Millennial me has some #feels about us millennials
I was born in the year 1991. I know what it’s like to not own a cellphone, but I also know what it’s like to spend hours in front of a screen. I remember the thrill of playing touch ball on the street with neighbors and Chinese garter with classmates, but I jumped at the chance to search the internet on a dial-up connection. I love memes—I understand them and they speak to me—and you can pry my millennial pettiness from my cold dead hands.
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The point is that I’m a millennial and I love being one. I know and believe I was born into the right generation—but sometimes, I just really hate us; I cannot stand some of our behaviors. Like y’all piss me off the same way I piss myself off.
So how do I hate thee? Let me count the ways.
Dating’s a bitch
No one I actually know likes dating in the traditional sense of the word. Sure, we’ll drink and flirt and small talk and exchange numbers, but we hardly ever actually go out to date. We hook up and have heavily leveraged on the term momol because it’s incredibly relevant, but it takes a special someone to get us up and ready before 10PM.
We talk and wish and pray to the gods for this special someone, but do we ever really give anyone a chance? Not really, not usually. It’s a dumb cycle.
And what do we do when we no longer want to see that someone the world has so kindly offered? We ghost, we orbit and we breadcrumb. To those that don’t know what that means: we disappear without notice, we linger from a not-too-close-but-close-enough distance and nagpapaasa tayo.
The constant need for proof
As someone that doesn’t post anything personal on her social media, I really do get peeved about this “pics or it didn’t happen” culture we’ve got going on and—by extension—the need to take photos on a by-hour basis. I’m cool with you stopping me from eating to take a photo of the food we’re about to devour, but don’t expect me to do the same.
#AlwaysOn yet #BurnedOut
When I was growing up, my parents treated the weekends like holy days. Now, my friends and I are always answering texts, calls and emails (whether or not they’re work-related) at the dinner table. And yet, at the end of the day, we’re always tired from having too many conversations and being part of too much in one day. There are too many things on our to-do lists and the priority tabs are getting too full. Does that make even sense to anyone?
Sure, kayod lang ng kayod, but I’m not in the business of killing myself and destroying my sanity.
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And while we’re on the subject of #AlwaysOn culture, I think we’re all seriously lacking some chill. A single post on Facebook, if seen by enough people, will be dissected to the damn period. It's like no one is allowed to make mistakes or have an opinion that doesn’t reflect your own. For a generation that is all about respect, we just can’t seem to let people be. And for millennials that pride ourselves for our no-care attitude, we sure get offended a lot.
Multiple. Personalities.
Instagram is where all the fun stuff goes. Facebook is our dumpsite for dumb shit. Twitter is for all those moments of brief wit that we have and must share. Poblacion is for the YOLO you, Tagaytay is for the you that always thirsts for adventure and The Palace is—simply put—for thirsty you.
So how are we supposed to discover and complete the real us when we’ve gotten too good at being different pieces of the puzzle at any given time?
The strength of nostalgia
One sure fire way of getting the millennials to get on board is to slather whatever-it-is in some 90s nostalgia. Think Toy Story 4, a Spice Girls reunion concert, Will & Grace and Friends on Netflix, #ThrowbackThursdays, remakes of The Lion King and Aladdin, memes of Princess Sarah and Nokia phones and The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird (AKA “Is this a butterfly?”). We drink that stuff up like it’s the first tequila shot of a scheduled walwal night.
It’s great to have an appreciation of the past, but how about we set our eyes forward without that signature cynicism once in a while?
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Before you start attacking this article like you would, let me just say again that I love the millennial generation. We have our flaws for sure—we’re fucked and fucked up, if you really think about it—but we have our redeeming points, too. We're snarky and (generally) accepting; we believe in genuine equality and we know how to have fun (sometimes to the point of stupidity). And, I mean, at least we know how to appreciate avocados on toast, amirite?
https://giphy.com/gifs/VeHBiuQWTNDETe6F2N
Art Alexandra Lara
