Do millennials suck all that much? We always hear about how ungrateful or lazy the millennial generation is. We don't work hard and we don't appreciate our elders.

I've decided to see how much millennials suck in two categories -- our ungratefulness and our idleness.

Millennials are ungrateful/unappreciative.

Why are we ungrateful? Could it be because we eat with our elbows on the table? I don’t know about you, but I have never told an elderly person to “screw off”, or taken an act of kindness for granted. Just the other day a gentleman held the door open for me and I gave him the finger --- no, this does not happen.

And I realize there are exceptions to this rule, there is always going to be a few ungrateful millennials out there, but it’s not because they are millennials, it’s because there are assholes in every generation. And if you happen to come across one of these assholes, don’t let them taint your perception of my generation as a whole, that’s not cool.

And unappreciative? I don’t understand why we are unappreciative. I am fully aware and appreciate the sacrifices and time my parents took to make sure I had the opportunity to receive a higher education.

Business Insider reveals that U.S. enrollment has increased 41% since 1980. I know that I am the one that is going to school, and I would like to be validated on my personal drive to become educated and be a useful member of society, but I also know I would not have gotten here without the help of parents, teachers, mentors, coaches… all people older than me. And I hold these people on a very high pedestal in my life. I appreciate what they gave me so I could move forward.

Maybe there is one thing I am unappreciative about. I do not appreciate that when the world was handed to my generation, it was riddled with things like pollution, landfills, melting polar ice caps, and global warning. But am I an ass about it? No, it’s not like when I see an older person I spit on them because they used plastic in everything and thought they could just throw all their trash into the ocean or out their car window.

Carbon XPrint's journal shows that millennials are 3 TIMES more likely to apply to jobs where the company actively supports social and environmental causes.

Not only would we rather work for environmentally friendly companies, 70% of millennials have purchased products solely because the product supports a good cause. So even if we are unable to physically give time to volunteer for a cause, we still try to support efforts by funding.

If anything, generations before us were unappreciative of Mother Earth and nature causing a slew of animal extinctions, depleted resources, and environmentally harmful products. All things that millennials will have to deal with for the rest of their lives since we will be running the workforce and economy for the next 40 years. Now wasn't that rude of them?

Millennials are lazy/idle.

If I wasn’t so damn busy all the time I would love to spend my days helping others for free. But these days, that is just not practical; the time part or the money part.

With the cost of college at the highest it has ever been and the amount of free time I have at the lowest, there isn’t even enough time for me to get the recommended 7 hours of sleep.

This article shows that in 2014, two years ago, text books prices were 812% higher than they were in 1978. Yes, 812%. Should I say it again? 812%. This cost is stacked on top of tuition which has risen 599% since 1985. If you don’t believe me, here is a graph from a journal titled "Economix" 

Oooo science!

Why does it matter that school is more expensive? Because people in generations before had to have jobs to pay their way through school as well. I understand that. I am not saying they didn’t work hard to earn their degree.

But most people say they worked their way through college as if we should be able to do so too. Insinuating that since millennials are unable to pay for their school by working at the same time, we have a low work ethic. We don’t work hard enough.

Many students today do hold down part-time jobs in order to pay for school. I find it rare to meet a student that doesn’t have at least one job while enrolled full time. This boy in my class works 4 jobs and he is a full-time student, and this kid’s eyes are always so bloodshot you’d think he is doing meth.

So on top of taking as many credits as possibly per semester, students have to do their homework and work at some crappy restaurant that sucks their soul out 4 nights a week.

What I am saying is that millennials are taking bigger class loads, have significantly more homework, and still work their part time job that can only cover a fraction of tuition.

If you don’t believe me, this article breaks down how much a college student would have to work to pay their tuition per year today and in 1979.

It explains that in 1979 a student would be able to pay for one year of college by working a minimum wage job for 385.5 hours, approximately one summer’s worth of full-time work. But with the cost of tuition and textbooks through the roof today, the average student in 2015 would have to work 2,229 hours of minimum wage in order to pay for one year of school. Do you see a difference?

2,229 hours. Do you know how many hours that is? The average American employee that works a FULL-TIME JOB works 2,000 hours PER YEAR. The numbers just don’t add up.

We are supposed to work more than a full-time employee, be a full-time student, and finish homework? No wonder people think millennials are ungrateful and rude. We are just too damn tired and sleep deprived to have gracious table manners.

I don’t think millennials suck, I think they work hard. I don’t think the generations before us were lazy, I think they did exactly what they needed to do in order to get a job and be successful adults, just like millennials are doing. I think we live in very different times that require very different things from us.

I don’t think the sun shines out my asshole, and I don’t that millennials should be “cut some slack.” I think millennials should be held accountable for the immense amount of work we have to put in in order to succeed in today’s age.