NYT profiles an example of 24-year-old entitlement FAIL

[Double Down]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/07/business/economy/07generation.html

This article is burning up certain corners of the Internet with rage right now. 24-year-old Colgate graduate who lives with his parents, comes across as pouting because no one will offer him a great job in this economy. Turns down a $40,000 a year job because it seems beneath him. Doesn't understand why degree in political science and "pretty good grades" don't equal "dream job."

Fingers pointed a baby boomers, slacker Generation Y, everyone is a winner mentality, decay of American work ethic, et cetera.

Discuss.

 

[Ace]

Kid isn't thinking right. I bet the opportunity for under-the-table cash is plentiful in the claims adjuster job he turned down.

 

[slappy4428]

The prevailing sentiment among the comments is "WAHHHH!!!!"

 

[Ace]

I turned down a $40,000 job offer once -- when I was making more money at the time!

 

[poindexter]

I sent this article to my brother in law this morning - he's a maintenance supervisor for a medium sized town. His two cents:

Answer: Skilled Labor.



I truly believe that if this country is going to be great again, we have to get back to basics. We need to figure out a way to stop sending all of our manufacturing processes overseas. We need to be building products, roads, infrastructure etc. Everyone wants to be a financier. Use money to make money. I get it. But not everyone…..we have so many people in this country…in this world… who don’t know how to actually do anything. If the kitchen sink backs up they make a call. If the lights in the bedroom don’t come on…they make a call. If the car has a flat….they make a call. Nobody is ready to roll up their sleeves and do some manual labor or figure out how something works and try to fix it. Or even give a damn. I think that the kid in the story should have absolutely taken that adjusters job. Obviously he can continue looking for something better. You and I didn’t get the ideal job right out of school. I don’t know why these kids are being so damn picky. Especially in this economy. Ok. I’m done rambling.

 

[trifectarich]

The parents ought to throw his ass out onto the street. Twenty-four hours later, he'd be begging for that job he turned down.

Obviously, what most of us learned in college, how to act like a responsible adult, this kid has failed to grasp.

 

[poindexter]

At the same time, the younger generation has a great point - via the comments:
The comments are filled with Boomers and the "Greatest Generation" who are most happy to saddle us younger people with their TRILLIONS of debt. And then we have to pay your social security checks knowing we'll never see a dime! Greatest Generation? You turned this country into your own personal casino.

Maybe we shall call yours The Generation That Pulled Up The Ladder.

 

[Boom_70]

Now with Universal health care he can follow his dream. Money will not be as big an issue.

 

[Small Town Guy]

Part of my sympathizes with him. I had to move back in with my parents in my mid 20s after a fiasco of a move to NYC failed. I didn't work for seven months and turned down some jobs at tiny weeklies because I was waiting for another decent opportunity at a daily, which finally arrived. But I did at least have savings to live off of and I knew I was in that position because I chose to be - I had left a good job before my ill-conceived move. And as much as I enjoy blaming Baby Boomers for many things, my lack of decent employment opportunities wasn't one of them.

There are recent grads who do look at things differently.

My nephew graduated in May from the University of Minnesota. Kid's always been a hard worker, had part-time jobs since he was about 12, worked two jobs throughout school. Since graduating he's had only one interview request. And he had to call back and say he wasn't coming after we did some research on the mysterious company and it turned out it was basically a pyramid scheme - Do you know 12 friends who would LOVE to make a lot of money? Do ya? Do ya? Put them to work for you!

He's frustrated but also understands this was a likely outcome right after graduation. He sends out dozens of resumes each week. In the meantime, he's plugging away, putting in 45 hours a week at the manufacturing plant my mom has worked at for 40 years. He knows he's now in the real world and that means sometimes taking a less-than-ideal job, even if he doesn't have the type of job he went to school for.

But turning down $40,000, right after college? I'm sure I'm not the only former reporter whose first job after college - and after we got "pretty good" grades - was between that dreamy $15K-$20K range.

Maybe the kid should do Teach for America. Or not. My cousin just returned after lasting four weeks and he was about the 20th kid he knew of in his group who fled. Weaklings.

Speaking of blaming Baby Boomers, just finished this book, which was entertaining.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boomsday_(novel)

 

[Starman]

Gain 75 pounds, get a buzz-cut haircut, learn to weep profusely on demand, develop a schtick of incoherent paranoid victim-playing rants, you'll make millions on teevee.

 

[Starman]

At the same time, the younger generation has a great point - via the comments:
The comments are filled with Boomers and the "Greatest Generation" who are most happy to saddle us younger people with their TRILLIONS of debt. And then we have to pay your social security checks knowing we'll never see a dime! Greatest Generation? You turned this country into your own personal casino.

Maybe we shall call yours The Generation That Pulled Up The Ladder.

Gen Y will get their chance when they pull the plug on S.S. and Medicare in another decade or so. By that time the "G.G.s" will be gone, but the Boomers better get used to the idea of eating Ramen noodles for the last decade or so (or less) of their lives.

 

[IllMil]

I hope someone puts a ****ing bullet in this asshole’s head, honestly. I graduated in May of 09 with a 3.8. I’m 23 now, 20-hours-a-week PR intern for an insurance company and a bouncer three nights a week. I make about 23 grand a year between the two, mostly because the bar income is not reported and is all tips. I have no benefits, no insurance. I would give my left nut for $25,000, full-time with benefits. And he can’t accept 40. I’ve been sending out resumes for 16 months and have had one real interview in that time. What a ****ing asshole. ****ing die. Jesus Christ.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

You all have to understand that the Times never writes "trend" or "social issue" stories that aren't aimed at people making $100,000 a year or more. Which I'll bet is where this kid's parents are at. This story is to make old rich people feel good about the gumption they had when young, whether they actually had any or not.

 

[Ace]

I hope someone puts a ****ing bullet in this asshole’s head, honestly. I graduated in May of 09 with a 3.8. I’m 23 now, 20-hours-a-week PR intern for an insurance company and a bouncer three nights a week. I make about 23 grand a year between the two, mostly because the bar income is not reported and is all tips. I have no benefits, no insurance. I would give my left nut for $25,000, full-time with benefits. And he can’t accept 40. I’ve been sending out resumes for 16 months and have had one real interview in that time. What a ****ing asshole. ****ing die. Jesus Christ.

I get the sense that you're wishing him Ill, Mil.

 

[MileHigh]

Cut the kid a break. There's a high cost of living in Boston.

 

[deskslave]

I sent this article to my brother in law this morning - he's a maintenance supervisor for a medium sized town. His two cents:

Answer: Skilled Labor.



I truly believe that if this country is going to be great again, we have to get back to basics. We need to figure out a way to stop sending all of our manufacturing processes overseas. We need to be building products, roads, infrastructure etc. Everyone wants to be a financier. Use money to make money. I get it. But not everyone…..we have so many people in this country…in this world… who don’t know how to actually do anything. If the kitchen sink backs up they make a call. If the lights in the bedroom don’t come on…they make a call. If the car has a flat….they make a call. Nobody is ready to roll up their sleeves and do some manual labor or figure out how something works and try to fix it. Or even give a damn. I think that the kid in the story should have absolutely taken that adjusters job. Obviously he can continue looking for something better. You and I didn’t get the ideal job right out of school. I don’t know why these kids are being so damn picky. Especially in this economy. Ok. I’m done rambling.

Or, as I've wondered a few times in the past few years, here and elsewhere: What the hell are we all going to do in the brave new world?

Outsourcing is fine, mechanization is fine, but at some point we -- and by we, I mean most of the Western world, not just the U.S. -- have to come to grips with the fact that the world doesn't need 100 million project managers.

I spent eight months looking for a job after I made my big move, and I was able to do that only because I had some parental support. Bit of an ego blow at my age, but to my mind, you can only take advantage of the opportunities you're given, and you don't slam the door in the face of the ones that do come along. And yeah, I specialized my search, but I also had interviews at eight different places before I got anything, and I had to rule out two or three things that looked promising in the ads because they turned out to be pyramid schemes or other scams.

And as I've pointed out before, it's easy to say get a job digging ditches or flipping burgers or what-have-you -- and it's a little less true for this kid because he did turn something down -- but it's not as though there's not competition for those jobs too. A lot of people are out of work right now, and this mentality (always from people who HAVE jobs, mind) that "there's work out there if you want it" simply isn't true right now. If it were, the unemployment rate wouldn't be 9% or whatever the hell it is.

 

[The Big Ragu]

$40K a year for an entry-level job in a really nasty recession = the American dream is elusive?

I don't know who I wanted to yell at more. The kid -- who is just clueless. The grandfather -- who has no clue what it is like in Europe. Or the parents -- who spoiled and sheltered their son, and continue to, to the point of him losing his survival and competitive instincts. Or the reporter (and the editors who saw it) -- who took a set of interviews and facts and came up with the one thesis for a trend article that gets it all wrong.

Ugh. Just ugh.

 

[Ace]

$40K a year for an entry-level job in a really nasty recession = the American dream is elusive?

Yes it is. Horatio Alger would have spit on that crappy "opportunity" and held out for a corner office.

 

[21]

Typical NYT. Talk to one cartoonish character worthy of the worst kind of reality show, and use it to define a trend. Last year they did 'Pampered Wives Fleeing Broke Husbands Who Lost Everything on Wall Street.' Then there was 'New Mothers Demanding Outrageous Gifts After Childbirth!' Pick a nut, write a smug story. Ugh, indeed.

 

[poindexter]

Typical NYT. Talk to one cartoonish character worthy of the worst kind of reality show, and use it to define a trend. Last year they did 'Pampered Wives Fleeing Broke Husbands Who Lost Everything on Wall Street.' Then there was 'New Mothers Demanding Outrageous Gifts After Childbirth!' Pick a nut, write a smug story. Ugh, indeed.

Its a good point, and one I said when talking to my brother in law... I'd rather see some effective research on what is happening rather than one anecdote.