A Letter to Millennials from a Gen-Xer

Okay, Millennials.. Listen up.. As a Gen Xer, I got a bit of a lesson for you..

Yes, we all know that you are upset that Donald Trump is the new President. Yes, we know you still Stand with Her and all of that.. And that's fine and dandy.. But you guys seriously need to get a grip on yourselves.. When an election result affects you so much you need to have therapy dogs, free hot chocolate and safe spaces, it speaks volumes about how out of touch with reality you truly are.

Kiddos, you don't know the first thing about feeling "unsafe" because you've been sheltered all your life.. And that's why we are here today - why a cup of hot cocoa and a pack of crayons helps you feel "right as rain", because you have never known real hardships. Most of you instead grew up in a world where if you failed a test in school, your parents went and yelled at your teacher for it rather than making you face the consequences of not studying. You've been told that you can do anything, be anything when the truth is, NO, YOU CAN'T. Many of you never worked a day in your lives, being given everything you wanted, have never been told NO you can't have something. You went straight from high school to college, where you now require safe spaces and have to have your sensibilities catered to or else you can't function.

Most of you do not remember 9/11, the older Millennials probably do, but they're not the ones rioting on the streets right now. But those of you between 18 and 25, you really DON'T remember it. Yes, you might have been alive but you weren't old enough to truly remember and understand what was going on. You want to talk about being scared?? Needing a safe space?? Try watching as your fellow Americans lept to their deaths from 70+ stories knowing they would die but being brave enough to face death on their own terms. Try watching brave men and women of the NYPD and NYFD rushing into a building with the knowledge that they might not come back out (and many of them did not) because they knew that their decision to go in meant that many others might get out and live. Try being on a plane 25,000 feet in the air knowing that that plane is hijacked and heading some unknown place to kill more Americans and making the decision to take that plane down and crash it in the middle of an open field, sacrificing your life to save others. Not a single on of those people cried out "Stop, wait, I need a safe space because I feel triggered".. They instead gave all they had unselfishly for the sake of others.

And that's what it all boils down to. Unselfishness. That's a word that has been taken out of your vocabulary. You are a generation of ME ME ME and cannot comprehend the concept of doing anything for someone else or the greater good unless you personally get something out of it.

It's time you learn, it's NOT always about you.. Sometimes, you don't get what you want.. It doesn't matter if it's an election outcome, a grade on your exam, or whether or not mommy and daddy got you that brand new car even though they couldn't afford it but wanted their snowflake to be happy. In life, there will be disappointments, there will be roadblocks and there will be things you simply will not be given just because you want them. Success isn't defined by how easy you were handed something, or how much you whined until you were given it - it's defined by how hard you worked your ass off, the sweat and the blood you personally scarified to achieve it.. True satisfaction is known by actually earning an accomplishment rather than expecting it to just be given to you. If you want to be treated with respect and appreciated for what you bring to the table, then pull up your Big Girl/Big Boy panties and actually prove your worth rather than throwing a tantrum like a 3 year old. Actually become a productive member of society - yeah, it means you have to actually work hard but you'll be so much better for it in the long run.