The snow came down lightly as my friend and I walked back to the hotel after lunch. He commented on how the snowflakes were hitting our outerwear, not melting just yet. “They’re the most perfect snowflakes I’ve ever seen.”

Such an innocuous statement incensed me, but only later as I instagrammed the photo— how fitting. It wasn’t what he said, but what I’ve seen elsewhere.

Lately, the older crowd on social medias (namely, Facebook, because they can’t figure out any of the rest) have posted negative memes about millennials. Specifically this one:

I am a millennial. I crested puberty just as Nokia was on its way out, and I had an iPhone by the time I entered into a four year university— you know, that “worthless” piece of paper you groan about (sorry, all the manufacturing jobs had been outsourced, and trade work is not prestigious enough). 

And this whole “safe space” ordeal— I’ll yap on that in my next post, because it deserves an entire rant in and of itself. Forget the politics of this meme, because it shows extreme ignorance.

Who raised us? Because we weren’t alive while these bad things were going on that you supposedly toughed out— never you mind that we were children who witnessed 9/11 (and I, for one, was not let home early. Does that make me tough?). I didn’t raise myself; society raised me. Oooo big scary society. You raised me. Our current world fostered what my parents didn’t (who were and are excellent parents, by the way. Hi mommy!) because of its own selfish demands— we are the generation of instant gratification sponsored by whoever paid the most to market to us. “WHAT DO WE WANT? WHATEVER THEY TELL US! WHEN DO WE WANT IT? NOW!”

A relevant aside: I remember having a conversation with an acquaintance’s mother about PTSD. She recounted how her father, after serving in WWII, “…sucked it up and put on his big boy underwear” and didn’t need any therapy. Sure, your dad likely suffered for years, because he didn’t have the tools to cope; if silence is toughness, I wonder what that makes a loudmouth like me.

And let me tell you why your slights on my generation don’t bother me:

I’m going to live longer than you, and I have to live here— you’ll be dead.

I’m not crass; I’m factual. I’m trying to create a world for my longevity, as yours is so very threatened. Perhaps you know this already as your bullying comments indicate— that’s what bullies do when they feel threatened. Nanny nanny boo boo— can’t you just suck it up?

The funny thing is that I don’t find your anti-millennial sentiments hurtful or offensive, as you might expect my fragile feelings to be broken: I find them boring and useless. If we’re the generation that is entitled, then your generation is one that uses THE CAPS LOCK WAY TOO MUCH AND EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!! 

I’m not one to whine and complain (as, you know, we millennials do) without offering solutions. We have to glean wisdom from our elders and shrug off their outdated opinions. We have a more astute understanding of how our world works today, and we must use that to our advantage— we have to learn what works for us now, because what isn’t working is how the previous generation operated.

So there you have it. I’m a special little snowflake. I’m delicate yet strong; I’m unique and perfect. Bite me.

I’ll leave you with this video that also sparked this rant. It’s an excellent 17 minute clip of why and who and how.