Comments on: I’m Entitled… http://www.splintergeneration.com/im-entitled/ Thu, 17 May 2012 15:54:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 hourly 1 By: Jessie Carty http://www.splintergeneration.com/im-entitled/comment-page-1/#comment-1394 Jessie Carty Fri, 20 Aug 2010 18:13:11 +0000 http://www.splintergeneration.com/?p=1763#comment-1394 I'm in Generation X, I believe, and I remember being quite aggravated with the way I was treated by my manager because of my age. He had all these pre-conceived notions about what someone of my generation was like. He was stereotyping me. I try not to do that. I like the question you are posing about entitlement. Is it necessarily a bad thing? I think desire and drive is a good thing but when you feel you have earned the extra vacation etc before you've even put time in, that does make me pause. Maybe I'm getting too old :) I’m in Generation X, I believe, and I remember being quite aggravated with the way I was treated by my manager because of my age. He had all these pre-conceived notions about what someone of my generation was like. He was stereotyping me. I try not to do that.

I like the question you are posing about entitlement. Is it necessarily a bad thing? I think desire and drive is a good thing but when you feel you have earned the extra vacation etc before you’ve even put time in, that does make me pause. Maybe I’m getting too old :)

]]> By: Andrew Panebianco http://www.splintergeneration.com/im-entitled/comment-page-1/#comment-1386 Andrew Panebianco Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:06:31 +0000 http://www.splintergeneration.com/?p=1763#comment-1386 Oh no doubt. I knew a guy once who didn't take a job because he found it, "emotionally unsatisfying." Clearly that guy's got something up with his brain. That's entitlement gone mad. I think your closing point is a very strong one. Yes, we need to do our jobs. But I guess I wonder what relationship that job should have to our lives. Yes, we should work. Yes, we should work hard. We should take pride in what we do. But I reject any system that tells me that my job should be the center of who I am. If success is to be gained only though the denial of an actual life, of family, of the glory that is spending a day on the couch, watching a Law and Order marathon, then success is not success at all. Despite the good points that were brought up in this article (and there were a few), I still wonder about the paradigm from which this argument was made. One where to want more time, more entitlement, more freedom is a liability. A sign of weakness, or worse: solipsism. I'm no apologist for the dingbats of my generation. But I'm not sure I can throw in with the grouch patrol, either. Oh no doubt. I knew a guy once who didn’t take a job because he found it, “emotionally unsatisfying.” Clearly that guy’s got something up with his brain. That’s entitlement gone mad.

I think your closing point is a very strong one. Yes, we need to do our jobs. But I guess I wonder what relationship that job should have to our lives.

Yes, we should work. Yes, we should work hard. We should take pride in what we do. But I reject any system that tells me that my job should be the center of who I am. If success is to be gained only though the denial of an actual life, of family, of the glory that is spending a day on the couch, watching a Law and Order marathon, then success is not success at all.

Despite the good points that were brought up in this article (and there were a few), I still wonder about the paradigm from which this argument was made. One where to want more time, more entitlement, more freedom is a liability. A sign of weakness, or worse: solipsism.

I’m no apologist for the dingbats of my generation. But I’m not sure I can throw in with the grouch patrol, either.

]]> By: ccnyc http://www.splintergeneration.com/im-entitled/comment-page-1/#comment-1385 ccnyc Wed, 18 Aug 2010 20:59:15 +0000 http://www.splintergeneration.com/?p=1763#comment-1385 well, i will admit i read that article when it was first posted in 2008. and, unfortunately, it rang true for me. because the one guy i worked with from the author's generation was like a poster boy for the article. i'm being kind here - he was irresponsible, whiny, unreliable save for rare flashes of brilliance (i.e., when he felt like it), egotistical, absolutely unable to take criticism or to see that he should be criticized at all, and yet, somehow, was always gunning for his own advancement. he was also utterly full of shit, and convinced of his own ability to snow everyone around him. now, perhaps he was just a worthless sot, and not representative of his "generation". but he required endless coddling, which was not at all worth the effort. and when that article came out, we, who ended up firing him, felt it was oddly well-timed. yes, we all want to live in bliss. but we also just need to do our effing jobs. well, i will admit i read that article when it was first posted in 2008. and, unfortunately, it rang true for me. because the one guy i worked with from the author’s generation was like a poster boy for the article. i’m being kind here - he was irresponsible, whiny, unreliable save for rare flashes of brilliance (i.e., when he felt like it), egotistical, absolutely unable to take criticism or to see that he should be criticized at all, and yet, somehow, was always gunning for his own advancement. he was also utterly full of shit, and convinced of his own ability to snow everyone around him. now, perhaps he was just a worthless sot, and not representative of his “generation”. but he required endless coddling, which was not at all worth the effort. and when that article came out, we, who ended up firing him, felt it was oddly well-timed.

yes, we all want to live in bliss. but we also just need to do our effing jobs.

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