What is a Millennial?

And am I one?

The other night, over a few jolly pints and less than witty banter, I stumbled upon a cold hard fact. For the longest time, I’ve been living in sweet oblivion. I’ve allowed myself to believe that I am from a generation beyond my uncomfortably close peers; the one before the infamous ‘Millennial’ bracket.

Turns out I was wrong.

All it took was a quick Google search and my deep lingering suspicions fully surfaced. Dammit.

I’ve been using the term so loosely to make fun of young people today. Every time I hear another person get spontaneously offended, saying so and so hurt their feelings or suddenly act afraid of their phone when it actually rings…I say, “stupid Millennials.” I really could go on…

But it was somewhere in the midst of that conversation that I realized I was actually talking about me, about us. Those born between 1980 and 1999, are deemed the Millennial generation, though there appears to be some special allowances for those born on the cuff. Babies born in the late 1970s and early 1980s are often seen (mainly by themselves) as between Generation X (1965-1979) and Generation Y (1980-1999) or the Millennial Generation, as its been dubbed colloquially. If you’re born in 2000 or after…you’re Generation Z, and god knows what your reputation will be!

Back to Y…the Millennials. I was born in November 1986 and my lover, January 1980. If he were born a week earlier, he would’ve breathed 1979 air. Why am I bringing this up? Well, its because there is a clear difference between us. And I can say with confidence, it has something to do with when we grew up.

We’re both the youngest of our siblings, so the likelihood of being spoiled is there. But as much as it pains me to say, I’m worse than a brown banana. I quite nearly got away with murder…

The difference, and this one appears to be universal: Discipline, or the lack thereof.

Pikey (my other half) got beat as a kid. He considers it good fortune. When I ask him why? He says it taught him consequence. Simple as that. My sisters both, born in the 1970s, got corporal punishment in our household. Can’t say it did them much good, but I’m biased. Then the clouds parted and a gift was bestowed upon my family; I was born. Soon after, I went to school and learned a few things that really pissed my parents off…

I learned I had rights. Something that kids from previous generations didn’t have the ability to use and/or abuse in my case. Haha

TV was also a godsend. Kid shows like Sesame Street and the like taught me to speak up and that my opinions were as important as adults. Since then, I’ve never truly shut up. My husband hates that. My parents hated it even more.

I would interrupt their conversations ALL THE TIME. I had no shame. Still don’t. Just imagine a snotty five year old jerk kid barging into your conversation with complete disregard for your highly engaging adult discussion, just to squeeze a whoopee cushion in your face and run away. Now if Pikey did that, he’d get beats. I however, got away with it.

I remember it like it was yesterday, the first time I really messed something up. I drew all over the walls with my mother’s expensive red lipstick and my dad lost his temper…His face matched the lipstick and he was about to raise his hand when I said “I’ll dial 9-1-1 motherfucker!” Well, maybe my memory is a little foggy…but it went something like that. And from that moment on, I was untouchable.

And that’s more or less how I’ve lived my life; untouchable. Which has garnered my rather entitled attitude and influenced my experience of things. And I’m not the only one. Most Millennials in developed countries have a similar sense of personal value. All those neat new parenting tricks really paid off  *special nod to helicopter parents*. Time-outs became the new harsh punishment and us kids were laughing.

Don’t even get me started on participation awards and badges! What were you adults thinking?! Unearned rewards for mediocre behaviour/skill have led to a generation that thinks they’re more important than they really are. As a kid, you can dismiss this cheeky nature, but as adults, well, now you’ll really feel the consequences for our lack of consequences! I personally have to check myself before I wreck myself, and sometimes when I get carried away, Pikey is my back-up. Thanks Pikey.

Now I’m not speaking for EVERYONE born from 1980 to 1999, because there were still some old school parents out there and not every grown-up was drinking loonie water. But it is a significant enough chunk that what I’m saying resonates with you. Am I right?

Okay, now let’s try to look on the bright side, Millennials undoubtedly have a bad rap. And I didn’t help one bit. Though after some careful consideration and deep digging, I found a couple nuggets that sound kinda nice: striving for work-life balance and social consciousness. These are self-explanatory concepts, but there’s one I find most interesting…a bit of research unearthed a theory of us Millennials struggling with a ‘Peter Pan Complex’ a la American sociologist Kathleen Shaputis.

In a nutshell, it means that unlike previous generations, ours just won’t grow up. Because we don’t want to. Suddenly all those ‘adulting’ memes make sense. There’s many factors that contribute to this side effect. But if you look around, you’ll see that Millennials sure stretch out their adolescence longer than necessary. Some even bathe in it. *cough* *cough*

Anywho, I’m alright with it, know why? Because if I’ve learned one super important thing. That confidence, no matter how unwarranted, is an advantage. And we definitely have a surplus of that. So I reckon I will get my just desserts, and then some.

So if you have a participation badge lurking around somewhere in your box of memories, pull that puppy out and hold it up high. You’re one of the lucky ones!