March 14, 2014

Please excuse the soapbox and rant in advance. 

Recently I saw an article the was very derogatory and belittling to my generation of adults that are not "taking care" of their parents. It went into detail about how it would be the least we could do to care for them after all they sacrificed for us. 

At first I didn't think much of it. But as it festered in the back of my mind and as other "events" have transpired I feel obligated to say screw you to the author of the article. You don't know me. You don't know my situation or of my family. You have no idea what we as a generation went through growing up or deal with in our lives. We didn't ask to be born and we certainly didn't ask our parents to make sacrifices. They did that on their own.  And let's face it, some sacrificed a lot less than others!

Yes, our parents probably did make sacrifices for us as kids, but if they are not sick or disabled and we have families and kids of our own, why are we still being expected to suffer? What if the parent in question is simply lazy? Why should our children and my families suffer? Why should we have to get second and third jobs to support them and miss out on the lives of our kids... Who ironically did to ask to be brought into his world? Why do we have to miss out on things that we worked hard to earn because of their poor choices. 

My generation (30-40 years old) has parents that are 50-75 years old as whole. Most of those parents are contented, able bodied adults. There are a few that are sick and in need of assistance, but as a whole they are a healthy generation. Why is my particular age group being targeted? 

Life is not fair. We know this, it's not news. I was not given any breaks growing up. I struggled often and received help from some pretty great people, who received help growing up. But now that I'm starting to get back on my feet, I'm being attacked and punished by people who have done very little to help me or encourage me in my life.  At what point do we, as a generation, get to say enough is enough?! I suffered, did my time and figured it out. Now it's your turn.