR CELL PHONE. EVERY DAY. EVERY PHONE HAS ONE. IT'S SUPER-EASY. TRY IT.
/end rant.
posted by breakin' the law at 12:39 PM on April 18, 2013 [18 favorites]
Something isn't clicking for me. What is the level of parental involvement in entrepreneurship? Are parents finding partners and customers? I don't think so. So we have a generation that needs help finding a job but doesn't need help starting a business. Explain this please?
posted by Xurando at 12:45 PM on April 18, 2013
posted by Xurando at 12:45 PM on April 18, 2013
Is there any generation, before or after who doesn't think the Boomers suck?
Millennials, Y, X, Greatest, Silent or whoever can sleep on a giant phone which silently applies for all the jobs and they'd still come out of top compared to those born on third and yet still struck-out motherfuckers.
posted by fullerine at 12:46 PM on April 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
Millennials, Y, X, Greatest, Silent or whoever can sleep on a giant phone which silently applies for all the jobs and they'd still come out of top compared to those born on third and yet still struck-out motherfuckers.
posted by fullerine at 12:46 PM on April 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
27 percent of millennials are self-employed.
Does this mean 27 percent of my generation is selling pot?
posted by dudemanlives at 12:51 PM on April 18, 2013 [7 favorites]
Does this mean 27 percent of my generation is selling pot?
posted by dudemanlives at 12:51 PM on April 18, 2013 [7 favorites]
Does this mean 27 percent of my generation is selling pot?
I read that to mean un-or-under-employed. But I'd guess that could be a form of underemployment.
posted by breakin' the law at 12:56 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
I read that to mean un-or-under-employed. But I'd guess that could be a form of underemployment.
posted by breakin' the law at 12:56 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'm a definitive middle Xer.
I have no landline.
I sleep with my phone, sometimes on my pillow.
I supervise millenials.
If one of their parents ever tried to call me, I'd tell them that they need to back up a few steps and make a note of how they are harming their children.
If I was selling pot, I'd probably be making more money.
That said, GET. OFF. MY. LAWN.
posted by Sophie1 at 1:05 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
I have no landline.
I sleep with my phone, sometimes on my pillow.
I supervise millenials.
If one of their parents ever tried to call me, I'd tell them that they need to back up a few steps and make a note of how they are harming their children.
If I was selling pot, I'd probably be making more money.
That said, GET. OFF. MY. LAWN.
posted by Sophie1 at 1:05 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
At the age of 37, I'm in my third year of University. I'm old enough to be my classmates' father.
These kids are scary clever. I don't know how much of a role their parents play in their lives, but they're smart and they work like fucking slaves. They're gonna be OK. Whether I can compete with them is an open question.
posted by klanawa at 1:10 PM on April 18, 2013
These kids are scary clever. I don't know how much of a role their parents play in their lives, but they're smart and they work like fucking slaves. They're gonna be OK. Whether I can compete with them is an open question.
posted by klanawa at 1:10 PM on April 18, 2013
Of course defining people by the time they were born is somewhat of a generalization, but there are still things to compare from one cohort to another. Maybe not so much in shallow link-bait "news," but the books of William Strauss and Neil Howe about all the post-independence generations of Americans are pretty interesting.
I mean, yeah, I'll accept the label. I'm a Millenial, sure. I mean, I look at my mom, she was born in 1967. She's an individual, she didn't become a hippie, or meet Forrest Gump or whatever, but she was definitely shaped by the history of that period.
My dad, on the other hand, was born and raised in Egypt. He's around the same age as my mom, but he isn't a boomer. He has a much different view of things than my mom. It makes a difference.
posted by malapropist at 1:12 PM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
I mean, yeah, I'll accept the label. I'm a Millenial, sure. I mean, I look at my mom, she was born in 1967. She's an individual, she didn't become a hippie, or meet Forrest Gump or whatever, but she was definitely shaped by the history of that period.
My dad, on the other hand, was born and raised in Egypt. He's around the same age as my mom, but he isn't a boomer. He has a much different view of things than my mom. It makes a difference.
posted by malapropist at 1:12 PM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
Totally. I think your parents' cohort is at least as relevant as yours in terms of these generational trends. The other reason I tend to identify with Gen X is that my parents are older - my Dad is actually not a Boomer by a few years, and Mom just barely qualifies. They are the same age as the parents of most of my 40-year-old friends.
posted by restless_nomad at 1:20 PM on April 18, 2013
posted by restless_nomad at 1:20 PM on April 18, 2013
"80 percent of millennials sleep with their phones next to their beds."
Doesn't everyone?
A lot of my friends did in my day. Of course it was usually a pink princess phone with a light up dial, but same idea. In fact the most common places to find a landline phone were #1 the kitchen, #2 Parent's bedroom and #3 teenage daughters bedroom. How much time kids spent absorbed either on the phone or in front of a TV was a big concern as far back as I can remember. Substitute smart phone as both communication and entertainment, and it's still the same concern -- nothing new.
I'm a late stage Boomer, and I sleep with my phone too. In my case it's because my hearing and my ability to bound out of bed on a moments notice are not what they used to be, and my company requires me to be available 24/7, but it's all the same. My Dad had a phone next to his bed becaues he had to be available for late night calls too.
The equipment may have changed, but it's still really all the same.
posted by pbrim at 1:23 PM on April 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
Doesn't everyone?
A lot of my friends did in my day. Of course it was usually a pink princess phone with a light up dial, but same idea. In fact the most common places to find a landline phone were #1 the kitchen, #2 Parent's bedroom and #3 teenage daughters bedroom. How much time kids spent absorbed either on the phone or in front of a TV was a big concern as far back as I can remember. Substitute smart phone as both communication and entertainment, and it's still the same concern -- nothing new.
I'm a late stage Boomer, and I sleep with my phone too. In my case it's because my hearing and my ability to bound out of bed on a moments notice are not what they used to be, and my company requires me to be available 24/7, but it's all the same. My Dad had a phone next to his bed becaues he had to be available for late night calls too.
The equipment may have changed, but it's still really all the same.
posted by pbrim at 1:23 PM on April 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
Millennials send about 20 texts per day.
I'm sure they mean per person, but that's not what this says.
Seconding the scorn for the pie chart in the CERI link; it breaks my brain.
posted by achrise at 1:26 PM on April 18, 2013
I'm sure they mean per person, but that's not what this says.
Seconding the scorn for the pie chart in the CERI link; it breaks my brain.
posted by achrise at 1:26 PM on April 18, 2013
Another thought for them markets: the distinction between early and late-stage millenials. I was born in '84, and I've noticed that people born after about '87-'88 tend to be Facebook friends with every single person they have ever met. There are folks my age who are like that too, but it seems to be the norm for people about five years younger than me.
posted by breakin' the law at 1:27 PM on April 18, 2013
posted by breakin' the law at 1:27 PM on April 18, 2013
I found this about the number of jobs filled by contacts or networking.
posted by rainbaby at 1:28 PM on April 18, 2013
posted by rainbaby at 1:28 PM on April 18, 2013
Another thought for them markets: the distinction between early and late-stage millenials. I was born in '84, and I've noticed that people born after about '87-'88 tend to be Facebook friends with every single person they have ever met. There are folks my age who are like that too, but it seems to be the norm for people about five years younger than me.
I'm 7 years younger than you, and I would say this isn't the norm about most of the people I went to college with. There's certainly a few people who I can identify on my own list that seem to do this, but they are very much in the minority. Did you meet all of these people in one job/profession or one school, different from the ones that your same-age-friends attended? There seem to be a few work/school/social cultures that encourage this kind of "extreme networking", but I don't think it's the norm among any age group.
posted by kagredon at 1:34 PM on April 18, 2013
I'm 7 years younger than you, and I would say this isn't the norm about most of the people I went to college with. There's certainly a few people who I can identify on my own list that seem to do this, but they are very much in the minority. Did you meet all of these people in one job/profession or one school, different from the ones that your same-age-friends attended? There seem to be a few work/school/social cultures that encourage this kind of "extreme networking", but I don't think it's the norm among any age group.
posted by kagredon at 1:34 PM on April 18, 2013
or, stated differently: if all of your facebook friends under 25 friend everyone who they've had casual contact with, is it possible that could have something to do with not having many people under 25 who you've had more than casual contact with?
posted by kagredon at 1:36 PM on April 18, 2013
posted by kagredon at 1:36 PM on April 18, 2013
Tired of ridiculous generalizations and article after shoddy article impugning you as some sort of lilly-livered, over-coddled parasite? Come to my place and we'll grill steaks and drink beers and have a good cry about the fact that we'll soon likely drop the 'Millennial' moniker and start hearing 'The Lost Generation' a bunch more.
Basically what I'm trying to say here is:
GET.
ON.
MY.
LAWN.
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 1:49 PM on April 18, 2013 [7 favorites]
Basically what I'm trying to say here is:
GET.
ON.
MY.
LAWN.
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 1:49 PM on April 18, 2013 [7 favorites]
Oh no, when Gen Y kids get in trouble and don't know what to do, they first ask for advice before agreeing to things! Sure, bringing your parents to your job or interview is a problem, but wanting to find out what you should and shouldn't say when a boss is saying you did something wrong is a reasonable thing to want.
As soon as she left I binned his resume. He never bothered coming over to talk to us himself and I don't think his mother ever figured out what our company did.
Perhaps he didn't bother because you did avionics and he wanted to work for a video game company? It all worked out.
But when kids relied on their parents in non-monetary ways — living at home longer than "necessary," using their parents' contacts to find work, letting their parents open doors for them socially — then that we saw as fucked-up. Either the kids were immature or the parents were too pushy or who knows what the problem but Something There Wasn't Right.
I don't think there was ever a golden age of "no one uses their family connections for business or social purposes".
posted by jeather at 2:01 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
As soon as she left I binned his resume. He never bothered coming over to talk to us himself and I don't think his mother ever figured out what our company did.
Perhaps he didn't bother because you did avionics and he wanted to work for a video game company? It all worked out.
But when kids relied on their parents in non-monetary ways — living at home longer than "necessary," using their parents' contacts to find work, letting their parents open doors for them socially — then that we saw as fucked-up. Either the kids were immature or the parents were too pushy or who knows what the problem but Something There Wasn't Right.
I don't think there was ever a golden age of "no one uses their family connections for business or social purposes".
posted by jeather at 2:01 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
It's not like they have the example of a president of the country to go by or something.
posted by srboisvert at 2:01 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by srboisvert at 2:01 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
I have a landline because it's part of my cable package, and cell reception is terrible in my apartment, and while it's not often I choose to, it is nice to have that option to talk on the phone without having to get dressed and/or go outside.
Also, I was born in 81, and I was always told I wasn't Gen X because I was a year or two too late. Now I'm a 'Millenial'? Someone's taking the piss.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 2:13 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
Also, I was born in 81, and I was always told I wasn't Gen X because I was a year or two too late. Now I'm a 'Millenial'? Someone's taking the piss.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 2:13 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
80 percent of millennials sleep with their phones next to their beds.
Doesn't everyone?
I don't, but that's mostly because putting it on the opposite side of the room means I actually have to get up to turn off the alarm in the morning.
(I wonder what percentage still uses a dedicated alarm clock/clock radio instead of their phone)
posted by ymgve at 2:26 PM on April 18, 2013
Doesn't everyone?
I don't, but that's mostly because putting it on the opposite side of the room means I actually have to get up to turn off the alarm in the morning.
(I wonder what percentage still uses a dedicated alarm clock/clock radio instead of their phone)
posted by ymgve at 2:26 PM on April 18, 2013
Hmm, my stories were much more impressive when the world wasn't shit.
posted by Drinky Die at 2:34 PM on April 18, 2013 [8 favorites]
posted by Drinky Die at 2:34 PM on April 18, 2013 [8 favorites]
I suppose it's easy to dismiss this as "off my lawn, kids these days" griping. Do the people dismissing it genuinely not see an issue with heavy parental involvement in the job-obtaining process? Not introducing kids to colleagues or reviewing a resume and letting the kid take it from there, but in actively campaigning at random companies for their child and submitting resumes for them?
I genuinely don't see an issue here.
I mean, put it this way: In cultures where this sort of thing isn't normal, parents shouldn't do it. But in cultures where it is normal, parents should do it. And I'm not convinced that the first set of norms is inherently better than the second.
So what I'm saying is, I think we're transitioning from one set of norms to another. And yeah, that means we'll get some eye-rolling at the people who transition early, and some resentment and irritation at the people who transition late. But it's all gonna settle out in the end, and it's not gonna lead to the collapse of western civilization.
It won't need to. We've got plenty of other ways to bring that about. *rim shot*
posted by Now there are two. There are two _______. at 2:34 PM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
I genuinely don't see an issue here.
I mean, put it this way: In cultures where this sort of thing isn't normal, parents shouldn't do it. But in cultures where it is normal, parents should do it. And I'm not convinced that the first set of norms is inherently better than the second.
So what I'm saying is, I think we're transitioning from one set of norms to another. And yeah, that means we'll get some eye-rolling at the people who transition early, and some resentment and irritation at the people who transition late. But it's all gonna settle out in the end, and it's not gonna lead to the collapse of western civilization.
It won't need to. We've got plenty of other ways to bring that about. *rim shot*
posted by Now there are two. There are two _______. at 2:34 PM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
As with anything else, I've encountered a spectrum of the type of behavior that this article describes. I've had college students in classes I taught tell me their papers aren't ready because their moms/dads haven't finished editing them, or that their parents weren't available to help them finish their assigned reading and the like. I don't think I would have found this type of behavior in my peers when I was a student, but who the heck knows. It seems the parents of my cohort (GenXish or so) were probably busier with their own work and trying to keep themselves afloat in a world that had transitioned into the "Hooray, you're all free to be precariously employed contractors!" mindset in their midlives to meddle too much in the lives of their kids.
posted by Kitty Stardust at 2:56 PM on April 18, 2013
posted by Kitty Stardust at 2:56 PM on April 18, 2013
A lot of these "what's wrong with the Millenials?" stories sound a lot like the "what's wrong with Generation X?" stories I remember rolling my eyes at in the mid-'90s.
posted by The Card Cheat at 4:38 PM on April 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 4:38 PM on April 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
breakin' the law: "
NO. You know how, when you stay in a hotel you have to spend ten minutes screwing around with the alarm because you can never quite figure out how it works and you don't want to fuck it up because you'll miss that important meeting in the morning? WELL, WE'VE FIGURED OUT A WAY AROUND THAT. WE USE THE ALARM CLOCK ON OUR CELL PHONE. EVERY DAY. EVERY PHONE HAS ONE. IT'S SUPER-EASY. TRY IT.
/end rant."
Or you could, you know, call the front desk for a wake up call.
posted by Splunge at 4:46 PM on April 18, 2013
NO. You know how, when you stay in a hotel you have to spend ten minutes screwing around with the alarm because you can never quite figure out how it works and you don't want to fuck it up because you'll miss that important meeting in the morning? WELL, WE'VE FIGURED OUT A WAY AROUND THAT. WE USE THE ALARM CLOCK ON OUR CELL PHONE. EVERY DAY. EVERY PHONE HAS ONE. IT'S SUPER-EASY. TRY IT.
/end rant."
Or you could, you know, call the front desk for a wake up call.
posted by Splunge at 4:46 PM on April 18, 2013
I think my Mom got me my first job when I was 16. Her friend Jenn worked at the Limited Too next to the Bath & Body Works where my Mom worked; I can't remember why else I would have applied to work there. I probably could have gotten another job somewhere else, but that one fell in my lap, so why not? (Plus, they let me PIERCE EARS after a one-hour training!!11!) I promise that was the first and last time.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 4:47 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 4:47 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
Or you could, you know, call the front desk for a wake up call.
But why would I want to be sleeping next to the phone?
posted by Drinky Die at 4:49 PM on April 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
But why would I want to be sleeping next to the phone?
posted by Drinky Die at 4:49 PM on April 18, 2013 [5 favorites]
A lot of these "what's wrong with the Millenials?" stories sound a lot like the "what's wrong with Generation X?" stories I remember rolling my eyes at in the mid-'90s.
As a Gen Y-er/Millennial, I feel like we're getting off a little lighter than Gen X did. We're regularly called lazy, spoiled, and inept, but so far we haven't, as a group, been accused of being nihilistic drug-addled satanists.
posted by kagredon at 5:35 PM on April 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
As a Gen Y-er/Millennial, I feel like we're getting off a little lighter than Gen X did. We're regularly called lazy, spoiled, and inept, but so far we haven't, as a group, been accused of being nihilistic drug-addled satanists.
posted by kagredon at 5:35 PM on April 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
Does this mean 27 percent of my generation is selling pot?
I'd be interested to know what percentage of Millennials have had the "maybe I should just start selling weed" conversation and been at least half-serious. Probably unknowable, but I bet it's pretty high.
posted by invitapriore at 5:35 PM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
I'd be interested to know what percentage of Millennials have had the "maybe I should just start selling weed" conversation and been at least half-serious. Probably unknowable, but I bet it's pretty high.
posted by invitapriore at 5:35 PM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
I'd be interested to know what percentage of Millennials have had the "maybe I should just start selling weed" conversation and been at least half-serious. Probably unknowable, but I bet it's pretty high.
Rimshot.
posted by Nomyte at 5:53 PM on April 18, 2013
Rimshot.
posted by Nomyte at 5:53 PM on April 18, 2013
I love how incredibly misleading the statistics are, too. "31 percent of employers involved reported parents submitted resumes on behalf of their offspring." They make it sound significant, but in reality, most of those companies probably just have the story of "that one kid," like backseatpilot's. Which means one or two of the hundreds of resumes they get are from parents. So the actual incidence of this is probably a tiny fraction of one percent. Compare that to previous generations, and I bet you won't find an upward trend.
posted by Starmie at 5:59 PM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by Starmie at 5:59 PM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
I went out and got my first job at 15. My parents happened to be away vacationing at the time. When they got back, they were surprised and pleased at my initiative. They were also (especially my dad) surprised that I hadn't mentioned who my father was, because the man who interviewed and hired me was someone he knew quite well. However, neither of my brothers would have done that. They both got jobs with Dad's help all through high school and even after.
I've been hearing "it is almost unheard of to get a job without a personal contact" all my life, but in four decades of employment I have never once landed a job due to a personal contact.
posted by caryatid at 6:42 PM on April 18, 2013
I've been hearing "it is almost unheard of to get a job without a personal contact" all my life, but in four decades of employment I have never once landed a job due to a personal contact.
posted by caryatid at 6:42 PM on April 18, 2013
A lot of these "what's wrong with the Millenials?" stories sound a lot like the "what's wrong with Generation X?" stories I remember rolling my eyes at in the mid-'90s.
Yeah, but back then, we were lazy slackers, a generation of underachievers. The kids nowadays are so entitled, and privileged. Don't they understand how hard they need to work at this unpaid internship for contacts and experience?
This is the truth about Gen X - we work incredibly hard, and find joy in effort well applied. We are stupid, and trust too easily, so we were robbed by the dot-com bubble, the real-estate bubble, and I know a =lot= of my cohort is now neck deep in gold and other commodities. We never developed a healthy distrust. We will be working hard, for you and for our parents, well into our '70s. We will still read comics, watch cartoons, and dress up for conventions long after people say we should stop. We think you're awesome... whoever you are.
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:11 PM on April 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
Yeah, but back then, we were lazy slackers, a generation of underachievers. The kids nowadays are so entitled, and privileged. Don't they understand how hard they need to work at this unpaid internship for contacts and experience?
This is the truth about Gen X - we work incredibly hard, and find joy in effort well applied. We are stupid, and trust too easily, so we were robbed by the dot-com bubble, the real-estate bubble, and I know a =lot= of my cohort is now neck deep in gold and other commodities. We never developed a healthy distrust. We will be working hard, for you and for our parents, well into our '70s. We will still read comics, watch cartoons, and dress up for conventions long after people say we should stop. We think you're awesome... whoever you are.
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:11 PM on April 18, 2013 [4 favorites]
I found out the other day from a friend that his mother was in the process filling out her youngest son's application to a college summer internship. At which time I wanted to call her up on the phone and holler "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONGGGG WITH YOUUUUU" but whatever it's her son who will be chronically undateable until he is 35, idk maybe all this is good for overpopulation.
Seriously though the hell is this bullshit. I have met too many parents who really just need a new hobby or to start having sex again.
posted by stoneandstar at 7:20 PM on April 18, 2013
Seriously though the hell is this bullshit. I have met too many parents who really just need a new hobby or to start having sex again.
posted by stoneandstar at 7:20 PM on April 18, 2013
That's pretty egregious, stoneandstar. At most, she should be ensuring her son isn't writing anything bone-stupid. The world is hard, and she's right to worry, but she's teaching her son not to do anything for himself.
That said, I still need to learn that lesson, and beyond shoving me into extracurriculars, my parents left me and my employers alone.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 7:38 PM on April 18, 2013
That said, I still need to learn that lesson, and beyond shoving me into extracurriculars, my parents left me and my employers alone.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 7:38 PM on April 18, 2013
I noticed something this week I had not heard before -- that parents of players on the UW-Green Bay basketball team were complaining to administrators about the head coach.
I am sure this has happened before but it just seemed odd to me that these supposed "adults" -- the 18+ year old kids could not do this themselves if they thought it was a problem.
posted by thorny at 8:36 PM on April 18, 2013
I am sure this has happened before but it just seemed odd to me that these supposed "adults" -- the 18+ year old kids could not do this themselves if they thought it was a problem.
posted by thorny at 8:36 PM on April 18, 2013
We're regularly called lazy, spoiled, and inept, but so far we haven't, as a group, been accused of being nihilistic drug-addled satanists.
Well shit buddy, you haven't really been keeping up!
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 8:46 PM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
Well shit buddy, you haven't really been keeping up!
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 8:46 PM on April 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
It's just that there's no good way to play YouTube videos backwards. All those perfectly good satanic messages going to waste...
posted by Now there are two. There are two _______. at 8:49 PM on April 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Now there are two. There are two _______. at 8:49 PM on April 18, 2013 [3 favorites]
I was the one who had the uncool parents, who were overprotective and shit. I didn't learn how to do a lot of the solo living stuff until I was at college and they weren't underfoot all day, since they didn't tell me how to do things like wash dishes without a dishwasher. To this day I think my mom just hopes I'll move back home already.
Nowadays I look at the kids and their parents and think, "Damn, they are never gonna move out, and they LIKE it?!" I am so grateful I got to leave home and once I did, my parents were mostly like "you figure it out, I'm an hour and a half away." Even my mom thinks the helicoptering is pretty silly, and that's saying something.
Then again...CAN anyone move out any more? Do they even get a choice in the matter? I guess it's better to be on good terms if you're trapped at home with your parents.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:16 PM on April 18, 2013
Nowadays I look at the kids and their parents and think, "Damn, they are never gonna move out, and they LIKE it?!" I am so grateful I got to leave home and once I did, my parents were mostly like "you figure it out, I'm an hour and a half away." Even my mom thinks the helicoptering is pretty silly, and that's saying something.
Then again...CAN anyone move out any more? Do they even get a choice in the matter? I guess it's better to be on good terms if you're trapped at home with your parents.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:16 PM on April 18, 2013
Then again...CAN anyone move out any more? Do they even get a choice in the matter?
::Subtracts monthly expenses from monthly income::
Nope.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 9:28 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
::Subtracts monthly expenses from monthly income::
Nope.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 9:28 PM on April 18, 2013 [1 favorite]
Well, fuck. Down and out Mefites are welcome to crash on the couch at my tiny shoebox studio in the Bay Area, once I move into it.
posted by Nomyte at 9:48 PM on April 18, 2013
posted by Nomyte at 9:48 PM on April 18, 2013
Is nobody going to talk about how laughably shitty the presentation of these statistics is?
"31%" does not mean 31% of parents submit resumes on behalf of their kids, nor does it mean 31% of job openings have parents submitting resumes.
No, it means 31% of recruiters have witnessed even one parent engaged in these activities (out of who knows how many hundreds--or more--applications, interviews, and so forth). It's easy to see where this could be a case of a few shitty parents ruining everyone's reputation. Of course, there's no way to know for sure, since the presentation of the survey's findings is so opaque.
Not to mention, the brief doesn't clarify whether recruiters were asked if they've seen these behaviors at any point in their professional lives or just in recent years.
But on the other hand, LOL MILLENIALS. (It's not as though this survey is actually about their Boomer parents.)
posted by duffell at 4:22 AM on April 19, 2013 [8 favorites]
"31%" does not mean 31% of parents submit resumes on behalf of their kids, nor does it mean 31% of job openings have parents submitting resumes.
No, it means 31% of recruiters have witnessed even one parent engaged in these activities (out of who knows how many hundreds--or more--applications, interviews, and so forth). It's easy to see where this could be a case of a few shitty parents ruining everyone's reputation. Of course, there's no way to know for sure, since the presentation of the survey's findings is so opaque.
Not to mention, the brief doesn't clarify whether recruiters were asked if they've seen these behaviors at any point in their professional lives or just in recent years.
But on the other hand, LOL MILLENIALS. (It's not as though this survey is actually about their Boomer parents.)
posted by duffell at 4:22 AM on April 19, 2013 [8 favorites]
i'd be interested to know what percentage of Millenials have had the "maybe I should just start selling weed" conversation and been at least half-serious
When I'm replying to all the fake job ads on craigslist on the off-chance that one of them is real, and that I will somehow be selected over the 500 other applicants who have degrees, experience and great personalities (none of which I have) for the telemarketing job I've applied to, I always go into the "spa" listings. I think "I am an attractive woman 18+. How bad could it be? Could it really be worse than working at this factory where I'm always getting yelled at and I can't keep up and I'm developing tendonitis and arthritis in three or four joints and my back keeps going numb and it's an hour and a half commute and I start at 7:30 am? Why don't I just respond to the ad? I am an attractive woman 18+". That's when it's time to turn off the computer and go eat cookies. If my mom had the awareness of the modern job market to help me apply for jobs, i'd take it in a heartbeat.
posted by windykites at 7:13 AM on April 19, 2013 [7 favorites]
When I'm replying to all the fake job ads on craigslist on the off-chance that one of them is real, and that I will somehow be selected over the 500 other applicants who have degrees, experience and great personalities (none of which I have) for the telemarketing job I've applied to, I always go into the "spa" listings. I think "I am an attractive woman 18+. How bad could it be? Could it really be worse than working at this factory where I'm always getting yelled at and I can't keep up and I'm developing tendonitis and arthritis in three or four joints and my back keeps going numb and it's an hour and a half commute and I start at 7:30 am? Why don't I just respond to the ad? I am an attractive woman 18+". That's when it's time to turn off the computer and go eat cookies. If my mom had the awareness of the modern job market to help me apply for jobs, i'd take it in a heartbeat.
posted by windykites at 7:13 AM on April 19, 2013 [7 favorites]
If all of your facebook friends under 25 friend everyone who they've had casual contact with, is it possible that could have something to do with not having many people under 25 who you've had more than casual contact with?
I was exaggerating somewhat, but I have noticed a substantial leap in average number of FB friends for people around 23-24 and younger. This includes people I've met through work, socially, and relatives - it's a small sample size, though.
Really, it's probably more a matter of when Facebook was adopted. It came out in 2004, and became very common/near-ubiquitous on college campuses by around 2006. If you graduated from high school in, say, 2007, you likely got Facebook in high school and had it all through college and that's probably when you acquire the most FB friends.
posted by breakin' the law at 9:09 AM on April 19, 2013
I was exaggerating somewhat, but I have noticed a substantial leap in average number of FB friends for people around 23-24 and younger. This includes people I've met through work, socially, and relatives - it's a small sample size, though.
Really, it's probably more a matter of when Facebook was adopted. It came out in 2004, and became very common/near-ubiquitous on college campuses by around 2006. If you graduated from high school in, say, 2007, you likely got Facebook in high school and had it all through college and that's probably when you acquire the most FB friends.
posted by breakin' the law at 9:09 AM on April 19, 2013
NPR: When Our Kids Own America - "America's seismic demographic shift is upending life in our suburbs, cities and our popular culture. So why are we still clinging to the same stories to make sense of these changes?"
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:56 AM on April 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:56 AM on April 19, 2013 [1 favorite]
ONLY 41 percent? I'm a late-model X'er and I don't think any of my friends have landlines.
I'm guessing the stat is so high because it includes Millennials who live with their parents?
posted by naoko at 9:41 AM on April 20, 2013
I'm guessing the stat is so high because it includes Millennials who live with their parents?
posted by naoko at 9:41 AM on April 20, 2013
My parents never filled out any resumes or any such silly thing for me, but they sure spent a hell of a lot of time attempting to shame me into aiming high. "You'll end up at McDonald's. I mean, if that's what you want...but we know you can do better!" I wasn't exceling enough in school, I wasn't doing enough extra-curriculars, I wasn't applying to enough scholarships, I wasn't considering or looking for enough college options, I wasn't pushing hard for my future. The more they complained, the less I cared. Now I can barely muster up enough energy to consider any sort of long term career and I certainly don't discuss it with them much. *shrug* It's exhausting.
posted by DisreputableDog at 2:29 AM on April 22, 2013
posted by DisreputableDog at 2:29 AM on April 22, 2013
I mean, I look at my mom, she was born in 1967. She's an individual
Aww shit. I don't know how I missed this, I even previewed, but she was born in 1947. She was one of the first boomers, she was not an early Gen Xer.
Don't know how many people will see this now (or how many cared), but sorry for the confusion.
posted by malapropist at 9:47 PM on April 26, 2013
Aww shit. I don't know how I missed this, I even previewed, but she was born in 1947. She was one of the first boomers, she was not an early Gen Xer.
Don't know how many people will see this now (or how many cared), but sorry for the confusion.
posted by malapropist at 9:47 PM on April 26, 2013
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posted by showbiz_liz at 10:09 AM on April 18, 2013