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Whiny Gen-Yers Dare To Want 'Fulfilling' Work

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It's time to steel ourselves for the coming generation of professional kite-boarders, It girls, life coaches, and "passionate" yoga instructors, according to the New York Times. Gen Y-ers, says Lisa Belkin, have been so coddled by their boomer parents that they think work should be "meaningful" and should, under no circumstances, involve photocopying (insert malevolent cackle here).

This is apparently the fault of parents like Elizabeth Lluch, who says of her children: "I want them to find work that makes them feel good about themselves, helps them define who they are, and helps them find peace within themselves. It's not about making a bunch of money, but finding a little niche for oneself in a world that is very fast-paced, busy, and impersonal."

But, says Belkin, this can be a dodgy message during a recession, when little Phoebe might not get to be a celebrity stylist right now, and Julian might have to defer his love of gaming and, you know, get a real job. Thankfully for these kiddies, a writer named Daniel Pink has published a book called The Adventures of Johnny Bunko, a "career guide cum manga comic" about navigating the work place in your '20s. To which we say, if you can't even read a book about careers unless it has pictures, you're probably not destined for much more than a gig at Kinkos.

I don't understand?! Whats so wrong with the idea of wanting a job thats fulfilling? Everybody should be so lucky to have a job that makes them happy. I don't remember ever reading in a job description that the job should make you miserable. Yes and money be damned! We may be a recession, but that isn't our fault, perhaps if we had the revenue required to fight this war we wounldn't be in this pickle. But your right we should just all sell out our creative minds to become investment bankers. Who needs great literature or art or teachers, because we are in hard times and we as the people need to make up for our goverments faults in handling the economy.

Posted by: Lee_Harvey on April 17, 2008 1:40 PM

Passionate yoga instructors are great. But with the Great Depression Part Deux looming and all, I think the young people should also be exploring options like turnip farming and animal husbandry. When President Hillary uses her emergency powers to collectivize agriculture and relocate the population of NYC to Nebraska, getting gigs as a celebrity stylist or a teevee blogger might prove even more difficult than it is today.

Posted by: Jebediah on April 17, 2008 2:03 PM

I think your being a little unrealistic in your idea of what kind of jobs young people will be looking for. T.V. blogger and hair stylist? Yeah not so much. We are in bad times, but Great Depression? Really? Oh and President Hillary Haha thats laughable. I honestly hope your joking!

Posted by: Lee_Harvey on April 17, 2008 2:21 PM

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