"Millennials this" and "Millennials that" is all I've been hearing about in the news lately. People are even taking classes on "How To Handle Millennials In The Workplace" these days. So I decided to find out what Millennials are all about.
According to Wikipedia, people born from the early 1980s to the early 2000s fall into the Millennial generation, also called "Generation Me." From their upbringing as "trophy kids," where everyone gets a trophy or reward in competitions simply for participating, they have developed traits like narcissism and a sense of entitlement that set them apart from past generations. They live for social networking and are "digitally native," aka they can't live without their damn phones and texting and Instagramming 24/7. Generation Me is so right!
Now I get it. Millennials are the college kids and young adults I am forced to work with that: carry their foot-sized phones in their back pockets, check them non-stop while they should be working, laugh at obnoxiously loud videos of cats falling off roofs and then walk around showing everyone the "hilarious" video over and over, and discuss their playlists as if they were crucial to life itself. My Millennial co-workers also spend more time chatting and giggling with each other than actually working, which may be the reason they continue to make the same mistakes and then just smile and say, "Sorry!" when they are shown the correct way to do something. Again.
I can't seem to get away from these Millennial creatures! The other day I was in the speedy checkout lane at Walmart behind this high-schooler gal and her mother. The daughter checked out first with a basket full of makeup items for back to school. The checker told her the total was $64.56. The young gal said incredulously, "But how can that be right?" The checker said, "Well, you had 12 items that were $5 each, plus tax." The puzzled look on the teenager's face stunned me. She couldn't believe that 12x5 added up to over $60! Then the gal started taking away one item at a time to see if that would make the bill equal the amount she had to spend (I think she had $20). One item at a time! To make it worse, the checkout lady told her she could by the same or similar items at the Dollar General for less, so the teenager TOOK PICTURES OF EVERY SINGLE ITEM THAT WAS BEING RETURNED so she could remember what she wanted to buy at the other store. This whole sitch was so ridiculous and took so long that I felt like I was on Candid Camera or being punked!
After all this Millennial madness, I was beginning to think our society was doomed if these are our future leaders. Then I had a new girl start training the other day. Fresh out of high school and starting college this fall, this gal, I'll call her Bright Star, showed up 15 minutes early on her first day. She never pulled out a phone once, I wouldn't even know she had one except she said she would take a picture of the work schedule so she wouldn't miss a shift. She was attentive, learned quickly, asked intelligent questions, and gave max effort at everything she was asked to do. Bright Star probably would have kept working all night if I hadn't told her when it was time to clock out. And this wasn't a fluke, she's been the same every day she has worked.
What a relief to know there are some Millennials that actually care and take pride in their work! They may be hard to find, but they are out there. Maybe we're not doomed after all!
According to Wikipedia, people born from the early 1980s to the early 2000s fall into the Millennial generation, also called "Generation Me." From their upbringing as "trophy kids," where everyone gets a trophy or reward in competitions simply for participating, they have developed traits like narcissism and a sense of entitlement that set them apart from past generations. They live for social networking and are "digitally native," aka they can't live without their damn phones and texting and Instagramming 24/7. Generation Me is so right!
Now I get it. Millennials are the college kids and young adults I am forced to work with that: carry their foot-sized phones in their back pockets, check them non-stop while they should be working, laugh at obnoxiously loud videos of cats falling off roofs and then walk around showing everyone the "hilarious" video over and over, and discuss their playlists as if they were crucial to life itself. My Millennial co-workers also spend more time chatting and giggling with each other than actually working, which may be the reason they continue to make the same mistakes and then just smile and say, "Sorry!" when they are shown the correct way to do something. Again.
I can't seem to get away from these Millennial creatures! The other day I was in the speedy checkout lane at Walmart behind this high-schooler gal and her mother. The daughter checked out first with a basket full of makeup items for back to school. The checker told her the total was $64.56. The young gal said incredulously, "But how can that be right?" The checker said, "Well, you had 12 items that were $5 each, plus tax." The puzzled look on the teenager's face stunned me. She couldn't believe that 12x5 added up to over $60! Then the gal started taking away one item at a time to see if that would make the bill equal the amount she had to spend (I think she had $20). One item at a time! To make it worse, the checkout lady told her she could by the same or similar items at the Dollar General for less, so the teenager TOOK PICTURES OF EVERY SINGLE ITEM THAT WAS BEING RETURNED so she could remember what she wanted to buy at the other store. This whole sitch was so ridiculous and took so long that I felt like I was on Candid Camera or being punked!
After all this Millennial madness, I was beginning to think our society was doomed if these are our future leaders. Then I had a new girl start training the other day. Fresh out of high school and starting college this fall, this gal, I'll call her Bright Star, showed up 15 minutes early on her first day. She never pulled out a phone once, I wouldn't even know she had one except she said she would take a picture of the work schedule so she wouldn't miss a shift. She was attentive, learned quickly, asked intelligent questions, and gave max effort at everything she was asked to do. Bright Star probably would have kept working all night if I hadn't told her when it was time to clock out. And this wasn't a fluke, she's been the same every day she has worked.
What a relief to know there are some Millennials that actually care and take pride in their work! They may be hard to find, but they are out there. Maybe we're not doomed after all!
