The Me Generation

I don’t know about you, but I am really beginning to sense a huge shift in attitude – not just of young people but of some middle age folks as well – from one of “How can I help you?” to one of “What can you do for me?” I guess you could call it a new sense of entitlement some people have – one where you owe someone something for nothing. Or one where people don’t take responsibly for their actions – it’s not their fault, it’s yours.

Whatever it is, it’s there. I see it everyday. If I stop my car and allow a teenager to cross the street, he looks at me as if he did me a favour. No acknowledgement of thanks, just a glare. Not all kids do this of course – I don’t want to paint every kid with the same brush – but incidents like these seem to be happening more and more. Just ask any high school teacher.

And if I am driving down the highway, it’s not uncommon to see some yahoo throw his garbage out the window. WTF is up with that?

Granted, society is changing - more quickly than ever. New technology and social media problay have had the biggest impact. Life is just faster than it was ten or twenty years ago. Everyone wants things done now - me included. But most of us are civil about it. When did this “the hell with you, get out of my fucking way” mentality start to become the norm and not the exception?

Again, I don’t want to say all teenagers or twenty-somethings or middle age folk for that matter are like this – far from it. In fact, most of the young people I know are the opposite. And many could teach some older adults a lesson or two in civility. But still…. there’s that get-out-of-my-face element that seems more prevalent now than a few years ago.

Or maybe it’s me. Maybe I have become my dad. You know, the get off my lawn dad. If you find yourself using the phrase “now-a-days” a lot, it’s official – you are your father. But that’s not a bad thing, especially in this day and age.