Gen Y Whiners

So, one of our co-workers who is not an “Official CrankyChick” but one who keeps us informed of the shenanigans of the general public, brought this to my attention. I realize this is old news, but I’m just getting fired up about it now!

Basically, a high school student decided to call up the county official who makes the decisions about snow days at home because he believed that school should have been cancelled. The county official’s wife returned his call and left him an angry voicemail. She read him the riot act, and called him (and all kids I think) “snotty-nosed little brats.” The student, Dave Kori, took her voicemail, posted it on YouTube and Facebook, AND included the official’s home phone number. Well the scandal took off from there. (You’ll have to look the voicemail up for yourself - I’m not doing that much of the work for you.)

The county official has taken a lot of flak, as did his wife, since the Washington Post and local news stations ran stories all last week.

I wonder what possessed Dave to call a school administration official at home… from his barred cell phone… at lunch? Was he thinking that actual working adults go home for lunch? HELLO Dave - people WORK for a living, and most of us work through lunch!

Why does Dave think that his opinion matters? I blame the parents. Much has been written about Generation Y and how dealing with these kids is going to be a nightmare. Trying times are coming. This is the generation of kids whose parents have told them how wonderful they are every second of every day. This is the generation of kids who need constant praise for doing the simplest things. This is the generation of kids who don’t like red pen because it’s angry and it hurts their feelings. And, this is the generation that makes me want to stab them. NEWSFLASH – you’re not wonderful. Your parents have to say that to you.

One columnist reminds Dave that employers and college application boards are just the type to Google him before his interview. Would you want to hire the kid who would post – what you thought was a private conversation – online? I don’t think so. As the fallout from posting someone’s home telephone number online has caught up with Dave, I think he’s had a chance to rethink things. He reportedly has asked his friends to take down the official’s phone number from their Facebook sites.

I’m not saying the official’s wife was right for yelling at the kid, no wait… I am. It’s about time someone told these Gen Y punks to shut up. I’m tired of kids who think that the sun shines out of their ass. Listen up kids, this isn’t the first time you’ll be yelled at for something you think you don’t deserve, and it certainly won’t be the last. Sometimes life sucks and you just have to put on your big girl panties and deal with it.