Gen Y's again

[dai sensei]

My eldest son is heading off to live in LA to pursue his acting career tomorrow. He has been selling and getting rid of his gear getting ready as he will only be taking a suitcase full of cloths. I was helping him to pack what was left today, and continuing tomorrow, but some what surprised by what I saw.

I had bought him over the years numerous tools, battery drill sets/spanner sets/plier sets/ socket sets etc but there were none there. He said he had thrown them out :o:o. He said I had already 5 sets of everything and hoard tools and didn't need anymore, which is probably true, but to throw them out??? I said he could have sold them, given them to a friend, or just leave them in the car he is selling (where they were normally kept) to add to its value (selling that too). I was also expecting a heap of cloths, but you guessed it, all thrown out. Even my dry-as-a-bone coat I had leant him, that no longer fitted me, but they are worth a fortune (especially if he took it to the USA and sold it). I managed to save my 2 bedroom side drawers and my old ironboard, he had borrowed when he first moved in, but only because they were still "for sale" on Gumtree. He tries to sell a set of $50 side drawers but throws away my $500 dry as a bone coat :doh:

As usual, he has spent the past week partying every night with friends and left all the work till the last days. He has caught a flu, and is stuffed, but still managed to pucker up enough strength to go out again tonight. Dinner/drinks/entertainment till 5am each night surely costs a fortune, but he is basically broke, and still owes a fortune on his credit card.

As much as I have tried to teach him to "survive" financially/mentally/physically etc, and he has survived on his own now 31, but that GenY just keeps raising its head.

Rant over from old fart.

[Big Shed]

Yep and they keep telling our generation it is all our fault that they will never be able to own a house!

[crowie]

Maybe write him into your will Neil leaving all the bills for him to pay but nothing else...... :doh: :o :C :~

[Kuffy]

Gen Y are perfect in every way. Gen X and babyboomers demanded too much creating the throw away society that we live in today. Now where is that handball emote gone too :D

[rrich]

My 45 yo just got married for the first time. He paid for most of the wedding himself. We keep pushing him to get the thank you notes out. He doesn't want to hear it. What really has me POd is that we brought him up better than that and it reflects badly upon SWMBO and I.

[ozka]

Hey hey hey. No need to bunch us gen x r's up with those y's Rich. :cool:

[turpene]

It's become a disposable world. Things used to be built to last, now some kid in China will build you a new one. It's a byproduct of the infinite growth mantra, which is also responsible for the massive capital gains in housing and barriers to entry for those carrying student loan debt with a job that has seen no real growth in wages for a long time (thanks inflation, higher taxes and low interest rates). So today's "youth" grow up chasing temporary entertainment instead of long term security, mirroring the job market they face where there are many contracts but few careers. Materialism is rampant and everyone has thier "feelings", fueled by hours of advertising which promotes a lifestyle to move units of stock and improve the quarterly report for shareholders. Planned obsolecence is a common feature of many products, whereas in days gone by you only had to buy something once and you looked after it and fixed it if broken.

It's a shame, but that is how it is now, and many of those raised since the 80's don't know any other way. Too much TV (and advertising) have been very effective in brainwashing a generation into this lifestyle, with dreams of being paid to play make believe so advertisers have a vehicle to sell more items. Not your fault or even the kids', no offence intended and I hope his dreams come true, but there are few that see the value in building something they can buy (made in China) for half the cost of materials and no hours of effort, not understanding the experience and skills development have value.

Personally I"m embarrassed whenever I need to hire someone to do something that isn't really difficult because I lack the skill to do it myself, and I try and learn something from them while they work so next time I'm confident to give it a crack myself. With all the online access to info, there's not much you can't learn if you try, and while the cost of doing it wrong until you do it right can add up, thats the price of education, and it leaves you with an asset (a new skill) which can't be repossessed when the economy goes to sh*t as the latest bubble bursts.

[rustynail]

It's just Algebra.....X is responsible for Y.

[Bendigo Bob]

So right dai sensai. I've got 4 of them myself, plus nephews and nieces, all pretty much the same. No sense of what is of real value (mind you there are the exceptions, a la Kuffy, he's different, in a good way)

You seem to have touched a nerve here too, not at all surpised.

None of my 4 are at all interested in inheriting my woodworking gear (probably $25 to 30,000 worth now) so I'm looking around for a local kid who is, like Kuffy, one out of the box, but needs a head start - he'll be in my will for the stuff in the shed! :)

[Simplicity]

Um some of us am well you know

I'm 45 and I've read this[emoji52]

Cheers Matt


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bendigo Bob]

Yeah, but you're a WOODIE Matt. That sets you apart from the crowd mate!

Kinda like Royalty of the generation.

[Wynterplace]

I'm on the cusp of X/Y, I'm 35... I did a trade, stuck with it, worked my off and now run a business, and have a home... still primarily owned by the bank though.

Some people just have different priorities.... they're no worse as a result, just different.

.




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Simplicity]

Yeah, but you're a WOODIE Matt. That sets you apart from the crowd mate!

Kinda like Royalty of the generation.

I wear that badge with pride

[q9]

Old people complaining about young people...nothing new (http://proto-knowledge.blogspot.jp/2010/11/what-is-wrong-with-young-people-today.html)...

[Chris Parks]

My mum used to say that the trouble with kids is they want to start where their parents left off not from where the parents started from. It is very true in a lot of ways unfortunately, my kids would never drag carpet home from the local tip like I did to put on the floor and we had it for many years. We have never owned a new lounge suite or kitchen table etc, my kids are used to that but they wouldn't do the same.

[q9]

My dad always said "I want you kids to have a better life than I had"

[Bendigo Bob]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe1a1wHxTyo

Needed to resurrect that one :) The Four Yorkshiremen

[Simplicity]

My mum used to say that the trouble with kids is they want to start where their parents left off not from where the parents started from. It is very true in a lot of ways unfortunately, my kids would never drag carpet home from the local tip like I did to put on the floor and we had it for many years. We have never owned a new lounge suite or kitchen table etc, my kids are used to that but they wouldn't do the same.

How many "new" tools do you have Chris [emoji12]

[Glider]

Every generation decides on how they want to live. That often involves a trend away from their parents' generational beliefs and attitudes by discarding what they see as negative and adopting new ways and means; some good, some bad.

IMO, all we can do as parents in our childrens' formative years is the following:
- Watching what you say and do because most of what they learn comes from you. The Golden Rule is a good basis to start.
- Nurturing their self esteem by encouraging what they do well.
- Believing that respect is a two way street.
- Asserting your parental authority before they reach four years of age. Every year past that becomes more difficult.
- Teaching them about actions and consequences.

The young live in a pretty harsh world created mostly by us, the boomers who had it all. We did it, so now we'll have to deal with it.

mick

[woodPixel]

Paid education, high unemployment, part time casual work, no unemployment benefits, income taxes, stellar housing prices, usurious rents, rates to bleed you to death, debt for life, no retirement, no benefits - EVER

Seriously, look to when you were 25, now try to look at a 25 year old today.

They don't want anything you have, for they cannot afford it.

The benefits you receive, they will never have, yet their taxes pay for it.

Before you moan about how hard your lives were, you haven't seriously considered the woeful regime of debt and taxes imposed on them and the benefits/entitlements you receive to which they will not.

You are only thinking in terms of material possession, what you have and what they have. You see a daily latte and new tshirt as "good", as wealth, as extravagance. Utter crap. You don't see the $650 weekly rents and 8 people to a shared house. The 3 part time casual jobs with the weekly threat of being fired, while paying off degrees for jobs they will never get.

What the entire baby boomer generation utterly fails to see is the seething resentment an entire generation has towards it.

You will be lucky if there isn't a revolution.

[Chris Parks]

How many "new" tools do you have Chris [emoji12]

Matt, quite a lot since I retired, before that none of my machines were new, I started with a Mk3 triton and always bought second hand machines after that. It was a curious thing to experience when I wanted to sell those used machines, no one wanted them at all and my Wadkin Bursgreen jointer I eventually gave away to get it out of the shed to someone whose circumstances were less fortunate than mine. The triton went the same way to a mate who was renovating a house and needed a table saw and had no money at the time. Why people do not like buying used machines is a mystery to me.

[Simplicity]

Matt, quite a lot since I retired, before that none of my machines were new, I started with a Mk3 triton and always bought second hand machines after that. It was a curious thing to experience when I wanted to sell those used machines, no one wanted them at all and my Wadkin Bursgreen jointer I eventually gave away to get it out of the shed to someone whose circumstances were less fortunate than mine. The triton went the same way to a mate who was renovating a house and needed a table saw and had no money at the time. Why people do not like buying used machines is a mystery to me.

And these days people like me love used machines, especially the stuff before I was even a thought.
Way over half my shed tools pre date me by decades.

Cheers Matt