Ah yes, Millennials; the generation of lazy, entitled, economy-ruining, jerks. Don’t worry, I’m a Millennial, and it sucks being labeled as such. However, every once in a while I stumble upon a few articles listing everything we’ve ruined. So! I thought I’d highlight some of the bizarre industries/morals we’ve destroyed. A personal take-way from all this? Maybe a few things we destroyed, really weren’t that great to begin with… Just an observation though.
1. Napkins. A product I had no idea Millennials were killing off. I a) completely forgot about napkins, and b) have only boughten them once in my life, about 7 years ago… In all honesty though, I do feel slightly bad for the napkin producers out there; who were probably blindsided by this generation that sought to find one sustainable product to use for multiple purposes. We welcomed paper towels with open arms. Need to wipe your hands? Paper towels. Need to wash your windows? Paper towels. #RIP Napkins.
2. Golf. According to Business Insider, “Millennials aren’t picking up the game, and the Boomers are aging out.” Now, I’m not saying I hate golf by any means, but it’s just not my cup of tea. I don’t play it well enough, nor do I have the time to play a 6 hour sport on a Saturday. Side note, it probably doesn’t take a good golfer that long, but I’m not good, and it takes a LONG time for me. Additionally, I don’t have the disposable income to go out and spend thousands of dollars on equipment, and even if I did, I’m almost certain it would go towards a new Pair of Jimmy Choo’s, not a golf club. However, this is truly the only sport you can continuously drink and smoke cigars through – so it’s a tad surprising to see the sport take a hit.
3. Cable Packages. I mean, is society really that pissed off that Millennials don’t want to pay $700/month for 400 channels? To which, like, only 4 of those channels are decent, and you have to pay additional fees for other ‘packages’ like NFL, etc. I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty sure it’s just the wealthy old men running these large cable corps. that are sad they won’t be able to finance their 9th summer home in Bermuda. Millennials don’t want to be told to watch ‘this show’ at ‘this time’, by someone who sold the time slot to the highest bidder. Can anyone say, Netflix and Chill?
4. Marriage AND Divorce. I know listing both sounds contradicting, but hear me out. More than half of Millennials are single now-a-days, compared to back in the 80s, when more than 2/3s of the demographic were married. That’s a big difference! And on that note, let’s talk about how this effects the divorce rate. Since Millennials are taking our time getting married, you know, finishing college, dating around, waiting till we’re all a little more mature and settled – the divorce rate has dropped. According to professor Philip Cohen of the University of Maryland, “Marriage is more and more an achievement of status, rather than something that people do regardless of how they’re doing,” Cohen told Bloomberg. Couples are waiting until they’re more economically stable to marry, and some poorer Americans might not marry at all, the study suggests.”The trends described here represent progress toward a system in which marriage is rarer, and more stable, than it was in the past, representing an increasingly central component of the structure of social inequality,” Cohen writes. (Full study here)
5. “Breastaurants”. Apparently, millennials are less interested in breasts than our elders. Whelp, maybe I should have read a few studies before getting a breast augmentation; sorry fellow Millennials, I missed the memo. Anyways, according to Hooters industry reports, not only are they closing more and more locations, they’re seeing a decrease in overall sales as well. In addition to the decline of fascination for the tatas, I believe the feminist movement of this generation plays a part in the decline of Breastaurants. Personally, I know a lot of woman that have no desire to visit a restaurant that displays and sexualizes women in order to make more money. But at the end of the day, sex sells. Right? I’m still waiting on a bar that plays highlights of Sec and the City, and all the waiters are scantily clad, drop dead gorgeous men, that serve you cosmos on a silver platter. Sigh* Maybe one day.
