A lot of people in this world think things are “owed” to them.
They deserve this or that.
In some cases, they are right. Let’s say we step into McDonald’s and go to the counter to order. We smile and say, “One stupendous Big Mac, please.” And then we pay the lady the arm and the leg they are charging that day. And wait. Well. At that point, the Big Clown owes us one Big Mac.
Yes. We pay for something, and we get something in return. That is how things typically work.
Another example? We work our butts off every day for four years at college. We attend all our classes. We write our papers, take our tests, and study the material. We commit it to memory. We apply it. And so on. Once our courses are all completed with excellent grades, the University owes us a diploma.
We paid a price, if you will, and now we expect to have the goods rendered unto us.
But these days, there seems to be an attitude of “entitlement” drifting about.
Bless their hearts, it started with the Millennials, mostly. Millennials are the children of baby boomers, who are also known as the Me Generation, who then produced the Me Me Me Generation. They were born between 1980 and 2000. Millennials are the ones who started the “selfie” movement too.
This has trickled down now, to the subsequent generations. Generation Z. And Gen Alpha.
But a curious thing has happened. It trickled up, too. Many people in Generation X, and even Baby Boomers, have adopted this air of entitlement. Instant gratification.
I must offer a disclaimer here.
The “Instant Gratification” disclaimer. All my life, I’ve had a little bit of this. When I sit down at a restaurant, I want service “now” or pretty close to it. When I flip on my computer, I want the thing to fire up and be ready in seconds. I want websites to load quickly. Same with TV shows that I stream.
There is the classic story from my early childhood. I was probably five years old. We took a big family day excursion to Cedar Point. As we were leaving the park after dusk, there before us stood a single oasis of neon, one loan food vendor. But in its glowing beauty, the sign said, “Salt Water Taffy.” Oh, me. I loved salt. (Still do.). And I loved taffy. I wanted some. Mom and Dad said, “Let’s wait and get it another time.” Oh. They couldn’t fool me. This Cedar Point thing didn’t happen every day. So, I pitched a royal fit. Crying and screaming bloody murder for a box of salt water taffy.
Mom and Dad caved. Through the sobs on the way home, I was given a piece of the stuff. It was green. I didn’t like it. That did not go over well.
I remember that story so well because whatever they said to me after, let me know that I was being a selfish little brat and my behavior had been embarrassing to everyone in the family. Lesson learned. It left a mark on me.
Back to the new generations. I don’t think these marks are being made with them. They are encouraged to be me, me, me.
I blame technology for a great deal of this. Again, back to my youth. We had to get up to change the station on our TVs. There were only three channels. We had to wait another week for our favorite show to come on. If we wanted the answer to a question about the tallest building in the world, we had to get up and get a dictionary or encyclopedia. Or wait until we could get a ride to the library. We had to wait.
These newer generations never knew those things.
Everything is at their fingertips, and it always has been since they were born.
I think waiting is good for us sometimes, as hard as it may be.
It teaches us patience. It reminds us to be level-headed and calm as we anticipate the thing to come.
And the world needs just a little more calm.
It needs to take a deep breath now and again.
And wait.
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“The greatest rewards come to those who have the patience to wait. The world is filled with the instant, but the worthwhile requires time.” — Ralph Ransom
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“The inability to delay gratification is one of the most serious personal problems of our time.” — M. Scott Peck
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“Entitlement is the opposite of gratitude.” — Brené Brown
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“The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.” — Neil deGrasse Tyson
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Take a number, will ya’?
