This is an opinion column.
I do feel kind of bad for Gen Z. They’ve had a hard time of it. First, September 11th hits, then the Great Recession, then the phony COVID scare and government shut-downs.
They’ve had to deal with social media when growing up and lies and bullying online, which the older generations never had to deal with. And then they get swindled by liberal society that convinced them to borrow huge sums of money to pay for questionable courses and degrees.
On the other hand, at some point when you’re an adult you have to take responsibility for your own life and its direction. The Wall Street Journal had a recent article on how start-up companies are trying to understand and cater to Gen Z workers who apparently need a lot of hand holding and then therapists to talk to – at work.
Well, I thought maybe I could help with that problem a little – or at least help their employers in communicating more clearly to their Gen Z workers. Here are a few communication phrases you that you can employ when Gen Z is not understanding what they need to be doing or they are unable proceed with a task –
1. Do you need me to call your helicopter mommy?
2. Quit whining and get back to work.
3. Shut your mouth. God gave you two ears and one mouth; use them in that proportion.
4. Shut up, sit down, and listen.
5. Man up. (That’s one of my favorites.)
6. Does your mamma wear combat boots?
7. Is there anything going on in between there (pointing to his/her ears)?
8. Stop crying and quit your bitchin’.
9. What planet are you on?
10. Get a haircut, get some professional clothes, show up to work on time, and do your
job.
Alright, alright, I don’t actually say these (at least not all of them), but you can try them out. The most annoying habits I’ve experienced is a.) when they text or email me when we’re both in the office just 50 feet away from each other, and b.) when they refuse to go meet with someone or call them because that requires talking to someone…they prefer email or texting to avoid the face to face conversation.
But don’t blame them, these kids have been told (all their lives) by their liberal parents that “they’re going to die from (insert cause)” every week. One week it’s climate change that is going to kill them, the next week it’s Trump, and before that it was global warming, COVID, conservative crazies, bird flu, you name it, their parents scared the crap out of them. Then their parents managed and scheduled their kids lives every minute of every day. Instead of free play leading to free range kids that can take on the world, they produced kids that need structure, need technology in their hands at every minute, and need someone directing them where to go next.
And of course, since they didn’t work a job in grade school or high school like we did, they don’t have a work ethic and they don’t know what a normal work environment is. They think the professor (i.e. their employer boss) is going to give them extra time when they don’t complete the assignment on time, because that is what they were conditioned to believe in high school and college. Can you blame them?
They also expect their employer to cater to them because that’s what mom and dad have been doing. Call me old fashioned and mean, but I told my kids in grade school that I’ll cover four years of college (or tech school) and that’s it. After that, they’re on their own.
When one of my kids said she wanted to move home to save money on rent while going to nursing school, I said ‘no’ and told her I would change the locks if I have to. (She went on to graduate and did quite well being on her own during school.) Another is doing the five year program in law school, while working full time. Each will be proud of their own achievements resulting from their own hard work, holding down a job while attending school. And we’re proud too.
My dad made me pay for my own way through college at a time when no student loans were available because ‘we’ didn’t qualify (i.e. he earned too much). It was a tight squeeze some weeks, but I managed by working up to 35 hours per week. Yea I missed football games and other fun stuff like getting drunk every friday night, but I also learned a lot more about business than my friends did and as a result, I hit the ground running with starting my own business rather than relying on others. I had built up the confidence to do so because I supported myself all the way through college.
I tried to impose the same skills and methods on my own kids. Once following a soccer game that my daughter’s team miserably lost, a mom literally told the kids that that they were winners and that they were going to Culver’s to celebrate. I took one look at the kids’ faces and saw how confused they were. They know they lost and no amount of lying by this mom would change that, so I butted in (I’m kind of known for that) and told the kids that what she said was wrong, that they lost, and that they weren’t going to Culver’s and that they should remember how they feel right now so that next time they’ll try harder to win.
To my surprise, the kids were relieved. They wanted to be admonished. Now they could move on and focus on the next thing and hopefully come back in a week and try to win. (And yes, winning is everything.) Coddling your young adult children doesn’t actually do them any favors either, and it produces weak, timid offspring that are afraid of the world, afraid to talk to people, and afraid to try new things, and worse, afraid to fail (because that limits their trying to succeed). Don’t be the liberal parent that scares their kid of the world. Instead, teach them how to react to a problem and how to take on a challenge and how to fight back against adversity. Good luck!
Wisconsin Right Now is a news organization focused on covering the news from a conservative point of view, in particular on politics and policy issues through analysis and opinions, and is protected by the first amendment of the United States constitution. WRN does not make endorsements of candidates or direct readers to vote for or against any candidate or issue. On October 18 and November 23, 2023 Donald Trump tweeted out on Trump’s Truth Social account T. Wall’s October 6th column on Trump’s property valuations. T. Wall has appeared on Fox News, Jesse Waters Show on Fox, Newsmax, CBS, NBC, Spectrum News 1, USA Today, X.com, YouTube, and numerous Madison and Milwaukee news programs and local newspapers (Wisconsin State Journal, Capital Times, Middleton Review, Middleton Times Tribune, and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and a dozen other Wisconsin papers) and previously wrote a column for InBusiness magazine and the Middleton Times Tribune for five years each. T. Wall holds a degree from the UW in economics and an M.S. in real estate analysis and valuation and his full time career is as a real estate developer. Disclaimer: The opinions of the writer are not necessarily those of this publication or the left!
