Millennials and Xers Throw Down

Most of my speaking, researching, and writing about generational differences is to advance the cause of understanding among the generations, particularly so that the legal education and law practice experiences can be more fulfilling for everyone.

That said, I still love a good generational slap fight. I urge everyone interested in generational differences to take a look at the whole Generation X-bashing piece at Radar Online. There's plenty to love about this (and for a particularly delicious guilty pleasure, treat yourself to the comments at the end, in which Xers lose their minds defending themselves). There's the obvious fun that everyone has not loving Generation X:

Their moment is over. Finally. They got more than they deserved, considering that Millennials outnumber them by nearly 50 million. There are more of us Millennials than there were Baby Boomers! We threaten to overshadow everything Generation X fought so hard for. Like Adam Sandler movies and extreme sports.

The problem isn't just with us, Gen Xers insist. It's our parents, the boomers. They coddled us. Told us we were special. Turned us all into entitled brats with overinflated senses of self-importance. Is this any more annoying than, say, a generation of depressive praise junkies desperate for anyone's approval? No one ever told Generation X they loved them! Cry us the muddy banks of the Wishkah.

What's really beautiful about the piece is the subtext about Millennial values. They don't want to be a knock-off version of some other great generation. They want to be a great generation in their own right. And they know they've got it in them.

This article demonstrates tremendous insight about how Millennials are perceived by other generations. I've not seen Xers or Boomers exhibit this kind of understanding of their place among the generations. And we all get a fresh crop of these folks in the fall! Yea!