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Health & Fitness

The Millennials

"The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority, they show disrespect to their elders.... They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and are tyrants over their teachers.  The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint. They talk as if they alone know everything and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for girls, they are forward, immodest and unwomanly in speech, behavior and dress." You might get the impression that the author was giving us his takeaway on Millennials (those who were born between 1980 and 2000). The quote is actually attributed to Socrates and his view of young people in ancient Greece.  

It has been said that our own millennials have been overprotected and sheltered more than any other group.

They’ve had the benefit of hovering parents who plastered their car windows with “Baby On Board” stickers and did a major research study to find just the right car seat.  The millennials now feel a strong sense of entitlement.  They have been described by society’s analysts as tech savvy, spoiled rotten, lazy and irresponsible -- a generation who don’t give a hoot about anything but themselves. Parents and grandparents complain that these youngsters have it way too easy.  Among the litany of complaints: they’re addicted to their cell phones, to certain foods and rituals,and spend too much time texting and tweeting.  They are materialistic  and spend lots of money on themselves, their clothes, their lattes, smoothies and shakes and reserve seating at movies. They cannot read or write cursive and have no idea what critical thinking is.  As the song says: they don’t know much about history or geography.  An old friend forwarded the Hempstead public school summer reading list which has more than 30 errors – Fitzgerald would have been shocked to learn that he wrote a classic bestseller called The Great Gypsy.  It's incomprehensible that a public school system can publish such a horror and admit to such inferior education standards.
 Many agree they’ve never witnessed such a vain, self-absorbed generation. They constantly check their images in any reflecting pool they can find: storefront shop windows, car mirrors or any body of water.  They love taking selfies with their cell phone cameras and have several shots of themselves available on their smart phones.  From some reports this generation tries to avoid work.  It’s so much easier to ask mom, dad or grandparents for that special treat they want.  Why bother saving birthday money when they can always get more cash from a variety of sources? Movies on Friday night are a must (in order to see a film as soon as it opens). If they like it enough they'll see it again and again.  They’re not big on cooking so they dine out frequently. It can be salads or sushi – among their favorites – followed by ice cream or gelato. Cupcakes run a close second.  Sprinkles in Beverly Hills has a cupcake dispensing ATM machine – how convenient!.  They seem to lack any strong desire to become homeowners and car owners – they’d much rather have faster Internet speed given a choice. School work, video games, shopping, movies and eating out really are their priorities.  Work/a job can wait.  What’s the rush?  Parents don’t seem to mind having these kids live at home (even though some are in their 30s.) No matter the amount of criticism leveled against this generation they are also known to be the most loving, caring, generous and sweet-natured generation of all times.  They have great inner peace and empathy, they love nature and the environment.  They have a texting/tweeting addiction which is corrupting our language and may destroy it.  They avoid taking responsibility – much like our government, but they seem sincere, sensitive and kind.  They are collecting their own stimulus package from previous generations because they’re just too lovable to fail.  They may be inherit the largest debt of any other generation.  It's comforting to know that when they need to find an answer to any problem, they can always Google it.   CUL8R.

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