PUNTABULOUS WONDERS WHY EVERYONE HATES US YOUNG FOLK

So as a joke, my boss gave me an article from The Wall Street Journal titled: “The Most Praised Generation Goes to Work”. The subtitle reads: “Uber-stroked kids are reaching adulthood – and now their bosses (and spouses) have to deal with them.” A portion reads:

You, you, you – you really are special, you are! You’ve got everything going for you. You’re attractive, witty, brilliant. “Gifted” is the word that comes to mind. Childhood in recent decades has been defined by such stroking – by parents who see their job as building self-esteem, by soccer coaches who give every player a trophy, by schools that used to name one “student of the month” and these days name 40.

Now as this greatest generation grows up, the culture of praise is reaching deeply into the adult world. Bosses, professors and mates are feeling the need to lavish praise on young adults, particularly twenty-somethings, or else see them wither under an unfamiliar compliment deficit. Employers are dishing out kudos for little more than showing up.

I know! Can you believe it?! As if everyone in my age group is this weeping mess of confusion who needs their hand held in order to get anything accomplished. But my boss gave it to me as a joke and we had a good laugh about it and I hung it on my office door.

Then next week The Wall Street Journal had a rebutal, which featured the following quote from a 23-year-old business owner:

People think of praise in the coddling sense. But what we want is guidance and mentoring – and praise telling us when we’re on track.

He warns that older generations ignore this at their own peril:

Our population will rise as yours declines. No matter what is said about us, you have to adapt to us, not the other way around.

Now I realize that that last quote sounds vaguely like something Hitler would say, it does ring a bit true. So me and my boss had a good laugh about that one too as I hung it on my office door along with the previous article. But now don’t you know it, every single baby boomer who walks past my office now shrieks in horror at the last quote from the 23-year-old. “How ridiculous!” they exclaim. And when I try and explain that I think the original article is ridiculous they start going off on how coddled we are, and how we’ve been pet our whole lives without an ounce of irony or “just kidding!” in their voices.

So I’m sorry if you any of you baby boomers out there hate our generation. We’re just the ones who brought about the blog era, are currently dealing with the AIDS crisis (that “pull out” method that the baby boomers came up with isn’t really all that great!), can’t afford purchasing a home because of the soaring real estate prices, can’t be gay because baby boomers think it’s icky, actually know how to make an Excel spreadheet, fighting in Iraq, and paying student loans out of our asses since these days you pretty much need a Masters Degree to get ahead in the corporate world.

Every generation has their issues and each generation thinks that the generation after them is a disaster, so let’s just deal with it and move on with our lives. I apologize that beating your children went the way of the poodle skirt, but you’re the people that raised us, so if you have a problem with us, it’s your own fault. Don’t come into my office and begin belittling me and my generation. We’re pretty damn fantastic.

Wow. Where did this semi-serious rant come from? How un-Puntabulous of me! Where are the fart jokes and zingers about masturbation? They’ll be back. I just had to get this off my chest. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go into the restroom and quietly weep in a bathroom stall because my boss hasn’t told me how amazing I am in the last five minutes.