I grew up in an age of technology,

Where modern is my normal,

People watching is my psychology

I live off quinoa and zucchini noodles

But don’t get me wrong,

I love pasta too.

I adore fancy notebooks with doodles

I smile when someone says that’s so you.

I am a millennial.

 

Millennials are killing society says society

We don’t buy right and we eat wrong

Your sacred department stores are disappearing for our trendier shops.

Bar soaps are a thing of the past, as are lunches

But at least we kept avocado toast during brunches.

Oh wait.

All that avocado toast is draining our bank accounts

We can’t afford that house with a picket white fence.

Oh wait.

We didn’t want it anyways.

Bang, bang, bang.

“You are murdering industries”, you say.

“Our ways of living are dying at the hand of your lifestyle.

You guys are lazy and so picky
You have put everything on trial.

Like you are the judges and we have to prove we are worthwhile.”

 

Stop.

 

Isn’t that what you have taught us? millennials say

To question everything and take nothing for granted.

We don’t go shopping because the lines are too long

But I will pay more for that shirt for a tree to be planted.

The CD is dead because my phone is my song

But let me remind you before you call me a murderer

Not buying cd’s reduces the amount of waste in the world.

And that shirt bought online is still cheaper than that designer

While also making sure that the world is still a reaper

See we are saving what you have been killing

Like the trees and the coral reefs

You call us lazy, then tout that

Millennials have killed the nine-to-five

When we don’t go on vacation

You call us crazy while forgetting our work drive

You guys begged for change, millennials are just carrying out your wish

So stop saying millennials are killing society

Because we are not the problem

We are the solution.

 

We are not lazy, we are just willing to wait for what is worthy of our time

And not tolerant for anything less.

No I won’t just buy that car

Not because I want to kill the vehicle industry

But because I want to be financially savvy

It isn’t us against society

There really isn’t a tally.

See us for who we are, not for what you are prejudiced to see

See we grew up during 9/11 and the recession

Our childhoods are breaking news and empty promises

Leaving us with less answers and more questions.

Are we narcissistic or just independent?

Either way we are the ones to step up to the plate

Unsure of what the future looks like

Only knowing that our shot is one in the dark

But if we swing hard enough

We will hit that wall and that ceiling

To let light in places where it has been dark for a while.

So give us the keys to the kingdom and see what we do with it.

Give us shoes and we will walk a mile in it

You don’t even need to open the door

You just need to let us walk through it.