Are you a "Millennial"?

"efme" (efme) 11/01/2013 at 14:58 • Filed to: None

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I was reading !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! about slushboxes and it brought up something that I recently discussed at dinner with some people for my sisters birthday.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennia…

1982 as the Millennials' starting birth year and 2004 as the last birth year.

I was born in 1982 and 31 years old. I do not think I can relate to a 9 year old kid born in 2004. I think the "Millennials" aka GenY are given a negative connotation since they're largely viewed as anti-driving, head-bowed "kids" who are socially inept and only know how to talk via text messages.

How can they categorize someone 9 years away from their mid-life crisis with a 4th grader?

dogisbadob > efme 11/01/2013 at 15:01

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The same way TV stations go from 18-49.

A3R0 > efme 11/01/2013 at 15:01

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Have a picture of my Dads mustang from your birth year!

EL_ULY > efme 11/01/2013 at 15:03

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big difference between a 30 year old man from Robstown Texas and a 21 year old boy in LA

IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK > efme 11/01/2013 at 15:03

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I think the reason why they start it at 1982 is because that means that you graduated high school in the year 2000. So your college years and 20s were in the new millennium. I'm the classic age for a millennial, 24 years old, so yeah I'm a millennial but I could honestly care less.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > efme 11/01/2013 at 15:05

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1982-2004?

GhostZ > efme 11/01/2013 at 15:13

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How can they categorize someone 9 years away from their mid-life crisis with a 4th grader?

Because that's what words do . They categorize, and create meaning. That's their job. Words make arbitrary categorizations to rationalize thought and facilitate communication. That's the whole point of language and communication.

Truth be told, I view "Millennial" as anyone who saw the millennium during their formative (6-18) years. That's 1982 to 1994. That's the definition I've seen in a few other places, but this is the first time I've seen a legitimate claim that it extends into the early 2000s.

But that doesn't mean that the categorization is insane or crazy, it just shows how non-standard and complex the meaning of the term "millennial" is.

efme > IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK 11/01/2013 at 15:13

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I think the definition of a millennial should be redefined. the articles that are referencing a millennial (usually in a bad connotation) are probably referring to the internet generation... those who didn't experience a life without the interwebs

desertdog5051 > efme 11/01/2013 at 15:16

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Mid life crisis at 40. Man, you should be just hitting your stride at 40.

duurtlang > efme 11/01/2013 at 15:35

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Being 30 years old and thus a 'millennial' according to this definition I definitely remember the time before internet. I was about 14 when I first accessed the internet and it was merely a gimmick, 16 when we got it at home (Napster FTW!) and 18 (in 2001) when I bought my first cell phone. That's unimaginable to someone who's 20 right now, let alone someone who was born in 2004.

IDROVEAPICKUPTRUCK > duurtlang 11/01/2013 at 15:39

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I mean you can make statements like this about any generation.

When did the baby boom end? According to wikipedia the Baby Boom lasted from 1946 to 1964, so 18 years. Did someone Who was 17 years old when Kennedy was shot really have much in common with someone who was born a year after Kennedy was killed? Not really but all generational labels over generalize.

davedave1111 > efme 11/01/2013 at 15:51

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That's bizarre. The Wikipedia article is completely wrong. The 'millennials' aren't Gen Y, they're the generation following Gen Y - that is, the Beliebers and Twighlighters and so-on.

It's not surprising you feel like you're a different generation. You are.

Bird > efme 11/01/2013 at 16:07

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You're right. I think that' a much greater factor. Arbitrary years surrounding a millennium aren't nearly as important as whether a person has no recollection of life without internet.

efme > duurtlang 11/01/2013 at 16:26

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i still remember coordinating with friends over the phone while looking at the newspaper for show times. then setting a time to get together after double checking the show times via automated telephone number.

GreenN_Gold > davedave1111 11/08/2013 at 16:51

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That's my understanding as well. I'm on the cusp of Gen X and Gen Y, but certainly far from the millennial generation.

His Stigness > efme 11/08/2013 at 21:34

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Whohoo one of my pieces inspired someone to write something else.

Hopefully my disgust for the term millennial was present, but if not I'll say it here. The whole generational generalization is stupid. 1982 to 2004? You've got to be shitting me. If there are going to be "generations" than maybe they should be spaced by only ten years because being 21 I'm sure I have more in common with you, a 31 year old, than snot faced little shits that are still in highschool. My generation, and by generation I mean my high school class and a few years surrounding it, are unique in that we grew up without computers and cell phones consuming our lives. Cell phones and computers consumed our lives by the time we got to high school, but by then instead of making us worse off it probably helped us. I feel bad for kids now because they won't get to enjoy being a kid, they're too busy on Facebook and playing on their tablets that they shouldn't have. And it's only going to get worse.

efme > His Stigness 11/09/2013 at 09:28

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I think there will be a swing back to the "good ole' days" in trends. and then it will swing the opposite again.

When I have kids they will not be totally engrossed in their tablet. They will play outside like I did and have limited TV/tablet time (weekends only?) like I did. There is a large generation of us who see the negative effects and dont' want our kids to be that way. I'm hopeful this same group of future parents won't be the overprotecting parents the current group is known for...

His Stigness > efme 11/09/2013 at 18:23

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Hopefully it will swing back to the good ole days because the kids in preschool, elementary, and middle school are screwed. If I was writing this a few years ago I wouldn't include the kids in preschool but they're screwed now because parents nowadays are stupid and lazy; they're letting their kids play with tablets and stuff and it's just stupid. That new Amazon Fire commercial sums up what's wrong with parents and kids these days: they have to rely on the electronic device to parent. No self-respecting parent should rely on the device to tell their kid when their device play time is up. They shouldn't be playing with the phone/tablet in the first place but if they're going to then learn how to actually parent and tell them when their time is up.

If things don't change by the time you have kids (I'm assuming five years or so) then either you'll have to cave on your demands or your kid(s) will have to play by themselves because not enough parents will realize that allowing their kids to stay glued in front of screens will screw them up for life. The current generation of kids will have a hard time when it comes time to be an adult because they'll have zero social skills. Social skills aren't formed by how well you navigate Facebook but how you interact with kids your own age face to face playing outside. The same goes for teenagers playing games online like Call of Duty and Halo.

It's funny how overprotective parents are nowadays yet most of them allow their kids to play with electronics at a super early age. My oldest sister (31 or so) is an interesting case though because she's super protective of her son (he's a little over 1) but she doesn't allow him to play with electronics and won't till he's a lot older, but she's super protective of her. My mom, who raised me and my four siblings by herself, is critical of her overprotectiveness because coddling him won't help. If you shelter your child and don't allow to them to experience anything that will also hurt them.

efme > His Stigness 11/09/2013 at 20:17

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wholly agree with your response. A lot of my friends have read books and have researched how to raise a kid properly. letting them cry it out, compromise, and be responsible for their actions. My fiance has been a nanny years ago so she has a very strong grasp on saying no to kids. the kids she nannyed had never been told no, and the parents were shocked when they found out she had held them accountable for their naughtyness.

just like a dog, if a kid cries and you immediately pick them up, they associate crying with getting their way.. etc etc etc.

His Stigness > efme 11/09/2013 at 20:20

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Yeah that is one area my sister has been really good at. My nephew is really well behaved but sometimes he's an infant and he throws a tantrum, but my sister is really good and doesn't respond to him. My mom told me my sister and her husband will ignore him when he does it, and I think that's what my mom did with us; she didn't put up with our shit and we turned out better for it.