The Misunderstood Millennial
“One more day,” I repeat as push myself out of my car. “One more day.”
I let myself in the secure doors, deep breath and make my way through the empty building. Past the vacant reception desk, through the hall where the lights are off and shades were drawn. Pass through the conference room, still no lights. All the way to the back of the building, where I sit. Sometimes there are people here, today there aren’t. I let my body slump into my chair and stare out of my window for a minute. Or ten. Getting lost in the beauty that exists just outside that pane of glass. I need out.
For all I know, because it is all that I know, this job is the escargot of the working world. What I’ve learned is I don’t like snails. I mean, people get sick of Disney World, right? The happiest place on earth? Because, if you are there for long enough, you realize it’s the same people, wearing the same masks, doing the same things. Every day.
Every day I tell myself I want something more. But people don’t get it.
“You’re so lucky!” they tell me.
“You make good money and you have an awesome boss.”
“You have vacation time and friends at work.”
But I need something else.
I’m not from that generation that works just to pay the bills. The generation that will take any job because they have a family to support. The generation where their end game is a paycheck. I am from the generation where I won’t stop until I am happy. I want more. I’d take less money for more of the things you can’t explain in words.
Let me make one thing clear though because I know what you’re thinking. I’m your typical millennial, right? Entitled. Looking for handouts. Wants everything to fall in my lap. See, that’s where you’re wrong.
I do not expect or want things to be handed to me. I am not entitled. I work a full-time job, own a house my boyfriend and I are rebuilding from the inside- out and have a side hustle to occupy my free time. If something doesn’t go my way, I don’t blame other people. I decide how bad I want it and try harder or stop trying. I work for what I have and throttle my output depending on my desired outcome. Do not hand me anything and do not call me entitled. Do not lump me into your misconception of what Millennials are. That, I am not.
Next time you hear one of us complaining about our situation, don’t assume it’s because we want you to hand us the things we are searching for. We aren’t asking you to fix it. Where is the fun in that? We are capable of working for the “more” we so badly want. All I want, all we want, is to squeeze every last drop out of this life we were handed.
For us, a full cup of life is not enough, we want it to spill over the edges. Mediocrity is not an option. We want those 40-60 hours we spend behind a computer to mean something more than electricity and cable. We realize, through the teaching of our parents and our life so far, that our time here is short. Why would we spend our days wasting away behind a desk that turns our hairs gray and makes our minds go numb? Rather than entitled, I am hungry. I do not want handouts, I want to deserve everything I have. I am not satisfied, otherwise I wouldn’t be looking for more in every corner of this world. I will not settle for these dark halls. I will keep watching out my window until I find what I am looking for. A new view.
So think what you want. Keep calling us names, making your assumptions and poking our flames. We are the ones who will change the world.
