(...) Ageism is alive and well. (...)
(...) Ah, the stories I could tell about the lack of integrity, the lack of work ethic and the general unwillingness to live in the actual world rather than the virtual reality that most are obsessed with. And the horror they face when they get in a situation where they have to part with their handheld electronic devices for even a few minutes, reminds of that scene in the movie where Meryl Streep's character has a dingo take her baby...
Very sad indeed. The lack of work ethic is probably the one that bothers me most. So damn many have had someone to take care of every mess they made, support them no matter what dumb thing they did, so they of course treat work as something of VERY low importance. (...)
It's ironic that you mention ageism before starting a millennial bashing post.
Have you ever stopped to wonder why generations end up the way they do? Here's my millennial anecdote to hopefully add in some things to the conversation - bear with the length if you don't mind.
My dad "worked hard" according to the traditional sense of the word. And, what I mean is, he had a job that he devoted himself to fully. The stated reason was to provide a home, food, and lifestyle to his family - to make sure that his kids had what he did not growing up.
That job took him all over the country. He quickly learned that Sales makes more money than Engineering and transitioned to a Business Development role...well, in his industry, the contracts go into the millions of dollars and the client-salesperson face to face interaction is a must. So, dad was gone on business ~3 weeks out of every 4.
Dad was around for Christmas, often away for birthdays, wasn't there when my soccer team took 2nd in State, wasn't there when I took 1st in a climbing competition, didn't teach me to drive, or fix a car, or shoot a gun, or use wood/metal working tools...and on and on.
Yep. Dad worked hard. And in 2008 it all came crashing down. His retirement accounts dropped to damn near zero just like everyone else's. He made moves to other companies to avoid being laid off. Retirement was most definitely delayed.
So, here I am, watching all of this and a few realizations occurred to me:
1) The economy don't care. No matter how much you save, or plan, or prep, it could all go away in an instant of unfortunate circumstance
2) My dad chose to sacrifice any past and future relationship with his children and grandchildren at the altar of "work."
So, now the question is: do I work hard?
Depends who you ask, I guess. I take on a lot of work and projects and I hit my deadlines. But, I also absolutely refuse to work on weekends, during an event my daughter has, on a date night with my wife, on vacation, during a holiday. I refuse to move anywhere for a job - the location that I choose to raise my family will have a drastic affect on my daughter and I will choose that location with my wife and without thought to what will amount to a temporary paycheck. I refuse to travel for work more than a week per quarter.
In short, I refuse to sacrifice my relationships on the altar of work.
So, does that make me "lazy & entitled?"
As a followup - the age range for what is termed the millennial group is too large...there are two subgroups with wildly different outlooks on life and at very different stages. Perhaps try learning about them and not applying the negative traits of one to an entire generation: https://www.businessinsider.com/2-types-of-millennials-mega-llennials-and-me-llennials-2020-1