Taking advice from your elders can be helpful, but sometimes it’s quite the opposite. Millennials took to the internet to share the worst advice they’ve received from baby boomers, and the answers may sound familiar.
Note: Some quotes in this piece have been lightly edited for grammar.
1: Class in Session
One student was working towards their master’s degree when they received an out-of-touch lecture from a boomer CEO. “He was telling this entire class of people getting their advanced degrees in the hopes to get his position that he got his job on a whim 30 years ago.”
2: Oh, the Irony
After their dad complained about participation trophies, one millennial broke the news that they invented them in the first place. “He responded, ‘Yep, that’s another problem with your generation. Always blaming your faults on other people.'”
3: Surfing the Net
One commenter says their grandmother told them to go to places in person and fill out applications when they were looking for a job in high school. “She told me it was useless using the internet to look for a job. This was in 2008, and every place I checked for a job had an Internet-based application.”
4: Taste Your Own Medicine
“My first retail job, any time I complained about customers or coworkers to my father, I would get, ‘You have to suck it up. It builds character,'” one commenter said. Then, their father got a job at a grocery store. Now, they hear the same complaints.
5: No Kids
“Babies just need love, not money” is the worst advice one commenter has heard from a boomer. “Sorry, Mom, no grandkids until I have a job with a decent paycheck and less student debt,” they said.
6: Wrong But Effective
One person said their friend’s dad got a fantastic job out of college with an unrelated bachelor’s degree by going into a random bank downtown and refusing to leave until they gave him a job. “Can you even imagine? Can you?”
7: Trust Yourself
One older millennial says they had numerous boomers tell them not to go into computer science because it doesn’t make good money, isn’t a good job, etc. “Glad I didn’t listen to any of them as I make an excellent salary now. Why the heck would I take advice on entering a high-tech field from people who can barely use a computer?”
8: Baby Blues
One millennial says they’ve heard from their boomer mother that they must have a baby to keep a man. “I told her straight up, ‘Any man who would stay for our baby, but not for just me, isn’t a man who I’d want staying in the first place.'”
9: News Flash
After one person heard from his older coworker to “find a job with a good pension,” they could only stand and nod. “In the back of my head, it dawns on me. He thinks I’m an adjunct by choice. He thinks I teach part-time at three different schools with no advancement potential and minimal benefits because I like it.”
10: So SeriousÂ
One person’s boss recently told them how their generation was entitled and began quoting various articles on how we all think we’re special and exempt from criticism…as they were “shoveling a dead rat out of the doorway.”
11: Karma’s Revenge
One person’s mother advised them to get a job since “tons of places are hiring.” The good news? “She [the mother] has come to understand the struggle now as she spends all day applying to jobs and not getting a single call back.”
12: Making Cents
One commenter is sick of hearing that their generation doesn’t understand when to buy a house. “No, old man, we get it,” they said. “We’re broke making 1/3 of what you do in the same workplace.”
13: Working Like a Dog
One commenter can’t help but roll their eyes when they hear to be grateful for their job. “Then they look on in horror as I explain that I can’t afford to live alone while working over 40 hours a week. I don’t get vacations. I don’t get sick days. I get no paid time off, even for Christmas. No time to pursue things I enjoy.”
14: Double-Edged Sword
“You don’t deserve to make a livable wage at McDonald’s. Get a real job,” one millennial heard. Followed by: “What, are you too good to work at McDonalds? Grow up and stop being entitled and do what you gotta do.”
15: Turning Tables
One millennial says after snow-blowing their neighbor’s driveway, they complained about their generation being lazy and useless. “Only, it used to be their snowblower. They misused it, broke it, and I fixed it, and I’ve been doing their driveway ever since. But whatever, I’m just some lazy 20-something full-time student with a job and enough time to turn wrenches in the garage.”
Source: Reddit.
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