Читать книгу 20 Something Manifesto - Christine Hassler - Страница 20

There is a sense of entitlement that is an epidemic among twenty somethings, and I include myself in this. At my first job I wondered where my business cards were. I mean, didn’t they know I graduated from a top school with a 3.9 GPA? Turns out they didn’t care — no one really did. Many twenty somethings write to me expressing frustration over not being taken seriously because of their age or about feeling underestimated. Where does this expectation come from that success, results, and recognition should appear instantly? And why is it dangerous?

“Everything seems to be happening too slow — I want to see results in everything I do now.”

Content developer, 27, married, Korea

Of course, not every twenty something suffers from this, but I believe the feeling of wanting instant gratification is becoming more and more common. With today’s media, our accessibility to the world is infinite. The internet, cell phones, and BlackBerries have made it possible to get any information we want from anywhere in the world at any time. We can share and communicate with anyone instantly. In college, we get immediate feedback and recognition for our accomplishments at the end of every semester; in our jobs, we may get a review every six months. We have fast-food restaurants and ready-made meals at grocery stores. We are not used to waiting because what we want is usually designed to be had easily and quickly.

But this instant-gratification epidemic goes deeper than drive-up windows and twenty-four-hour banking. I received the following email from a recent twenty-three-year-old college graduate that puts it well: “Very frequently my generation seems to reflect one where we have set the highest expectations for ourselves. We have all this technology; our babyboomer parents tell us we’re special and answer yes to our requests with cruisecontrol frequency. Study after study reveals us as the most narcissistic of any generation before us, we have become soaked in a celebrity-based culture, and we expect to become instantly successful, famous, rich, powerful, recognized. But these expectations have made us super-sensitive to the inevitable failures and disappointments of life, the bites of reality that have plagued every generation before us. So many of us are recognizing what it’s like to be brought down to Earth, like I have the last eight months.”

“It is difficult because everyone is at a different point in their life, and it’s hard not to compare where you are with others (especially friends). But everyone is different. The older I get, the more I am able to understand this and can be happy with my accomplishments. I am working on not comparing my life to others — and it’s a relief!”

Therapist, 26, serious relationship, Delaware

For many, the twenties are a frustrating combination of having the world at your fingertips but not knowing how to grasp it. Twenty somethings today want and expect to have it all — and who can blame you? You’ve been conditioned to believe it. You’ve grown up in a time when “anything is possible” and “you can have it all” became bumper sticker–worthy mantras. And many times, parents encouraged this, eager to provide a life they did not have as children. Again, no matter what any of our personal situations may have been, we all soak up these beliefs from the wider culture.

It has been said that each generation stands on the shoulders of the previous. From the expectations that many twenty somethings feel from parents, authorities, and society at large, the previous generation seems to be on stilts. They have raised the bar of what there is to achieve, and twenty somethings feel the weight of those expectations. The American Dream has expanded from the simple white picket fence to an unreachable belief in “having it all.”

“I believe our baby-boomers parents have very high expectations, and sometimes we feel discouraged because we haven’t reached those lucrative goals. I just have to remind myself that I am only twenty-four, and I have a lifetime to live. The only expectations that are truly important are my own.”

Legal administrator, 24, single, South Carolina

“THE BLESSED MISERABLE GENERATION” by Julie, 23