Life In The "Age Of Entitlement"

It's finally happened... I've had to deal with Millenials at work. These insidious creatures are like nothing I've ever experienced before & my loins have not been properly girded. I can deal with insane deadlines, mysoginist, alcoholic bosses & even people who use the microwave, but stop cooking their food with 10 seconds left to go & never hit the STOP/CLEAR button, but never anything like this utter bullshit in the workplace.

I made the mistake of mentioning "the M-word" to my 28 year-old team counterpart and she actually had the audacity to tell me that HER generation works twice as hard as mine... After I stopped laughing, I asked her if she had ever drove a client presentation to the Fed-Ex at O'Hare airport at 9:45 at night, because it HAD to be there by 8 AM the next day or whether she had ever been asked to take the boss's car to a local car wash to get it spruced up before a big, client visit to the office?... Or what about starting at an entry-level position, for very little pay & then working your way up for incremental raises, just so you could "learn" the business? Another newish chick actually had the nerve to bitterly complain to me about another person in the office, who was able to work remotely, even though he's technically a new hire & company policy dictates that you have to have put in 90 days before that's allowed (nevermind the fact that he's worked for the company before, has a ton of experience & has history with the management, plus he lives really far away). In other words, she felt "entitled" to the same benefits, even though she's only been with the company for a month!

But my favorite experience thus far has been with a young, gay man, who I had become pals with, but recently had a small disagreement with & subsequently apologized to. I felt very badly about the disagreement & came into the office a few days afterwards to fnd him standing near my workspace, chatting with another co-worker. I gave him a gentle hug, wished him a "Happy Monday", told him I loved him & then went about starting my day. Thirty minutes later, I recieved an instant message from him, blasting me for hugging him without his permission & making him feel uncomfortable because I did it IN FRONT of other people.

I was completely gobsmacked by his response & then nearly went ballistic when, another thirty minutes later, I got an invitation from HR to meet with the director for a "checking in on things" meeting. The interesting thing about getting this invite is that I had already had a good "checking in" chat with her the week prior, so clearly this was going to be a meeting to discuss my perceived "wrongdoing". I responded to the young man's rather aggresive IM to me, by telling him that I had felt REALLY bad about our disagreement, but since I had apologized & he never responded, I assumed we were good. I further went on to explain that he had once again, misinterpreted my meaning & I had hugged him purely as a gesture of kindness & goodwill... Oh and by the way, it was a HUG, FFS, not a personal attack on his space!

I guess this is what it's come down to, a simple hug needs a trigger warning & must be done in a safe space, because you might OFFEND someone's sensibilities! I do understand how some people might not be "touchy feely" types, but again, it's a common social gesture of niceness, so why turn it into a potential "molestation" or "harassment" issue?! If it's such a problem for you, then perhaps it's really YOUR issue, not mine. And honestly, if you have a problem with something I say or do, how about being man enough to come and talk to me about it face-to-face, rather than running to HR and making a mountain out of a molehill & taking things to a place that they don't even need to go to?! Because apparently, it's so much easier to flip the script & cause unecessary drama!

So now, I get to have my time wasted being chastized by HR, for an innocuous display of affection, as well as the aggravation this guy's "sense of entitlement" has caused me... I don't think he's even thought about the fact that his response of making things "go to eleven" is certainly not going to engender any good feelings from me, nor will it make me ever want to deal with him again. I'm actually kind of glad that he's now shown me who he really is, because now I can handle him appropriately, which will mean a complete freeze out & total blanking, since I really don't interact with him on a daily basis, other than the ocassional workplace chatter. I may leave him with a parting gift though... A t-shirt that says, "Save the drama for the stage!".