Is It Just Me… or Are Millennials Different?

Is it just me… or are millennials actually different?

This week on Navigating Between the Lines, I'm diving into all the things that make our generation... well, us. From AIM, Blockbuster and MapQuest to LOL, ankle socks, paper grocery lists and unexpected phone calls, we're unpacking the habits, memories and contradictions that define millennials.

I also asked you to share the most millennial thing you do, and your answers absolutely delivered.

If you've ever wondered why we all seem to say "I'll figure it out," this one's for you.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Okay, snap one two. I think I figured this out. We are gonna do this. I'm very excited. Is it just me or are millennials different? Hey everyone, welcome back to Navigating Between the Lines. Before we jump in, I just want to say thank you. You guys supporting this journey. I feel like I keep saying it every week, but the Substack, I am loving it. Every week I sit down and write whatever has been bouncing around in my brain. And I love seeing your replies. Definitely makes me feel better about key putting that out there. It's for sure less a newsletter and more of cure my thoughts. A B C D E F G. If you're not over there yet, I'd love to have you. The link is always in the show notes. So thank you. Today I want to talk about millennials. I don't know why this has been coming up so much in my conversations lately. Millennials ages 30 to 45 range. You're either in it or you know someone who's in it. And I don't know why this has been so interesting to me lately. Maybe because I'm turning 40 literally next month, or everything that I'm like doing, I'm like, oh, that's the millennial. It'd be. I don't know, but let's have some fun today. I put up a question box asking you, what's the most millennial thing that you do? And I was laughing because once you recognize the habits that we have or the little things we do characterize as millennial behavior, you cannot unsee it. Like anything else, I was curious how millennials are different from other generations. Number one, and I think the biggest thing is we remember life before the internet. And am I taking you back to sitting in your living room dialing up internet for the first time? Tell me you remember this. I was in middle school and I can remember being like, this is really cool. Also, we had landlines, and if you called your friends and it was busy, you would be like, AIM them and be like, I'm trying to call you, get off the internet. Or my mom needs the phone. And I mean, could we talk about AIM for a minute? Are you kidding me? Having kids in this age of where they can text, I think it would totally bring back AIM. Because, like, what a time to be alive. That and MySpace, I keep saying MySpace definitely needs to come back. Remembering life without devices in a digital world that kind of controls us now. I think that's why we all feel like we're constantly translating between these different worlds. We happen to grow up during one of the biggest shifts imaginable. And I honestly don't think we even realize how much of that shaped us. Think about it. I want to unpack what made us who we are, compare myself to some of the stereotypes, read some of your answers and see if we can figure out whether we're actually the elite generation, or we just think we are. LOL. Am I gonna edit that out? I don't know. When people say millennials are different, I actually think this is where it starts. Sometimes I don't think people realize just how much changed while we were growing up. We called someone's house and hoped that their parents did answer, or we answered the phone in our last names. At least that's what we did in my house, Taronjo's. This is Maggie. Like an answering service, but it was a house phone. We rented movies from Blockbuster. I actually just told the kids about that recently, like Friday night. We would browse the aisles and hope the new release was still available. They thought that was the craziest thing they've ever heard. Burn CDs. Are you kidding me? Tell me you don't have a love letter on a CD somewhere. Printed map quest directions. Our parents had no idea where we were until we came home. We left notes timestamped at the store, went to grandma's. That's something I actually really miss. I do try to bring back a note a time or two, but Justin would never see it. So I guess that's not gonna work. Do you remember getting on your bike and being like, be home for dinner? I do remember having a flip phone, maybe my senior year of high school, but I think, like, did it have minutes on it? So it wasn't just like an unlimited. I don't even remember using it actually, but I think I had one for emergencies. But then all of a sudden, everything sped up. I guess younger millennials will have a different version of this, but Facebook came out in 2004, the year I went to college. And I remember Facebook just being friends at my college. You had to be in college to get one. And we put these ridiculous Facebook posts up. Do you ever get the memories of those? I delete them constantly all the time. I'm like, what who are you? What were you? What were you posting? And the photo albums of drunk photos from the weekend. I'm gonna say this over and over, but could you imagine doing that now? We didn't have any cares about who saw what they look like. Everyone commented and like zero anxiety. Similar to Instagram. When we first got Instagram, everybody was using the Valencia or whatever filter, and it was just a picture of flowers with the little blur around it. Happy Tuesday. Now there's Uber, online shopping, streaming services, working from our phones, video calls, AI. It's almost impossible to explain to someone younger just how much changed during our lifetime. We weren't born into this world that's happening now, but we watched it happen. And I honestly think that's made us incredibly adaptable. But maybe almost incredibly tired. Because just when you figure one thing out, everything changes again, which maybe that's why so many millennials feel like they're just winging adulthood. And I'm starting to call myself old with certain things because I do not get it. All this new technology, I'm just like not that great with it. Even doing this podcast, you guys, I'm here at the library doing my thing every week, but I wish I had a little bit more what's what, what to do. Also, my job has never required me to be on Zooms or work like that. So maybe I'm an outlier. And I just don't really want to learn all that either. I just kind of want someone to do it for me or show me. Have you seen those reels? It's like, I ripped off a 12-page pay-per-do the next day, no problem. That's why millennials are basic. And I'm like, no, that's me 100%. I was a procrastinator. I still am, but always hit a deadline. I probably never did a 12-page paper too. Like, let's, let me be honest, maybe eight still. It wasn't just technology that changed, life itself changed. Growing up, I feel like there was almost a script. Like you go to school, you get a job, you buy a house, get married, have kids. Just a simple timeline. Except it wasn't. Housing changed, the economy changed, jobs changed, everything got more expensive. In truth, I graduated college in 2008 when the housing market crashed. And I don't even really remember that. I don't know what world I was living in. I think I was just still going out that wasn't even on my radar that year. And I was just getting a job. I did start a business the next year. And now what some would say was the worst time. I love the naiveness that I had back at 22 years old. Sometimes I wonder, though, did millennials delay adulthood or did adulthood become harder to reach? Because those are two very different conversations. Let's compare some notes. I started comparing all these articles to myself and I wasn't checking every box of like what a millennial has. When I tell you, I just heard that using LOL is a millennial thing. That's why I said that earlier. I use it basically after everything I type. Like, no, literally. And I cannot stop seeing that I do that now. It's just like habit, LOL. And I'm not using it because it's like the funniest thing I'm typing out. But apparently we're always joking to make sure the text lands friendly enough. My mom used LOL all the time, just on its own. And for a while I just ignored it. Like, who knows? Like, I don't know what she's talking about, whatever. But one day I asked her and she's like, no, it means lots of love. And ugh, like, yes, mom, yes, it does mean that. I do love that. Chloe will use it like that now too, because she knows that Nana did that. Anyway. But I also use emojis daily. And have you ever texted someone who doesn't use an emoji? I'm like, are they mad? Do they hate me? I have a couple older friends and they never use emojis. Not like older, but you know, older, not a millennial. And I'm like, it's 100% a generational thing. Some adapted, some didn't. I think when you can look at it like that, it's just very interesting. Okay, who Googles the restaurant before they go? Menus and reviews. This is not me. I've never pre-read a menu before, but I know some of you do. I will look at the photos of like the restaurant, make sure it's cute inside, but that's it. But the people who know where they are parking before they leave the driveway, that is very millennial of you. You guys know I love a phone call. Ring ring. I will always call. But millennials as a whole hate unexpected phone calls. It's a text first. I have to tell you, actually, this weekend we were talking about conspiracies. I mean, it's like not that serious. It's supposed to be funny. And if we actually landed on the moon or not, this is a really fun topic. And I love hearing everyone's thoughts on this because people have a lot of thoughts. Like, do you think we landed on the moon? Or no? Anyway, Justin's like, hang on, I know someone who used to work at NASA. Like, let's call him. I said, When's the last time you talked to him? He goes, I don't know, six months, maybe a year. And he facetimed him and this person answered. We were dying, but I'm like, okay, Justin's gonna be 45 this month. So he's on the tail end here. And I loved it. Like I love a FaceTime and further, someone who answers. He works at NASA and he said we 100% landed on the moon. So I was like, you've been brainwashed. LOL. Okay. Um, I'm actually having fun in here. I'm just in here by myself. Again, who has a million tabs open in your brain at all times? Some are important. Some are wondering if I switch the laundry, some are replaying something I said three weeks ago. And I guess if I'm being honest, that one feels less like a millennial thing and more just like me. But why I'm loving this conversation today is we all fit some of these and none of us fit them all. It's very navigating between the lines of us. Have you subscribed yet to this podcast? Hashtag L O L. Okay, uh, let's get into your answers on the most millennial thing you do or know of. This was good, you guys. Thanks for answering there, navigating between the lines on Instagram. I love when you guys interact with that page. Okay, number one, wearing ankle socks. Listen, I know the cool kids are wearing those crew socks, but I'm also an ankle sock for life. I'll even go for a no-show. So you can't even like see my socks, unless I need a smart wool for something, but that is a rare, rare occasion. Uh, next up, ending sentences with an exclamation point. This one was really funny to me because I do know someone who always does this, sometimes multiple exclamations. And I'm always like, why are you yelling? But now I'm like, no, that is just peak millennial behavior. Okay, one of you said loves a side part, ripped jeans forever, and proudly in my mahjong pickleball era. Still don't know if I'm saying that properly. Hang on, is mahjong a millennial thing? I gotta like, hang on, I gotta Google that really quick. Hang on. It's absolutely become a major millennial and Gen Z trend. Okay. Transforming from a traditional or retirement past type into a fashionable face-to-face social activity. This is crazy. Okay, anyway, welcome to the party, Maggie. Mahjong is quickly becoming a millennial trend. I guess I just thought it was a the new thing. I don't think I'm gonna learn that one anytime soon, but I am here for it. I love, I love that for you. Okay, what about your list? Like a list for anything that you gotta do. I am a paper and pen type of girl. In fact, I was in the grocery store last week and I ran into someone I know. She's like, you got to get the skylight, and then your Alexa can just add whatever you need to the grocery list, and then it uploads it, and then you have it on this like little app. And she's showing me all this stuff. And I'm like, listen, we have a whiteboard for our calendar that I replace every month. I do not have an Alexa, and here's my like I literally had my pen and paper note, which I was laughing. She's a little younger than me. So this is when I'm like, tell me I'm not alone here. Pen and paper for life. Just like a book. I love a good physical book to read. But who knows, we might be like split on that one. What shows raised you? Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Gossip Girl, Sex in the City, Gilmore Girls. What other ones am I missing? What's that? Um, California, the OC. That was a good one. And have you watched This Is 40, the movie lately? I'm telling you, I we just watched it like recently, and I was like, this is hilarious and highly relatable. I don't think when it came out, I thought it was, I probably thought it was funny, but it wasn't as funny being like, okay, like we're 40. And the, I mean, it's really funny. Anyway, I always say anyway, don't I? Is that a millennial thing too? I'm not sure. But reading all of your responses, one thing kept standing out to me. We're kind of full of contradictions. Here's where I think millennials are fascinating. We say we hate our phones, but we use them to stay connected. We say we want slower lives, but we also answer emails at a baseball practice. We tell everyone to protect their peace, then apologize for taking too long to respond. We care deeply about mental health, thankfully, but we're also incredibly hard on ourselves. We want boundaries, but we don't always know how to stop people pleasing. And we joke about burnout because sometimes laughing is easier than admitting we're exhausted. And somehow it became a personality trait to power through and handle things. This one isn't new if you've listened to this podcast before about friendships. I think millennials crave connection more than almost anything. Not networking, not collecting friends, but real authentic connection. We're the generation that sends memes that say, This made me think of you. We voice note, we send reels to each other. It's a love language. We text after dinner saying, that was so much fun. Like, can't wait to do it again. We are also the ones who are quickly becoming like, we don't care about a lot. Like, thanks for coming along, but I'm moving on. Actually, have you heard of the campfire theory? I just heard this. It was like, think about a campfire. Some start at the beginning and they help you get it started. Other ones sit and chat for a while. And then there are the rare few who sit all the way through to the end of the fire. Basically, it's like the analogy that not everyone is meant to sit at the fire all night. And I think also, what a great analogy for life. Because we're okay with it. Like it's really okay. Not everything has to be like a dramatic exit. Maybe this is our superpower. The more I thought about this episode, the more my algorithm fed me all the millennial humor. And honestly, the accuracy, it's really funny. But think about what we are really doing right here. We are willing to talk about therapy. We're going to therapy. We are more open about grief. We are trying to raise emotionally healthy kids. We question traditions instead of blindly following them. We're willing to start over, change careers, build businesses, learn new skills, figure things out, start a podcast. LOL. But when I correlate it to my life, I think that's me too. You know, I have my bookkeeping job that I love every couple of weeks. I'm building this podcast. I'm writing every week on Substack. I'm dreaming about what's next. I don't think that's because I have all the answers. I mean, I don't. I think it's because somewhere along the way, our generation became really good at saying, I've never done this before, but I'm going to figure it out. And maybe that's the defining trait of millennials, not avocado toast or skinny jeans, but adaptability. You know what's funny too is because Google told me that millennials have become the generation of, meh, I'll figure it out. Need to hang a TV, YouTube, need a new recipe, you can Google it. Need to learn something. There's probably a podcast for that. Trying to figure out why your dishwasher is making that weird noise. Someone on the internet has already made a 10-minute video about it. Want to start a business? You'll spend three hours Googling it and somehow convince yourself that you can totally do it. And most of the time we do. I don't remember anyone really teaching us how to do half the things we're doing now. Like, think about what you learned in college. Are you using your college degree? It's just a question. I don't, I don't know. But I think we just figured things out as we went on. And maybe that's because we had to. I mean, I always say I'm surrounded by all these women who just take charge and take the lead and go do the thing. The figure outers, I think I said that two episodes ago. And that's just become part of who we are, which is kind of amazing. We don't always know what we're doing, but we're usually willing to learn about it. And I actually love that about our generation. I mean, we can joke all we want about we were in fields or we were doing this back in our day and nobody knew about it and it wasn't on the internet. And I think all that's true. And after spending way too much time thinking about this, I actually think we are the elite generation. I'm obviously biased because I'm in it, but we happen to grow up during one of the biggest periods of change any generation has experienced. That's a fact. We learned one way of living and then spent the next 20 years rewriting the manual. Maybe that's why we question so many things, like the moon landing, overthink why we care so much about connection. Or maybe we're just people trying to navigate life the best we can. Which, if you've listened to this podcast for any amount of time, you know that's kind of what we're all about here. If you enjoyed this episode, you guys, I'd love if you shared it with another millennial who will absolutely text you back and say, okay, I feel seen or I feel attacked. And if you're looking for a little more navigating between the lines each week, come join me on Substack. That's where I share the thoughts that don't always make it into an episode, the behind the scenes moments, and the conversations that continue long after this microphone turns off. As always, thank you for being here. Thank you for listening, and thank you for navigating between the lines with me. I'll see you next week.