I am currently in a relationship with a Gen Y’er. I am very much a Gen X’er, stumbling through the technological age of faux social connection – texting, facebook, myspace, and twitter. I remember the days when if you connected with someone you were forced to put actual effort into it with a phone call or a physical visit.
I also remember the days when if you wanted information about something you had to look for it. These were the days where the Dewey Decimal System was something you had to actually pay attention to and journal articles were not available on-line. You had to march your happy little ass up to the library, buy a copy card, find the journal via Dewey and xeorox the article. There wasn’t a google. And there certainly wasn’t a twitter to complain about it to everyone.
I told him: you and the generation after you will be the end of us. Not him particularly. I’ve welcomed him into the safe haven of Gen X simply because he is, in fact, intellectually solvent. (Yes. I have the power to adopt worthy individuals into my generation if I feel like it. Don’t you worry about that.)
“You’re too hard on Gen Y and Gen Z,” he said.
“I think not,” I replied.
We let the debate rest because it was much too late for me to bust out my Power Point slides on how I was right, but today I have adequate proof that my observations of the up and coming generations are right on point.
Scrabble has changed its rules to attract more individuals of the younger generations. The game that is supposed to test and stretch your verbal creativity and vocabulary is now allowing proper names.
Some of you may be thinking: Who cares?
You are probably one of the Gen Y and Gen Z’ers I was talking about. -The doomed, People magazine reading, reality tv devouring, ignorant lost souls that have no idea about current events, sociopolitical ideologies, and anything that half resembles real newsworthy news. Your news is on E.
So, if this is you, don’t worry your pretty little head, my dear. Keep sipping your PBR and flipping through US magazine while texting Veronica and Betty about what an asshole I am for writing this.
The point is, kids, this is real capitalistic proof based on careful marketing strategies that Gen Y and Z are a bunch of nearly illiterate lazy people. If a corporation has to make changes due to sagging profit margins, then you know there is truth into what I'm saying. Mattel had to change the rules to entice the younger, less verbally skilled generations to partake in a game that is solely based on verbal acumen.
So, if all a person can contribute to in his/her everyday conversations are the names and whereabouts of celebrities or wannabe celebrities he/she loves, then he/she has a chance at competing at Scrabble. “Words” like: Heidi Montag, Snookie, and J Lo are now acceptable. We can now just use People and US magazine as “dictionaries” for Scrabble games.
Roll this over in your mind for one second. Take a deep breath.
We are doomed. The generations leading us into the future are more versed in nonsense than words. Words!
Although we are arguably more socially connected by rapidly communicating via various technological advances, we are doing so using very little verbal skill. LMFAO! OMG! WTF!
This is our future.
wtf.
