By Noah Norred
Yeah yeah we know the Baby Boomers/Generation X messed up the economy (supposedly but that's economics and I am not here to chat about that), and be influenced by them. What? I’m talking about the way we dress up, act, and find enjoyment the way they did. Ever swing by that basic blonde girl’s Instagram and see that “I was born in the wrong generation” poster with a background of a buggy or mountains? That’s what I am talking about. Now I am not saying we are all the stereotypical millennial, but we are Generation Y, and we do tend to look and do everything our parents did back in the day.
Kids, we take after our parents a little more than we understand. More often these days, we see the trends going back to the 70s and the 80s of rock and pop at their hey-days. We see kids wearing Converse more often than with the latest Air Force Ones. We take more delight in getting records and big speakers than throwing ourselves over for the new Apple bluetooth earbuds (if you have seen them, I don’t think anyone would). As said in an earlier blog post, we don't want to embrace the new stuff just yet. We want the bronco, the beetle bus, and old Mustangs back. We find favor in the minimal, low maintenance home decor with light bulbs and 50’s furniture styling.
We are so obsessed with these things, but why? Well we (generation Y, the cooler millennials) had a freaking good childhood. We grew up with parents that inspired us to live like them with the coolest toys (back when Nintendo was pulling the Color and the 64) and the greatest icons of the day such as Michael Jackson, Britney Spears (Pre-cocaine), and when MTV was still slightly good.
You woke up on a Sunday morning and went to church. Then you came back home and put on Cartoon Network. I’m talking Tom and Jerry, Scooby Doo, Sponge Bomb, Bugs Bunny, Flintstones. What is this Adventure Time crap? Now it's called Boomerang? We had it best with these classy, good vibe, save the day kinda cartoons. Now we have 12 year olds on Netflix watching Rick and Morty on a massive iPhone with those stupid Apple earbuds I mentioned a bit ago. It’s not that I care if some kid is watching adult swim at a not-so-adult age, it’s that the kids today are not stopping to check what generation X and Y liked back in the day. They don’t check out cartoons, they don't rock converse, and they don't even try the old school music we grew up with and adored.
This newer generation is growing up too fast. They are being influenced too easily to be set to the newest and best stuff. They do not care about the old stuff. They do not care what influenced this generation of (mildly) cool people. They are the ones who care for the newest pair of Sperry's, social justice, and whatever Kim Kardashian is wearing (if anything). Those annoying Snapchat discover stories that fill up more than half your screen? The next generation is clicking those. Girls are being given higher standards than ever. Boys are getting their priorities all wrong. They are being taught that complaining and pettiness is what gets them attraction. This is much different than the “get over it and suck it up” method we were brought up with (this doesn't mean all Generation Z kids are like this).
So this is the deal folks: we gotta start being better mentors. Generation Z is almost entirely influenced by social media. They basically use the camera lens of their iPhone as a second pair of glasses. Technology is how they see the world, and they connect through what we all hate the most: Social Media. Guess who is influencing people through social media? Buzzfeed and modern day MTV.
So let’s step it up and tell them what’s good. We have to get them off their phones and let them smell the coffee. There are kids walking around that never would bat an eye towards a Nintendo, VHS, or something without bluetooth, and would never dare just walk up to a girl out of pure confidence. We need to show them what the Gen X and the baby boomers did for us so we don’t have to deal with our “post-millennials” later.
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