I love the time I grew up in. Our generation has had so many opportunities and advantages that generations before us have not had, but sometimes I long for the days before I was even born. Every time I go out and see a female disrespecting herself or a guy disrespecting every one else I wonder, “Where did everything go wrong?”
I want to go back to how things were twenty and thirty years ago, and this is why:
Presenting Ourselves
Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes I look at the people around me and think, “Do you even own a mirror?” You straight up walked out of the house in pajamas, flip flops and hair and makeup courtesy of the night before. Does this bother anyone else? When did it become okay to be completely nonchalant about our appearances?
It also seems as if those who do care about appearances and spend time to get ready to leave the house don’t dress appropriately at all. Like no, it is not okay for you to wear a corset and a tight skirt out, I don’t care how hot you are. Guys are just as guilty. Did your mother not teach you how to iron a shirt before you put it on? Do you own a belt?
I want us to all go back to the time when people cared about how they looked. A man never left the house with a hair out of place and it was unheard of for a woman to leave the confines of her bedroom without lipstick on. This may be a drastic request for some, but at least try a little bit. It honestly doesn’t take much more effort to be presentable in the morning. The same amount of time it took for you to throw on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt takes the same amount of time for me to put on a dress and heels.
Family Values
I’m not saying that this generation doesn’t care about their families; I bet every single one of you loves your family. I’m just saying that lately I’m hearing of more and more families who are forgetting what it means to keep a family together.
I often receive incredulous gasps as a response when I tell people that I sit down to dinner with my family every night, and it’s not even a perfect dinner. We eat with the TV on the entire time. It’s almost unheard of for people our age to sit and have a conversation with their parents about how their day went and damn near impossible for a girl to think twice about what her father would think before she does something questionable when out with friends.
I want to go back to the days where everyone took an hour out of their night sans TV and smart phones to sit and have dinner with their family. I want parents to instill values in their children, have the children remember those values and live by them. Would it really change much? We could all still go out and have fun and do whatever we please, we just would do so with limits.
Is that so wrong? So unappealing? Girls: is it that hard to control yourself when you’re drunk and not sleep with the first guy you see? Guys: is it so very difficult to not sleep with a different girl every night? What would your parents think? The problem is that now, no one cares.
Work Ethic
Lack of work ethic is my biggest qualm with my generation. It seems as though the people who came from affluent families expect to have everything that their parents have and more and expect to attain these goals with less effort. Those who weren’t born into affluent families expect to have everything given to them via the government.
What happened to working for what you had? Going to college once meant 80% studying, 20% partying and working towards a future that you wanted to succeed in. Now it’s 80% partying, 20% studying, picking bullshit majors and not worrying about what’s coming in the future because you’re young right now.
I’m not saying don’t enjoy your youth, but understand that one day it’s going to end. You’re going to find yourself being 28 years old with no direction still going to 18+ club nights preying on the young and slutty. It’s possible to balance a good time and work hard for what you want in life.
I want to go back to the days where there were no expectations and people genuinely worked hard for what they had no matter what their economic standing was at the time of their birth. Because to me, being Elite means working for whatever you have, not receiving it because you should.
Elite.
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