*****<\/strong><\/center><\/p>\nWe were first dubbed \u201cGeneration Y\u201d in a 1993 editorial to distinguish us from Generation X (born between 1972 and 1980). It\u2019s only fitting the piece ran in an \u201cAd Age\u201d publication, because we are the most marketed-to-and-researched generation of all time. The problem is \u201cGeneration Y\u201d is a dreadful name: a) it\u2019s not original, b) it\u2019s not clever, and c) it\u2019s dead wrong.<\/p>\n
You see, we are nothing like our Generation X brethren. Generation X grew up on MTV and is a little darker. And can you really blame them? Their childhood coincided with their parents\u2019 1970s Me Decade hedonism. Their best video game was Atari (1977). <\/p>\n
No, Generation Y admires its grandparents the most, a.k.a. The Greatest Generation. It\u2019s not hard to see why. Our grandparents were born into the Roaring 1920s. They languished through the Great Depression before years of war overseas battling Jew-hating madmen. Sound vaguely familiar? <\/p>\n
But there are two glaring differences: <\/p>\n
1) Our grandparents were more hardcore. When my grandfather was my age, he survived a kamikaze attack in the South Pacific and spent three days on a lifeboat alone with a gashing neck. (I go to the gym Thursdays. Sometimes\u2026) <\/p>\n
Ornery critics sneer that us Generation Y\u2019ers are soft. That we were pampered too much as kids. We\u2019ve been called the \u201cTrophy Kids\u201d because we were raised hearing \u201cno one loses\u201d. The Clint Eastwoods of the world have a point. When I was six years, I went an entire soccer season without even touching the ball in a game\u2014even though I was starting midfielder. Yet I still won a trophy for \u201cTeam Spirit\u201d. At youth swim meets, the winner got the blue ribbon, but even the fat kid who finished two minutes later got a maroon-colored ribbon just for finishing. (Trust me, I\u2019ve got at least three collecting dust in an attic somewhere thanks to the 25 meter butterfly.)<\/p>\n
I can tell my Dad worries that we take HBO\u2019s \u201cEntourage\u201d too seriously. That we think fame and money will just happen. The reality is we don\u2019t look like Vince (even though we\u2019re already better actors), and we are facing years of hard work and \u201clearning the craft\u201d. <\/p>\n
2) We got the sweetest toys ever. Our grandparents\u2019 blockbuster new game growing up was \u2026 Monopoly (1935). Meanwhile, Generation Y has enjoyed the fruits and Apple of the exponential part of the technology curve. We\u2019ve gone from blowing on \u201cSuper Mario 2\u201d Nintendo cartridges to make them to work, to \u201cThe Sims\u201d, to \u201cAvatar\u201d in 15 years. <\/p>\n
However, this is not to say we were spared by the retail-ideas-so-dumb-they-are-brilliant department. Our aunts and uncles had the Pet Rock. We have the Snuggie:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt may have made the most prescient quote about our generation. The \u201cAngels In The Outfield\u201d kid turned brooding thespian noted, \u201cThis generation is going to blow away every generation ever. Because we’re the first ones with the Internet.\u201d And as Social media and wine expert Gary Vaynerchuk pointed out, \u201cThe Internet is 15 years old. It hasn’t even had sex yet.\u201d (Unless it is European.) <\/p>\n
In translation, Mom, don\u2019t even think about taking \u201cWorld of Warcraft\u201d away from us:<\/p>\n