Temperamental brats
Temperamental brats. To recall, that’s what Presidential Communications Office Secretary Martin Andanar labeled those who opposed the burial of the late Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Andanar continued his statement in an article calling these people to have such an “awesome capacity for nurturing hate.”
“Acting out” as they may have phrased it. Crybabies. Entitled. Easily offended. Narcissist. These are just some of the tags. According to an article by Joel Stein, millennials are so convinced of their own greatness that the National Study of Youth and Religion found the guiding morality of 60 per cent of millennials in any situation is that they’ll just be able to feel what’s right. Their development is stunted: more people ages 18 to 29 live with their parents than with a spouse, according to the 2012 Clark University Poll of Emerging Adults. And they are lazy.
I remember, during family dinners, any topic may arise which could start and stir the conversation. The television was on, everyone was enjoying the meal, and each family member would talk, even strained conversations just to draw out the silence in the room.
Suddenly, the evening news was on and the headline was about Marcos’ burial.
Everyone finally had something to say, and each member expressed his or her sentiment. My father, born in the 1960s, proudly told everyone about the Supreme Leader Apo Macoy.
I nod in agreement, but most of the time I was just doing it out of respect, dropping subtle hints that I have my own views on the issue now and then. He then started to ramble on the famous “Noong panahon namin” line.
No matter how hard you try to explain your stand, the grown-ups would always argue, “Paano mo nalaman na masama ang mga Marcos, eh hindi ka pa naman ipinapanganak noon.” There, I stood thinking, I should not have opened my mouth.
The older generation always asks millennials why they can’t take it when they are being corrected but refuse to ask themselves the same thing.
In reality, these old geezers invest on us, the younger ones. They try to lure us with memes, slang and other things they feel belong to popular culture. It’s just painful to watch them try really hard to get a familiar response from us.
The baby boomers would cry, “Millennials ruin everything!” while totally forgetting that their generation managed to nuke a country twice and destroy the world economy, putting us, the younger generations in debt, having to pay them all until we die.
It is very pleasing to see young people take part and engage on things such as politics. I’m glad I’m part of this generation because we are not afraid to speak up. We have ideas that were once unimaginable. We are critical-thinkers and we have the capacity to make this world a better place.
As I recall that dinner I had with my family, that night, I saw my dad’s #shookt face when I stood my ground and told everyone that.
I’m glad I did.