Millennials lack basic survival skills

[pete6032]

The Millennials are what's turning us into a service economy.

Retard and run.

 

[highland145]

They've been setup to fail since birth. Manufacturing went the way of Mexico and China, so those jobs are limited. Skilled trades were sold as "lesser" jobs. Minimum wage is not a living wage. So what is left? They are told from the start of elementary school that they have to go to college. So they go to college and take on a pile debt. Only to come out to a flooded job market with a bunch of boomers clinging on for dear life to their inflated incomes and benefits. And when they retire the boomer administration eliminates the positions because it's an easy way to fluff up profits and make the bottom line look good. So they retreat back to school for more education and loans and hope to come out again when the market is better. Oh and they've seen the wasteland of marriage and divorce rates brought on by their boomer parents/older Genx parents so they are sour on the idea of marriage. But are stuck with the lucrative housing costs created by dual income households the previous two generations before them. So they have a huge pile of debt. Take forever to find a job since the market for highly educated positions is low and they were never given an option for skilled labor. And they can't afford to buy a house even if they had a job. So they retreat back to their parents place and attempt to dig themselves out of it.

I really feel sorry for this generation. They've been left a plate of crumbs and huge tab to pickup after everyone else bolted.

Obviously, the right degree can lead to a higher income. I do see your point about being set up to fail...kind of like growing up on welfare, waiting on a govt check. I've been fortunate to have a different perspective on those blue collar jobs and incomes if you're willing to work. My Dad was a mechanic for KC and made a very good salary. My bro, the plumber. Bro in law, the electrician. While not blue collar, my sis owns a jewelry store/photog business/tent rentals/etc. Me, I'm the white collar worker that didn't make jack until I opened my own.

We'll see how we've done with the kid, now 15. I've pointed out jobs/incomes/career paths since he was old enough to understand and that I'm not paying for a humanistic/social degree.

 

[highland145]

https://youtu.be/hER0Qp6QJNU

Excellent post.

 

[vi edit]

Obviously, the right degree can lead to a higher income. I do see your point about being set up to fail...kind of like growing up on welfare, waiting on a govt check. I've been fortunate to have a different perspective on those blue collar jobs and incomes if you're willing to work. My Dad was a mechanic for KC and made a very good salary. My bro, the plumber. Bro in law, the electrician. While not blue collar, my sis owns a jewelry store/photog business/tent rentals/etc. Me, I'm the white collar worker that didn't make jack until I opened my own.

We'll see how we've done with the kid, now 15. I've pointed out jobs/incomes/career paths since he was old enough to understand and that I'm not paying for a humanistic/social degree.

I think there are generational pendulums that are happening between the "Defined" generations that are hugely impacting. My grandparents were more "wealthy" than my parents. My wife's grandparents were extraordinarily more wealthy than her parents. Both my wife and I are relatively speaking, much more prosperous than either of our parents. I really don't know if my own kids will have the same income opportunities that my wife and I had.

 

[Kaido]

They've been setup to fail since birth. Manufacturing went the way of Mexico and China, so those jobs are limited. Skilled trades were sold as "lesser" jobs. Minimum wage is not a living wage. So what is left? They are told from the start of elementary school that they have to go to college. So they go to college and take on a pile debt. Only to come out to a flooded job market with a bunch of boomers clinging on for dear life to their inflated incomes and benefits. And when they retire the boomer administration eliminates the positions because it's an easy way to fluff up profits and make the bottom line look good. So they retreat back to school for more education and loans and hope to come out again when the market is better. Oh and they've seen the wasteland of marriage and divorce rates brought on by their boomer parents/older Genx parents so they are sour on the idea of marriage. But are stuck with the lucrative housing costs created by dual income households the previous two generations before them. So they have a huge pile of debt. Take forever to find a job since the market for highly educated positions is low and they were never given an option for skilled labor. And they can't afford to buy a house even if they had a job. So they retreat back to their parents place and attempt to dig themselves out of it.

I really feel sorry for this generation. They've been left a plate of crumbs and huge tab to pickup after everyone else bolted.

I have so many friends in this exact situation. They went to college, got a big student loan, job pays meh, can't afford a house, living with parts until their school debt is paid off in a million years. Or get married, have kids, and both parents have to work instead of one being home to raise the kids because the cost of housing is crazy high. I doubt many people will have a career at the same company for 20 to 40 years like people used to have.

I'd love to finish up my Master's up at UCONN, but even the in-state tuition is $10,000 cash per semester. So $20k a year, plus working full-time (and then some) plus having a family...I should have picked a different career if I wanted to be rolling in it And there's really no pay bump for a high degree working in computer hardware, so the incentives in my field & a lot of others are low. I'm all for more education, but in the real world, you also have to balance the payoffs associated with the time & financial investments.

America is in a weird place right now.

 

[highland145]

I think there are generational pendulums that are happening between the "Defined" generations that are hugely impacting. My grandparents were more "wealthy" than my parents. My wife's grandparents were extraordinarily more wealthy than her parents. Both my wife and I are relatively speaking, much more prosperous than either of our parents. I really don't know if my own kids will have the same income opportunities that my wife and I had.

Sure they will but that's directly related to you and the wife, imo. The value of a dollar, usable education and a good work ethic. Pharmacists aren't going anywhere. Remember the rich kids in HS, new cars/clothes/etc. Most of the ones I know didn't do well as adults when the parents gravy train stopped. My Dad made decent $$ but wouldn't spend it so we worked for our spending $$ if we wanted any. The upside is my Mom (76) is set. No pics and Alky's already been by.

2 of my 15 y.o. friends just got 2013 cars...WTH? For a new driver? His is a 21 y.o. Accord but I know we do too much. Asked him what he wanted for Christmas..."I don't know." We're working on it though. 2 summers ago he worked for a landscaper friend, last summer was a bit of a bust, this summer is already planned for the blueberry field where he can make a decent amount of $$ if he works at it.

 

[vi edit]

Excellent post.

I watched that over my lunch break and agree. It was a very good insight into what is happening to our younger generation. I absolutely agree with almost all of his points and reasons for them. I see and understand the digital addiction and as part of that "pendulum" am actively trying to correct it in my kids. TV and electronics times are very limited. Outdoor play, indoor active play and books are first. Electronics are special rewards and done on a limited basis for the exact reasons he states. My wife is actually the worst one in our house with the phone and it's a very grating subject between us. She's on the fucking thing FAAAAAAAAAAR too much and it's actually to the point of bothering the kids and they call her on it. But she has yet to change. Short of throwing the thing out the door and/or divorcing I'm not sure how to handle that. I don't want my kids growing up to be like her.

But it's a very tough balance. Other parents don't embrace the same moderation and it's an all you can eat electronics buffet. Then your kid with limited access looks like the awkward luddite and is shunned. Then they go out seeking stuff (like getting up in the middle of the night and getting the iPad and draining it dead overnight on a school night) to overcompensate for the moderation. It's a shitty slope to have to navigate.

 

[vi edit]

Sure they will but that's directly related to you and the wife, imo. The value of a dollar, usable education and a good work ethic. Pharmacists aren't going anywhere. Remember the rich kids in HS, new cars/clothes/etc. Most of the ones I know didn't do well as adults when the parents gravy train stopped. My Dad made decent $$ but wouldn't spend it so we worked for our spending $$ if we wanted any. The upside is my Mom (76) is set. No pics and Alky's already been by.

Markets are *VERY* different now than when my wife graduated. Testing and application volumes have gone sky high, schools are cranking out PharmD's by the thousands a year but hospitals are shrinking staff to stay in line with reimbursement models, Walgreens is cutting back on physical staff and consolidating to "Rx in a Box" sitting and working order queue's remotely for several stores at once. Supply is quickly outpacing demand. People are getting hired in and staying there and not opening up positions for others. It's a cycle. I was that way with IT. 20 years ago I could walk up to about any company with my C.S. degree and get hired. Now it's much, much harder to do. Overshot demand. Particularly at entry level. You need to be looking 10 years out to forecast where the shortages are going to be instead of hopping in as the wave is cresting.

 

[highland145]

I have an Ace in the hole. My wife the licensed counselor. Lots of wisdom imparted on the kid over and over.

 

[highland145]

Markets are *VERY* different now than when my wife graduated. Testing and application volumes have gone sky high, schools are cranking out PharmD's by the thousands a year but hospitals are shrinking staff to stay in line with reimbursement models, Walgreens is cutting back on physical staff and consolidating to "Rx in a Box" sitting and working order queue's remotely for several stores at once. Supply is quickly outpacing demand. People are getting hired in and staying there and not opening up positions for others. It's a cycle. I was that way with IT. 20 years ago I could walk up to about any company with my C.S. degree and get hired. Now it's much, much harder to do. Overshot demand. Particularly at entry level. You need to be looking 10 years out to forecast where the shortages are going to be instead of hopping in as the wave is cresting.

Truth. Friend's daughter just got her PT degree. For some fucked up reason, the state decided that it took a B.S. +3 years..WTH? So she's in a ton of debt and making $60K. 10 years out...back to the trades or high finance like me.

 

[highland145]

But it's a very tough balance. Other parents don't embrace the same moderation and it's an all you can eat electronics buffet. Then your kid with limited access looks like the awkward luddite and is shunned. Then they go out seeking stuff (like getting up in the middle of the night and getting the iPad and draining it dead overnight on a school night) to overcompensate for the moderation. It's a shitty slope to have to navigate.

What's wrong with Luddites? So says me and my 10 y.o. lg 8300. My new phone will be in tomorrow...also a flip.

 

[Abe Froman]

I'm actually surprised some of the responses were as high as they were. 44% have never been camping; I would have thought it was higher. It's probably because I picture tridentboy as your typical millennial.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/74...-survival-skills-London-Boat-Show-Bear-Grylls

Actually, most humans lack these skills, as they are no longer relevant to our survival. In fact, man has evolved from those qualities. If we were suddenly required to exists solely in the wild, most of us would starve as our jaws have evolved to process mostly cooked and tenderized meats. If we were forced to live off of vegetation, our jaws wouldn't be able to keep up with the workload. This is why cavemen had big jaws and mashing teeth.

There's a great analysis of it here on Cooked from Netflix

 

[Yakk]

Last I checked, the Boy Scouts of America program was still around.

TBH, I'd really like to see Girl Scouts take a cue from the equality movement and start teaching girls the skills that Boy Scouts are given. There is no logical reason a woman can't do everything I did in Boy Scouts.

In Canada, Scouts has been officially mixed since 1998. Everybody runs the same program and from all I've heard, yes it generally works very well.

 

[StrangerGuy]

"Look at these kids who are so addicted to electricity that they can't live without it!"
-Same shit, only circa 18xx.

 

[IronWing]

I was listening to NPR on the way into work this morning when this piece about teaching people skills to police recruits aired.

http://www.npr.org/2017/01/12/509444309/cops-get-a-new-type-of-training-conversation

There is no transcript yet. Anyway, the police trainers force recruits to talk to strangers and work on being aware of their own body language and communication skills as well as learning to read other people. The one line in the story that really stuck with me is that the program was originally developed for the Marine Corps. This suggests to me that the millennials lack the people skills necessary to be Marines.

 

[vi edit]

I was listening to NPR on the way into work this morning when this piece about teaching people skills to police recruits aired.

http://www.npr.org/2017/01/12/509444309/cops-get-a-new-type-of-training-conversation

There is no transcript yet. Anyway, the police trainers force recruits to talk to strangers and work on being aware of their own body language and communication skills as well as learning to read other people. The one line in the story that really stuck with me is that the program was originally developed for the Marine Corps. This suggests to me that the millennials lack the people skills necessary to be Marines.

Or it could just be that their candidate selection process sucks.

 

[Yakk]

Reading body language and having good communication skills I consider basic skills in today's marketplace. Sales, customer relations (non-robotic), office management positions all require this to be successful. For some people it's very intuitive, for others... really not.

I still remember to this day my sensei spending many, many sessions going through and explaining every little detail of each body part (in addition to the face) and their interactions. Priceless knowledge looking back..

 

[OverVolt]

I used to take the side of millennials.

They'll learn better, they'll wise up, they'll step up to the challenge.

After seeing some really bad ones in person, no they won't. They are completely worthless.

 

[OverVolt]

"Look at these kids who are so addicted to electricity that they can't live without it!"
-Same shit, only circa 18xx.

Its beyond that. They have no problem solving skills. Basic, problem solving skills.

And their expectations... whoa boy... are they even looking at the same facts and figures staring them in the face or what?

Social interaction is also rather poor and awkward. Getting to know someone consists of snooping on their social media. No social media = distrust. Because they don't actually have the skills to build trust in person instead of over media. They actually don't have even the most basic skills when it comes to telling when someone is lying in person without trying to fact check their Facebook. If you wanna trick a millennial just have a clean looking social media presence and you can get away with anything.

 

[pete6032]

Its beyond that. They have no problem solving skills. Basic, problem solving skills.

And their expectations... whoa boy... are they even looking at the same facts and figures staring them in the face or what?

Social interaction is also rather poor and awkward. Getting to know someone consists of snooping on their social media. No social media = distrust. Because they don't actually have the skills to build trust in person instead of over media. They actually don't have even the most basic skills when it comes to telling when someone is lying in person without trying to fact check their Facebook. If you wanna trick a millennial just have a clean looking social media presence and you can get away with anything.

You sound a little bitter brah.

 

[OverVolt]

You sound a little bitter brah.

Nah, Millennials are a mindset, not a generation.

They're the tail end of whats remaining of the coddled boomer children. Many of them in that generation and age bracket weren't raised that way and thus aren't millennials.

Something tells me you're guilty of most of the above stuff I said and you felt the need to dig at me.

The young bank rober, eager to see the haul, wanted to start counting the money, and the experienced bank robber said just wait for the TV to tell you.

Millennials have no experience and at this rate nor will they ever.

I think the last time a bitter person trying to turn the tables on me actually worked I was 12.

 

[MrSquished]

Should we make it mandatory for young folks to be able to tie a knot, catch some fish, and start a fire a pre-requisite to vote?

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Should we make it mandatory for young folks to be able to tie a knot, catch some fish, and start a fire a pre-requisite to vote?

We should make it a pre-requisite to living past 18.

 

[pete6032]

Should we make it mandatory for young folks to be able to tie a knot, catch some fish, and start a fire a pre-requisite to vote?

absolutely. Anyone from Gen X and Y must also be able to use an abacus and bird quill pen.

 

[norseamd]

I'm actually surprised some of the responses were as high as they were. 44% have never been camping; I would have thought it was higher. It's probably because I picture tridentboy as your typical millennial.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/74...-survival-skills-London-Boat-Show-Bear-Grylls

Wait a minute, are we supposed to be suckers and believe most Baby Boomers and Generation Xers have outdoors skills?

Sorry, this isnt a new phenomenon, and it isnt restricted to Millennial.

And I know how to do quite a few of those things, Im a little lacking in the various knots department, but I know how to do most of the other stuff.