I’m tired of the media complaining about how nobody can figure out what millennials want. Have they tried asking one?

Well, I’m a certified card-carrying millennial (Born: 1984, first PC: 1992), so allow me to tell it like it is.

First off, I know I don’t speak for all of Generation Y. There’s certainly a difference between being an 80s kid and an aughts kid. But that’s not going to stop me from trying to speak for everyone….

Millennials were spoiled rotten with too much undeserved praise. It’s true that we didn’t deserve all those tee ball trophies, but even at age 3 we knew that. Giving out trophies even though we were losers didn’t warp our minds or make us crave constant praise. Kids aren’t stupid.

Millennials don’t respect their parents, elders, political figures, etc.. That’s partly true. But the thing is, respect should be earned, not given freely. I find it ironic that other generations complain that millennials don’t give out trophies, so to speak, to people who don’t deserve them.

Millennials don’t know what they want out of a job, so they switch jobs often. No. Millennials want to be treated like human beings… not necessarily praised and held in high regard, but at least treated like an adult. You want to treat us like punks, you can find a low self-esteem Gen X’er to do the job. There are other jobs that understand that employees don’t deserve to be pushed around and belittled.

Millennials are all dumb due to the education system. Wrong. Millennials are highly intelligent due to growing up on the Internet and knowing how to search it. We’ve grown past the need for schools, it’s just nobody realizes it yet. And the generation after millenials… they’ll be even smarter than us.

Millennials won’t leave the house when they turn 18. Newsflash: the era of “graduate high school and walk across the street to get a job without a degree” is long gone. I didn’t leave the house until I was 22, but when I did, I had a degree and enough money to put down money on a condo. I actually kinda wish I were still living with my parents, as I’d be well on my way to being a millionaire by now.

Millennials don’t believe in the American Dream. We all dream differently now. I wanted a house, so I bought one. I didn’t want a family, so I’m unmarried with no children. I went to college. I work. But seriously, can you blame them for not believing in the Dream? Look at the economy they’ve grown into.

Millennials can’t figure out college. You have that backwards. I left college when I realized what a scam it was, and it was the smartest thing I’ve ever done with my life. Sure we need doctors and lawyers to go to college, but most everything else can be learned online for free.

Millennials play too many video games. Actually, I think Generation X has us beat in the department. I personally don’t play video games. I make them. Millennials do spend too much time on Reddit though, for sure.

Millennials are irreligious and vote libertarian. If you think that’s true and that scares you, you better watch out for Generation Z when they’re old enough to vote.

Millennials are devoid of ethics and ethic. We don’t like to do stuff we find to be stupid. Profound, right? Jobs should be no exception to this. My number one rule in life is, if it’s stupid, I’m not gonna do it. You know, unless a client is paying me to, and they don’t care to listen to reason. This is a trait of Boomers, by the way.

Millennials think the world revolves around them and they all deserve fame and fortune. This is obviously Generation X making this crap up. Just because we have higher self-esteem than them doesn’t give them a right to hate us, hehe. Honestly, I don’t see millennials as wanting fame and fortune, but I do see them as seeking importance and stability in this world. And I see them succeeding at it. If that means wanting fame and fortune, then everybody should want that. And as far as millennials being selfish, that’s not the bad word people make it out to be. Steve Jobs was the king of selfishness; ego, no tolerance of other ideas, no giving to charity, etc… but through his selfishness he changed the world and created a brand loved by millions. Not saying everyone should be like Steve Jobs, but if you want to find success, you will find a lot of selfishness right there with it.

I’m not usually into letting the generation thing define who people are, but I feel like millennials needed to be defended from all the crap you read in the media by the previous generations, whether it’s hostile or just ignorant. As far as I’m concerned, all generations since The Greatest Generation have been screwups that have succeeded in nothing more then creating an empire of consumerism. They can keep it. I dunno if all millennials are on the same page as me, but I’m looking for something more out of life than living in the suburbs or the coffee shop.