Why is this young generation......?

There are no jobs here, we are in NY State, the same state as Walstreet. When she has no the older lady has no $ because of the state of the economy, maybe she'll figure it out. There ae some people in every generation that think everything should be handed to them. Their parents taught them to feel everything should be handed to them. We have 3rd and 4th generation welfare here. Even before the recession, they never intended to get jobs.

That sounds like a conversation that my husband grandmother would start up. That is normally when I just don't say anything at all let them have there thunder. Some of it I might agree with but others not so much. Its not easy these day. I can agree that there are a good handful of people that do get things handed to them and a lot of us fight for what we have and do what we have to do for our family. I'm not on welfar either and I don't want to be. I'm 23, with a husband and little baby. I do have government assistance that I applied for and got the help that we need it. Its not the best help but it helps us make the end meet especially in the food department more then the money department. We make all of our own money ourselves.

Personally even I being 47 would find this topic annoying and none of her Business. Maybe this was coming from a woman who has never had to worry about anything any part of her life and takes everything for granted. I know here in the Seattle area the people they show in the protests and on the streets being arrested and such are much older than in their 20s. Most of them may have even had Good jobs, etc. until just recently. I think personally these people have a right to be there fighting for something they believe in, and if people have a problem with it they just need to be quiet and hope it is never them.

Ageism is rampant as ever, I suppose. I would have asked the woman why she's making a blanket statement involving all "young people" when clearly, you and many others are young and don't belong in the same group as the people she spoke about. It really saddens me to see people who have grown and lived so many years and yet they lack the wisdom and intelligence that they should have gained in their lives. I'm like you. I'm young (23, to be exact), about the same age as the people protesting Wall Street, but I don't necessarily agree with their beliefs nor their tactics. I believe they have the right to believe what they do and to speak their opinions, but that doesn't mean I agree. My husband and I qualify for certain types of welfare, but I refuse to leech on the government regardless. As for things being handed to me...hmm...I saved all the money I made from working (both before I was legally allowed to work in our state and once I could work outside the home starting at fourteen) and bought my first car when I was 16. I spent $10,600 on that car, and not one cent came from someone else. When I was fifteen, I bought a condominium, fixed it up, rented it out, and thus started a real estate business. At nineteen I opened up a retirement account, and at twenty I eloped and moved out of a pretty dwindling home situation. Just last year I started publishing novels, a dream I'd had and strived for since I was six. ...but wait. No, none of that counts. Every accomplishment I've ever achieved in my life, every reason I'm proud of who I am, all of it gets dismissed with one swift judgment by a person who truly doesn't seem to have capacity of brain matter to speak on the subject. Judgments like hers aren't just annoying, nor can they be simply classified as rude. They're ignorant, cruel, and borderline inhuman to people out there like myself who have overcome various odds to be someone in the world that mattered. Ageism is a problem of ignorance and lack of world experience much like racism and sexism, and it makes me sick. People who say such spouts of garbage simply need to be dismissed as mentally deranged.

Tarring the entire generation with the same brush is a thing that every generation older than us does I think. And funnily enough, they were in the same boat at one time themselves. I bet the generation before them were talking about what they were doing wrong, all their faults. Then the generation before them, then the generation before them, well you get the picture. For many people it does seem like they look at the way things are done today through a rather critical eye. Are there many problems? You better believe it. However, there are problems with every single generation out there. We are not exclusive with the ones that have the problems. Not to mention, we are rolling our eyes at a lot of the antics of other people around our age group. Not everyone acts the same but there is this certain perception that just because a vocal minority does something, than everyone does it. And the news media obviously helps along this belief for sure.

I think she sees things in other ways and maybe these people indeed searched and still is doing it for a job but can't find. I think protesting is great, it's actually to do something, to be part of a change. Her generation took things and let the way it was, we are now more active and we stand up more. Even bullying can end soon. I think generations are always getting better.

In my home country there are over three and a half million unemployed people. They are on job seekers allowance and most of them are desperately seeking work. Many jobs pay the minimum wage and this on a full time position is barely enough to live on. I know that some people that work for the council have changed from full time workers to part time workers. There is a recession and at such a time across the whole world it is challenging to find work. Many workers worry about the possibility of being made redundant. The younger generation are having a hard time it seems to me.

While unfortunately this lady directed the conversation to you, and that I am sorry for. I don't think it was at you. I think I can give an example of what this lady of our age is seeing. I have a daughter in law. She works VERY hard. Up at 5 am to get her 3 kids ready for school. Once that is done she is off to a 8:00 to 5:00pm job. She then picks up her middle school age child who is in football, her high school daughter who is in cheer, and has to be at every football game. When she finally makes it home, she then turns to the 6 year old at the house that the husband took out of school because he cried the first few days of school so daddy brought him home to "homeschool" because he was crying. My daughter in law is not dealing with the drama she is too exhausted and tired of placing him in school, only to be undermined by a stay at home husband. After getting the kids settled she has to study (she is going to online college) and that pretty much sums her day up to 11pm every night. Now what does this have to do with the "young generation" this lady was speaking of? Well lets see, her daughter has the latest iphone, she is 15 so she has a drivers permit and can drive with mom which means she is driving a Mercedes Benz. This girl will not know what a ford or a dodge is. She gets her nails, and toes done weekly to the tune of 45.00 a week. While my daughter in law does NOT go to the movies, she forks out money for her 15 year old to see the latest releases with her friends. When she came over a few weekends ago, she said her daughter will have to get a job, to get her gas for a car and pay for her own insurance. While we agreed, the girl gives us the YEA WHATEVER look. She is in more fashion than I believe my middle daughter when I had her in modeling and had to buy all her outfits for modeling.(no one told me that beforehand) While we in the 50's and 60's screamed mom and dad gave us nothing, I see countless kids get a new bike every year or more depending on how long it takes kids to destroy stuff today. I got one bike. I was 13. It lasted me til I graduated high school. When I went in the army and got settled at my base I was going to work at, I called my parents and asked them if there was a way I could get it sent to me. Their reply was we gave the bike away when you left home. They also sold my bedroom which was a twin bed and two chest of drawers. What was ours to use while I lived there still belonged to my parents. Wow what a shock! So we from that era decided we needed to do better for OUR kids. Now those kids, whom we did doubly better than what we had, they in turn, are trying to give THEIR kids (this generation) more than they had. Thus you really would be surprised to find out how many kids do not know what a checking account is, (why that has to be mom and dad and the ATM machine) they have no idea of a credit score, no idea that you really do make payments for a car or house etc. And where on earth does the groceries come from or the money to eat at all the fast foods. Thats one family that lives fairly well. Then I can go to another daughter in law that lives in Kentucky. To keep from having to work, she has gotten pregnant 5 times, her and her husband split up which means she goes down to welfare and says she is getting a divorce. They fund her child support, food stamps, and of course she still gets WIC for some of the kids. But the vicious cycle is when her and her hubby make up, the state comes after HIM instead of making her repay the money, and throw him in jail because he can't pay all the money that the state gave to her. And thats the cold hard facts of how a lot of young mothers married or not survive. My daughter, had a baby, would not tell the father to help with child support. Got married, is not happy, has baby number 2, father is returning from Iraq, she wants a divorce, but somehow playing family until she can figure it out, she gets Wic for both her kids, and the state is looking for the father for baby #1 for child support now since she wants a divorce and will conveniently NEED the money. These are the kinds of young adults I am sure this lady was talking about. I like you turned 15 started working, went in the Army when I turned 18, Did not have a child til I was 21, and had 5 children and invented my own business so I could be a stay at home mom. In the 70's my first husband left me for a Captain in the Army while I was pregant with my 2nd daughter. Yea it was a shock. I never knew what WIC was, had no idea of welfare, or food stamps. I worked opposite of a roommate who had a little boy so we did not have to pay for a baby sitter. And this was when you made 2.35 an hour, and after all your bills were paid you lived on 20.00 a week. Its no different, the pay is a little higher but then so is everything else so it still is not enough to survive on. Yet I never knew what welfare or food stamps or WIC was. Did not know I could get medical help with children. I was taught you work for everything and every bill you make you pay for. While I live in a small tourist area, I see businesses opening, and yet people that have lost their job, or been in college will not take a minimum wage job just to get the country back working to get welfare back to where it can really help the community that needs to be helped. It used to be you had 6 months of unemployment funds and then you were cut off. You had to get a job. No I never used my unemployment. Had no idea really what that was either. All I knew like you said in your discussion was I had a family and I had to work and make it work. I did not run to Wall Street or a city or town to tell someone to get it right. While the country might not be right, its up to each individual to get up and make it right for them as an individual and if you have a family how to manage to care for that. I applaud you for taking care of your family. YOu would be shocked at how many aren't and do depend on the Government, and have no clue how to live without a laptop, or cell phone, etc. Bless you. I know I took care of my children. My youngest son is 21 and is still home with me. But he is the lead security manager of the largest nightclub in the United States. Not an easy job watching young drunk adults throw money down the drain every night while he is trying to better himself. These are the kinds of people this lady is talking about And for anyone that does not believe me come to Spring Break anywhere in Florida and its a shame to see what these so called college kids do to let their hair down for a couple of weeks!

Don't be mad, asyria. It happens a lot to me, i mean, being criticized for my age. Surely, the old lady has a prejudice to the young generation. I am not happy for that too. Some people can't represent the whole group. However, someone just don't get it and think in stereotype. As for me, i usually ignore the prejudice and walk away. It is no good to get trouble on ourselves. What do you say ?

I think it sounds annoying comments by an old lady and the concern has nothing to do on you. To think of it you were not involve in the first place. She just think it in general way which include you too. Maybe the old lady seems to be carried away by her emotions which the economy crisis brought her influenced these days and she somehow think problems has solutions to those protesters at the wall street.

That was really annoying, but I suppose you have explained her that you're not so young to be out there participating in those demonstrations. People sometimes are so judgmental without even knowing if what they accused someone is true or not.