You know what? I am tired of this young person bashing. Can you imagine if Prudence had written what she did today about Mexicans, or Jews, or the Irish instead of about the young.

Sure, the author of letter #1 was particularly whiney and is likely incompetent, but why does that lead to a condemnation of an entire generation?

And while we can all see that letter writer #2 seems to have a particularly annoying sense of entitlement I do have some sympathy for him/her. How many of you older generation folks had to start your lives with over $100,000 worth of debt?

Picture if Prudence's generalizations were made about any other ethnic, racial, or social group. It would be, rightly, condemned to make sweeping generalizations about any such group based on the actions of a few.

Because we're old, and we know best.

Of course, we would all give the same answer to morons of any generation. Stupid questions do not rate kind answers.

Baby, we've all earned what we are. Most of us have nothing to prove. Those people that act as if the world owes them a living deserve to get slammed.

Because us 'older' people know that business of any sort is competitive, and they generally don't reward losers, and also many of us ALSO graduated with thousands of dollars in education debt (me to the tune of $48K) and NEVER expected our parents to help us.

Right on, maverjoe ! Unfortunately, i can't really call myself young anymore but i still think like a teenager as anyone on DP will testify. Hey, keeps me young and randy.

Are you saying there aren't definable trends from one generation to another? Because trends aren't the same thing as stereotypes. And, it's only fair to note that what seems to be bothering you is that these particular "generalizations" as you call them are negative. Are you equally concerned when people generalize about you and your peers being highly educated and more involved in causes than other generations? (Because I see those two mentioned quite commonly and I'm sure that there are some folks older than you who take offense to that.)

MessyONE:

Those people that act as if the world owes them a living deserve to get slammed.

I agree. But you don't need to slam an entire generation just to get at these few. Isn't it so fucking cliche anyway for all you old folks to shake your heads saying "damn kids these days"?....I expect more from you boomers.

I can't wait until your generation ends up in the nursing home. Then when you ask for a fresh bed pan, a new colostomy bag, or help paying for the home, we can ask why you old folks feel so damn entitled.

Aw come on! If a Jew wrote in complaining about the price of food or wanted to fight his landlord over a rent increase, we'd all be very hard on him.

And an Irishman with a DUI? Of course we'd all be down his throat.

And what about the Mexican who failed to get the proper paperwork and his Visa and is in danger of being deported. Wouldn't most of us Fraysters be saying, "That's what he gets for not keeping his appointments with the immigration office!"

No different than us saying "typical young person. Making a lot of errors and doesn't want to be called on it!"

BTW, I'm an Irish Jew. Before anyone thinks I'm a bigot! hee hee.

I can't wait until your generation ends up in the nursing home. Then when you ask for a fresh bed pan, a new colostomy bag, or help paying for the home, we can ask why you old folks feel so damn entitled.

Umm, becuase they're PAYING for proper treatment and care? If they're PAYING you to do something, it's not entitlement, it's expectations of services received for payment rendered.

Maverjoe is starting to sound like LW#1 and #2 with reasoning like that above.

And help paying for the retirement home? Didn't they help raise and pay for you? What do you want, your sick elderly parents living at home with you or out on the streets? Harsh. What a nasty person you are!

*enable snarky mode*

Well, y'all old people ought to be nice to us! After all, y'all are going to need us to pay your retirement and hospital bills as you slowly and expensively die because of all those great medical advances.

*disable snarky mode*

Do baby boomers ever get sick of being tarred with the same brush? Y'all don't all like the Beatles, you aren't all politically active, you don't all think the world was handed to you on a silver platter. (Though I have my doubts on that one.) We don't like people assuming that because we're twenty somethings we therefore think ______.

The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.

--Socrates, as quoted by Plato.

It's not young-people-bashing to point out that we were--generally speaking-- raised to expect tons of praise and are therefore often pains in the arse because of it. That actually implicates the older generations as much as it does the young. (Blame the Boomers!)

let's put 'young people bashing' on an equal footing, okay?

"a teenager, an irishman, and jew walk into a bar . . .

the bartender goes to the jew: "we don't serve your kind here . .. you guys plotted 9/11, and you faked the holocaust.

he turns to the irishman, and goes: "you've had enough already. you're drunk all the time"

then he turns to the teenager: "i'm not allowed to make any derogatory jokes about you. according to slate's fray, you're in a protected class. drink up."

What the naysayers are missing, is that some of the sterotypes are actually true, speaking as a 23 year old female. I'm often disgusted with my generation-how spoiled, "me me me" and demanding of praise we are. My parents put themselves through heavy financial burdens to help pave my way to education (and I'm still not totally loan free.) I got three jobs to balance out the debt while in school, but my sister, 4 years my younger, decided to go to an incredibly expensive city school, and then told my parents essentially to screw off, she doesn't want a job. Not that she doesn't NEED a job. Not that she can't FIND a job. That she doesn't WANT a job. Nearly all of my peers are having their parents pay their way in school, as well as giving them money for rent and frivolities. I say the boomers should speak up a little more loudly and a little more often about how this generation is being raised to have everything handed to them-and I'm speaking from right here among the land mines. So knock off the whole "ooo they're sterotyping us!", look around and realize there's a small grain of truth hidden inside that pity party.