Generation X vs.

Millennial
By Miguel Espinal

I was born in 1964, a year that spawned a new generation between the Baby Boomers and Generation X, and the times were changing dramatically before my eyes. I essentially came into this world at a cross road between two eras, one of peace and love, the other of violence and sex, drugs and rock-n-roll. It was a dreadfully contradictory period in history, all you had to do was turn on the TV and witness these events as they un-folded on the news. The US government were still clamoring for the people to stay conformed to an etiquette founded during the 1950s, a space program to put a man on the moon costing millions of dollars, a new breed of young people protesting against the war in Vietnam and demanding peace and love, political scandals galore, the assassinations of popular figures; fighting for civil rights using non-violent tactics, and of course the all-encompassing topic of the Cold War. The differences between my generation and the millennial generation are like night and day, if you view it from an observers stand point. The Millennial generation can be categorized using three general common characteristics: Special, Sheltered and Conventional. All parents think of their children as special, and why not? After all they conceived you, right? The parents from my generation cared well enough to call their kids special; they fed us, clothed us and kept us as healthy as possible. Parents of the millennial generation, raise their children the same, except for a few major differences.

Kids today get praise, hugs and allowances for doing what they should be doing anyway, for instance: their chores, homework and basically being obedient children. They get an X-Box, PlayStation, and dare I say it, their very own cell phones and personal computers. How quaint; if I sound jealous perhaps I am, (in a humorous way.) there were times growing up I wouldve appreciated a helping hand from my parents, and received such lavish gifts just for being their child; also I never expected money from my parents for just being a good kid, that was an automatic reprimand, or a lecture on the cost of a dollar, and perhaps even a punishment for being so bold as to think I deserved an allowance. The way millennial generation kids talk disrespectful to their parents and throw temper tantrums, would have gotten you a backhand in my day. The manner in which they achieve what they want is borderline senseless, not to mention how they get away with it: family counseling, medication and family interventions. Millennial kids are constantly sheltered and supervised. Children arent allowed to venture out into the world un-supervised, due to all kinds of fear and safety issues the parents have. In this day and age, God forbid a child walks out the front door, and goes a few houses down the street to a friends house without informing their parents. My generation made adjustments as parents raised a child; I was never supervised 24/7 with a safety orientated mentality, your survival and higher learning was mostly done on your own. I was allowed to venture outside the house alone, encouraged to make my own money whether it was going door to door selling merchandise, shining shoes or having a paper route. Some money making venture even led up to criminal activities. If anything bad happened to me while experiencing this freedom, (un-supervised I might add.) my parents would chalk it up as my mistake and say, This way you learn.

In a conventional characteristic, these two generations are considerably so far apart its ridiculous. In my day, if an authority figures got out of line, you called them on it and spoke your peace, whether it was a peace officer, judge, hell it could be the president of the United States! We were wary of our government and its idea of how the people should conform to its policies. The millennial generation takes the governments ideals and policies to practically to heart, as if the government is actually looking out for the people and doing them a favor with no questions asked. They conform to whatever the trend is and of course feel its a genuine issue and idea, (as if none of it was ever fought for, rallied for, or been done before.) Some millennial dont even scrutinize their tax returns, for crying out loud. Well the old generations have to adapt to the new ones as they come, as well as the mainstream lifestyles that have become the norm. The vulgar and loud music, clothing and how its worn, (Swag, really?) If I walked into my house with my pants hanging around my thighs exposing my rear end, my family wouldve sent me away to the funny farm. We all know that people are different and that whats good for you is not good for someone else, yet generation after generation has major changes, for better or worse. The generation we live in has become so indifferent, the old values of brotherly love and respect are almost nonexistent, (unless something drastic happens for instance: 911, natural disasters, or the killing of innocent children.) which could be seen as a hypocritical society. Someday, maybe the millennial generation of today will do their homework and research their history; to instill all the good values and way of living of the generations before them, and create a new and better reality for the future, after all, itll be their kids and grandkids living in it after all.