Hey, That's My Generation You're Talking About!

After reading Peter's first two entries on MillenniAdults (MAs -- and my generation), I did some thinking. I remembered that staff meeting clearly, and I remembered the Sachs video clips making me feel, well, a little annoyed.

But I couldn't remember just what had irked me about the clips, so I went to the site to check them out again.

Clip 1: A twenty-something woman talks about her ambitions and experiences, which have included traveling, working for AmeriCorps and Habitat for Humanity, and applying to Ph.D. programs.

Hmmm. Nothing offensive there. I'd be proud to have a girl like that representing my generation.

Clip 2: Another girl, probably about my age, talking about her interest in creating a multifaceted career for herself, incorporating numerous goals and personal interests, such as being a bread baker, jeweler, farmer, and artist, and studying alternative medicine.

Err, well, that sounds good -- I also like the idea of being able to express myself creatively while earning a living, and I love that this girl is leaving herself open to all her passions and the possibilities they present. I began to get suspicious; had this clip always been here?

Clip 3: A collage video with words and drawings of important concepts and goals for MillenniAdults -- things like friends, travel, moments, family, and a work/life balance.

Yep, those things sounded good to me. I swore they'd changed these clips to make the MAs look better.

At this point, I started to wonder why I had felt so pigeonholed when we watched these clips as a staff. Then I kept watching.

Clip 4: A young woman talking about the "M" word: "Whenever I have no money, my parents will always help me. . . . They don't give me money on a regular basis, or pay for anything; well, no, that's not true, they pay for my cellphone. . . . At any age . . . they would still be there to be like, 'We'll give you money to get on your feet.'"

I think this clip was one of the first we watched together as a staff, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. With that clip setting the stage, we next watched one where a young man talks about traveling to Europe, and how "now is the time" to do it, presumably before he has serious family or career obligations.

Maybe it was just the order in which we watched the clips that set the tone in my mind, but I didn't like what these two clips implied: that my generation is the offspring of well-off parents who have given us the resources to do whatever we want, who have worked hard so we don't have to.

Maybe we'll get in a pinch because our rent is too high or we charged too much on the credit card, but mom and dad will help us out and get us back on our feet, so we're free to move on to our next life adventure. We're able to roam across Europe for a few weeks because we've got that safety net, and presumably the money, to take that kind of trip. Don't we?

With these implications coloring my outlook on Sachs's clips, I started to get defensive. My family, solidly middle-class and loving as all hell, is great -- but they don't write me checks when I get in a bind. And sure, I guess I could have put off getting a "real job" for a few years after college to enjoy my youth and travel and see the world, but upon graduating from college, I had pretty close to a zero balance in my bank account. Not to mention the student loan payments that were soon due -- and my $160 a month was nothing compared to some of my friends, who were looking at sums of up to $800 a month (to pay down $70,000 in school debt).

So, there I was, sitting in a room with my colleagues, a handful of whom are part of my parents' generation -- the Baby Boomers -- and who are also my professional superiors. And on the screen, there's a girl my age saying, "I know a Louis Vuitton bag is not going to make me happy, but I still want it."

Fine. But the last thing I want is Peter, or anyone, to think my fellow MAs and I are materialistic, spoiled, and willing to sacrifice hard work for "balance" in our personal lives.

It's not that I don't share many of the sentiments and goals voiced by the MAs in the Sachs clips. And it's not that I don't have friends who are very much like the people in the clips. I do. But during work hours, with my colleagues sitting next to me, I don't want to be seen as one of them.

It is, to use Peter's words, an unsettling conundrum. If a few clips provoke such a negative reaction in me -- and my fellow MAs in the office -- are they still valid? To what extent can they be safely applied?