It seems as though our generation is obsessed with the concept of “adulting.” Now, Microsoft Word does not recognize that as a real term but it was one of the most popular ones used today. Urban Dictionary defines adulting as a verb that means “to do grown up things and hold responsibilities”. These responsibilities include paying bills, getting a job that pays salary instead of hourly, building credit, and – arguably the worst thing ever – going grocery shopping on your own. Now, there is the theory that that observing a phenomenon changes it. So here’s what I am thinking: the fact that we talk about adulting so much as a foreign and objective concept makes more difficult for us to actually grasp and think about as a simple part of life.
The very first time I signed a lease, I freaked out and put it on Facebook. If I had a dollar for every time a friend of mine freaked out about getting a utility in their name or paying a bill, I would be able to afford several days-worth of Taco Bell. But why is this? Why do we as a generation freak out about these seemingly everyday things? I have the beginnings of a theory that I hope my readers will help be expound upon. But let me plant the seed first.
I think our generation has this fascination with being adults because, for the first time in our society’s history, we have the ability to relate to one another instantly and on a national scale. Memes and gifs make it so we can relate to everyone else who has seen said memes and gifs. We have torn apart the concept of growing and removed it from its passive and natural state and turned it into an observable clichéd social phenomenon. From what I understand, growing up used to be a gradual, if not bumpy, process that just needed to happen. Now, it’s this painfully slow process that everyone cannot stop freaking out about and some are actively resisting. Why?
I read in an article that we have more twenty-somethings living at home or planning to live longer at home than we’ve had for a long time. Current social and economic climates have created an atmosphere where the personal matriculation of the young adult no longer matches the pace at which we are expected to move through life. Becoming a “real” adult no longer promises independence, a happy family, and general good will. Now it’s a promise of debt, the promise of fighting other debt-ridden college grads for jobs, and a promise of not being sure if you’ll ever really be on your own two feet. For the first time ever, our generation will probably not be better off than our parents. The worst part is that we are millennials are told that that fact is our fault. That somehow our ‘laziness”, “entitlement”, and “sensitivity” created this instability – even though we weren’t able to influence the economy in any way until very recently – but that’s none of my business, though. *Sips Tea*
So I guess it’s not so surprising when we make a big deal about everyday things. Perhaps it’s not so weird that success is a phenomenon to us. Perhaps the reason why we sit around eating Easy Mac and watching old cartoons is because being a kid is the last time we can remember feeling stable in this very unstable world. Some food for thought.
