Hey Jordan,

I want to congratulate you on this piece. I read it yesterday and have been mulling it over since. It really made me think about what I think about Millennials.

I have to say that I go into every interaction with every human without a preconceived notion. Frankly, I have too much else going on to make those kinds of assumptions. But I will use “Oh, s/he is a millennial” after the fact as a way to explain behaviors that I see and struggle to understand.

For example, the passage above. While I totally agree that a workplace should be civil when someone decides to leave, I don’t think their response was rooted in fear for the short term. They were likely just focused on their own needs. As was your friend. Which is ok. But I bet that workplace culture was as described before he quit. Maybe its one of the reasons he chose to quit. So, expecting the people there to act differently, or be invested in his future, seems like someone wishing to be treated as unique.

I know all this generational stuff feels like a big deal, and maybe this time around it really is different. But I remember Generation X as being a really big deal when I was in my 20’s too. The funny thing is, I couldn’t even remember what the stereotype was until I googled it. Apparently we were huge slackers. And when the stock market crashed, it made it really hard for us all to find jobs. Have you ever seen Reality Bites?

In the end, just make choices that feel true to you and don’t worry about what people think of you, whether they are older or younger or the same age. We’re all just trying our best. And we’re all struggling.

Congrats again on a thought provoking article.