So let’s cut the pleasantry and dove into the real topic at hand. We have a generation gap problem and and it’s created a lot of unnecessary headaches and heated arguments between Baby Boomers era, Gen X and the Gen Y. What are the differences between those 3? Which category are you in? Before you look at the numbers, look at the pictures above, which one looks similar to you? I’m sure from there, you can at least guess which generation you from
· Baby Boomers: Born after World War 2 – 1960
· Generation X: 1961 – 1981
· Generation Y: 1982 – Present
Now you might not agree with the timeline, but that’s the generally agreed upon timeline for those categorization. Now I’m going to categories Baby Boomers and Gen X together and nickname them parents. Generation Y as…. Us.
So be it Baby boomers, Gen X or Gen Y, don’t you think that there are times you get so frustrated because your bosses, employees, parents or kids don’t understand you? That their priorities are wrong? Or why are they doing this and not that. Trust me I’m facing that problem too as a Gen Y, and sometimes you just want to scream in the top of your lung that ” WAKE UP, We are living in a different era now. What Works then is rubbish now”
Now let’s see what we Gen Y want in life. Image is crucial in our life. We want to be seen as the successful person we are, the Cool and we want to get rich in the shortest time possible. Being a millionaire before 30 will be the best. We want to drive nice car, wear Prada , eat Gucci, breath Armani and speak Zegna. And having to wait and work our ass off for the next 30 years just to have the slight possibility of really being able to afford those stuff just simply won’t do anymore. That’s what drive the blog shop, e-commerce, and other new business ventures that the world has never seen before in the previous decade. With the mass usage of internet, broadband, Wifi and Wimax, our world is connected like never before. This is the social media era. Gen Y is banking on this trend & technology and starting their own business just to earn the extra cash. Many of this techno entrepreneur are very successful and would not need a 9-5 day job, an office, or even workers to sustain a comfortable life. Starbucks and coffee bean is their office. As long as they can connect to the internet, that place is their office. But hey, their namecard has a office address you say. Yes, 9 out of 10, that’s probably a PO Box, rented just for this purposes. I mean why waste thousands per month just to rent a premises that you don’t need. Is this crave of Gen Y to find ways to get more money, that our economy is racing, new products or services mushrooming every minute. Need a document translated from Japanese to English but your company is based in Japan? No worries email me your document. I can finish it by evening and email it back to you from Malaysia. At the end of the email you might see this: P/s I’m 15.
Now, our chase of luxury items, (for the females its probably the shopping, while the guys are gadgets and modding the cars) our expenditure usually is a heated item of argument between us and our parents. To them buying anything extra is a waste of money. Let’s not even talk about luxury items. Let’s talk about us spending RM 15 for a cup of ice blended coffee in Coffee Bean or Starbucks. Tell it to your parents and see their reaction. How many of you will get a good lecturer from them? Did they give you the 50sen Kopi O that they can get in the coffee shop talk? About how money is very hard to earn that we must save as much as possible? And you made the very critical mistake by telling them that your friend also had one “ma”… so you “ma” bought one “lo” (excuse the manglish) which got you a lecturer about choosing the correct friends and don’t get influence by them?
How about the talk on “Why you paid RM 50 for a hair cut at the saloon? Got Indian Barber RM 5 can already ma… Look the same to me…” :S
Now if we step back a bit and analyze, put ourselves in their shoes, think of the era that they grew up in, then you will know why they are acting like that. Our parent’s grew up in a world that the 2nd World War just ended. The state of the country and economy are not rosy at all. Being able to put food on the table and get a job is already an accomplishment. They don’t have wide range of choices that we have and take for granted now!! That is why you will see some of your parents or the older generation, working in just 1 company for their entire life. And why our parent’s keep asking us to save, save and save as they went through a stretch of life, poor.
Now, to the baby boomers era and the Gen X group, this doesn’t mean you are entirely correct. You fail to see that the world has change. You are not understanding your children enough. As I said earlier, image is a huge thing in the Gen Y. Losing one’s image, means losing one’s self esteem, which in turn can lead to depression and lead to worse. Buying a starbucks, or getting an hair cut at a saloon is actually one of their way to distress. Stress from parent’s, from work and from peers. As long as they don’t get out of hand, I don’t see why not. And FYI kopi O in coffee shops are no longer 50 sens. It’s around Rm 2. With that in mind, when u lecturer your kids in something, or the price of an item, remember it’s not their fault. Its the inflation. When giving your children pocket money, THINK whether it’s really enough. What’s the point of earning all those money and keeping it in the bank, while your children have to live a miserable life just because you went through it. When you die, you can’t bring the money with you.
For those parents that work hard and save hard just so that the kids can have a better future and education, I tip my hat to you, bravo. But for those that keep working and earning tons of money yet neglect their children, only enjoying life themselves, not letting their children have a taste of this sweet fruit, I warn you, you better believe in karma as when you are old, your children will probably treat you back the same way.
So before I bored you all to death further, let me just say knowing how to communicate with each other is crucial to avoid conflicts and a break in the family. For the Gen Y, if you are getting lecture by your parents, don’t straight away argue back, put yourself in their shoes, think why they are displeased with your actions and try to reason with them. For the parents, key thing to remember, this is the PRESENT, not the PAST. When lecturing on some values, Don’t ever EVER compare your kids with some other kids and then tell them they will fail in life if they don’t follow that so call good trait exactly. Don’t go: ” Ah boy, why you spend so much on this useless things, look at your cousins, they all so thrifty”. “Aiyo, u continue like that you are going to end up like your dead uncle, poor, worthless and full of debts”. Trust me, you will make matter worst and your kids will just stop telling you things and ignore you.
So with that in mind, let us Gen Y TRY, yes TRY and understand the older generation, so we can co-exist peacefully and avoid those ugly conflicts and words.
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