Why yes, you are correct im-the-asshole-that. I really really hate boomers constantly shitting on my generation.
At my job, I once had to take a training course called “Dealing with Difficult People.” And during that course, for no apparent reason, the instructor started off on a rant about millenials which quickly devolved into the entire room of boomers bitching about my generation. At one point, one lady called us “animals.”
When I raised my hand to point out that this was disrespectful, I was told “it’s okay, you’re not like them.” At which point I snapped and asked HOW. My experiences are their experiences. You know what we saw when we grew up? We saw a housing market collapse. We saw the beginning of a war on terror so vaguely defined as to have no visible end. We saw an entire generation stick their fingers in their ears and shout “GLOBAL WARMING ISN’T REAL AND IF IT IS IT’S A PROBLEM FOR THE NEXT GENERATION.”
We’ve been told that “you better go to college if you want a good job” only to graduate to find that there are no jobs available because the work force ISN’T RETIRING. We’ve seen the cost of higher education increase OVER 1,000% in the last four decades. A college credit that cost an day’s minimum wage in the 70’s costs us 60 days of work. Those of us who graduate with student loans are told that if we couldn’t afford it we shouldn’t have gone. Those who don’t go are told that we can’t expect a job without a college degree.
We’ve grown up in a world where the acceptance rate at Harvard is higher than the acceptance rate at a new Walmart. We’ve been told that you were grateful for you job flipping burgers, but you were paid the equivalent of $14-$15 an hour to do so. We’ve had employers cut our work week to 39 hours to get out of paying for our healthcare.
I’ve worked in fast food and you want to know a secret? I have never had a problem with teenagers. If they get rowdy or messy they mean no harm. In fact, most of them will stop if you tell them. All they want is a fucking milkshake and a corner to themselves The customers that cause the most problems? They’re middle aged. I had a customer berate me, cuss at me, and call me stupid and ask if I failed math when I told him he hadn’t given me enough money to pay his check. When he finally accepted he was in the wrong, he told me I shouldn’t have made such a big deal out of it because it was “bad customer service” even though any shortage comes out of my paycheck. That sense of entitlement is something I rarely see in millenials.
We’re told in legitimate publications, in TIME MAGAZINE, just how little you think of our generation, how little you RESPECT us and yet you ask for our unquestioning devotion. Well guess what, IT DOESN’T WORK LIKE THAT. You’ve ruined our economy, our housing market, our job market, our environment, and our climate. You continually mock us, demonize us, and leave us to clean up your messes.
RESPECT IS EARNED, and you have done nothing to earn it. And it’s ironic that I have to have this discussion here because at this moment you are the difficult people I am having to deal with.
I was then told I was overly confrontational and would apparently benefit from being sweeter when being called an animal (I may have continued loudly talking over the “instructor” when she tried to cut me off). But the other sole millenial and I shared a loving glance across the room and absolutely lambasted this instructor in the evals and she’s never been invited back to teach that course, so it’s all okay.
Hi, everyone! Just because I see this every year, I thought I’d do a little fanfic PSA. For all you sports anime / slice of life anime / etcetera fans in particular writing things about contemporary Japanese people living in Japan, here’s a handy guide to what to include and not include in your basic fluffy Christmas fic to make it realistic (note: yes, there are some Christians and non-nationals living in Japan, and of course it’s fine to write any way you want, but if you WANT to be a little more accurate, here’s a dandy list based on observations of a small fishing/farming village):
What you will not see:
Kissing under the Mistletoe. The plant exists, but the concept of kissing under it does not. I’m sure some people must, emulating Western traditions, but when I lived in Japan and we did a unit on Christmas, not just the students at my school but also the teachers had never heard of the custom.
Turkey/Ham. They don’t have it. Protip: if you’re writing about a foreigner visiting Japan who really wants to eat these things (or Kraft, or Alfredo sauce, or root beer, or what have you), you can place orders with foreign food importers like the Foreign Buyer’s Club or through many military installations in Fukuoka, Tokyo, Okinawa, etc. But your average Japanese supermarket will not have these.
Cranberry sauce / sweet potatoes / green bean casserole / any kind of casserole / pie. It’s just not happening.
Lots of religious-themed decorations (anything involving Jesus, crosses, the nativity). About 1% of the Japanese are Christian, and most of those are quite conservatively Christian (coming from the Jesuit tradition). In general, cross decorations are seen as more “creepy” than religious (think pentagrams–a religious symbol that mainstream people don’t really understand used to invoke a vague sense of spookiness).
Live Christmas trees in homes. Some people might do this?? Not sure??? But no one I knew ever did and the concept sounded “Strange and very messy” to my friends over there.
What you will see:
Fried Chicken. This is the “traditional” Japanese Christmas food.
Lines at KFC. Get your reservation early.
Roast and fried chickens in front of every store and covering every table at the supermarkets. Did I mention the chicken?
Christmas Cake. It’s a sponge cake with frosting. Frequently has nuts and is covered in fondant, can be a roll cake.
Romance. Christmas is considered a very romantic holiday, so expect to see a lot of kissing (though not the level of PDA you’d see in America), a lot of hand-holding, and a lot of couples taking walks together.
Christmas lights. To be fair, Japan will take any excuse to put up festive lights.
Character-based decorations. Santa, Rudolph, etc. are very popular.
The song “Jingle Bells.” It’s the Christmas song. It’s also the ONLY Christmas song that my students could name or hum.
Karaoke. You never don’t see Karaoke.
Again: feel free to write anything and any way you want! And this is far from an exhaustive list, and of course, your experience may vary. This is just mine. 🙂 Happy Holidays!
I had weird dreams last night. Bitter sweet. I got to see my dad again, and he was happy, talking to famous dead musicians about other bands they like. It was so cute and I miss him so much.
And then right after I dreamed about a dinner party where all of the people I’d had a falling out with were there and they’d saved a seat for me? Like… what? Do they not really hate me? Nothing was resolved. I don’t want to eat with those people. But still, it felt so nice to be wanted…
Ugh I just feel really sad and lonely now. Gonna spend the day cleaning….
