Is GENERATION 'E' A MORE ACCURATE DESCRIPTOR?
'ENTITLED = EXPECT EVERYTHING - THANKFUL FOR NOTHING!'
With the passing this year of my own and my wife's mother, she and I are now the oldest in our clan, which perhaps gives pause for a bit of reflection. Add to that the approaching New Year and I am inclined to scratch my beard and reflect a little on the general order of things and where we seem to be as a nation and a generation.
Those whose eyes are beginning to glaze over, are excused and I suggest you scan the blog for less stupefying comment.
My parents came through a Great Depression followed by a Great War both of which meant enduring what today's generation would consider unbearable hardship. Jobs were scarce and ten men were lined up to take yours if you faltered so ten and twelve hour days were just the norm. I recall stories my grandfather told of his early days as an immigrant from Scotland. He had to walk nearly 9 miles to his 12 hour a day job, shoveling coal into a boiler. The only house he could afford for his young wife and one daughter was a small one room cabin on the outskirts of town. My grandmother told me of the time she was challenged to feed her husband and daughter and herself when the only food in the house was a single egg. A one egg omelet doesn't go all that far no matter how hard you scramble it.
My father, while he didn't have it as hard as my grandfather did know what working at the factory from seven in the morning til five at night six days a week was all about. On top of that considerable work load he found time in the evening and on the weekend to build the three bedroom home he and my mother raised their three kids in. I can only recall on very few occasions, Dad having anyone actually helping him with the construction. The house was also built as it could be paid for, so during my growing up years, the house had unfinished floors, exterior walls covered with foil over the insulation and for a time, no indoor plumbing. Did I feel deprived or under privileged? Not for a minute.
My wifes father provided the house for his family in a similar fashion, by building it with his own hands while holding down a full time job as a milkman which put food on the table and clothes on the kids backs.
Can you imagine the generation we have raised today, doing the same thing? I doubt if any Generation E will be reading this blog, but I can imagine cries of 'but everything was different back then'. I would agree with that statement, everything was different back then and it was different because back then, no one expected everything to be handed them on a silver platter simply because they showed up.
Great column! You said: "... everything was different back then and it was different because back then, no one expected everything to be handed them on a silver platter simply because they showed up."
ReplyDeleteJim, you are not alone in your thoughts and reflections! My parents raised four children in a house built by my dad ... and I often reflect, with amazement, on how they managed to provide what they did, with my mom not working outside the home, and without a credit card.
Sincere sympathies to you and your wife on the passing of your mothers this year. On my mom's passing in Jan. '07, I, too, became the eldest member of my family of origin.
My daughter the other day comes up to me and says "Dad I need a new computer" because she broke hers, which was a mere 18 mos old. She is in high school and needs one for essays and whatnot, but I think I'm going to let her save up for one. Fool me once...
ReplyDeleteI think that this generation expect things to happen with such immediacy that things end up being taken for granted. I mean, if many kids are enabled to get what they want at a moments notice (such as a computer) how much worth is that computer? Not much at all.
I remember doing paper routes and bustin' my hump for a few dollars a week. I would save that money and get something I really wanted and I appreciated it dammit. In fact, I still own my CD discman that I paid $200 for when CD's first came out. It still works.
I am ashamed of my kids and myself when I see that they are becoming selfish little trolls thinking that the world owes them everything and they have to give nothing in return.
Not to rant, but with Christmas coming up, I remember when I got ONE gift. I was estatic. Now? One gift is a rip off.