Kids today.

Pardon me while I hop up on this box that, evidently, once contained soap.

Yeah, I'm not that old. Well, at least not to people older than me. (In my own mind I'm a freaking dinosaur!) But it seems to me that the younger generation has become incredibly lazy and self-entitled. When I was a teen, I took public transportation everywhere. I saved my change from my lunch money for MONTHS to get my first tattoo. When I hit college, I lived on Ramen and Basic Menthol cigarettes, and worked a 9-to-5 job in addition to a full school schedule, and a very active social life.

Via social activities and friends, and also via my 10-year-younger brother, I've seen some encounters recently that make me nauseous. Kids *screaming* at their parents, demanding they drive 45 minutes to pick them up from a totally different part of town. Bitching and moaning about "poor management" at a job due to a series of circumstances beyond anyone's control. Blaming everyone but themselves for what goes wrong in their lives, and refusing to accept responsibility for their circumstances.

This video really illustrates my point. Grade schoolers don't need cell phones, high schoolers need to learn the value of a dollar, and college-aged kids need to cut the apron strings and only call home to check in, not to demand cash/favors.

Grow some pride, youngsters! Work hard for what you want, don't demand it from anyone but yourself. If this former raver/slacker/addict/social nerd (yeah, not the good "nerd" either) can do it, so can you. Being self-sufficient is hard, but has so many cosmic rewards.