MSP128 [] Middlennials: The New Middle Age

Mocked for their love of avocado toast and artisan everything, as the first Millennials get ready to embrace middle age and middle management, it’s time for them to settle into comfortable khakis and let Gen Z do the heavy lifting.

Hosts: Matt Armitage & Jeff Sandhu
Produced: Jeff Sandhu for BFM89.9

Resources:
https://www.bfm.my

Excerpt:

Millennials. The generation that everyone loves to hate. But as the artisan food fanatics move towards Middle Age, MSP’s Matt Armitage thinks it’s time to reassess.

So no cheap jokes about avocado toast today?

• I don’t know - you tell me.
• Identifying the cut-off points for generations is = as we’ve remarked on previous shows - a bit of a fool’s errand.
• In fact, we did a couple of show a few weeks ago about my Generation C…

Where you laid out the case that generation are meaningless and the coronavirus has put us all in the same ‘bucket’ as you like to say. Are they suddenly more meaningful?

• In the sense that we’re heading back to some semblance of normality in a few lucky countries.
• Economies reopening. People going back to work. Limited international travel.
• Talk about schools reopening and in some countries they even have.
• So that shared experience - hopefully - is at or is coming to an end for most of us.
• It will be a shared memory - but it’s good that our experience diverges.
• No one under the age of 30 wants to hear this covidiot go on about his doomscrolling or coronacation.
• They’re too busy Zumping their latest Corona Bae.
• That means dumping someone over zoom in case anyone has the wrong idea.

We’ve talked about this before. You’re barred from using what you call ‘Young People Talk’…

• You can’t tell me to shut up any more.
• And that’s the purpose of this episode.
• When we talk about generations they are often quite loosely defined.
• In terms of date range.
• Were the first Millennials born in 79, 81, 83?
• So we’re going to use the Pew Research model - because it’s widely respected and accepted.

Unlike you?

• Gosh. Someone didn’t have his vanilla almond milk on his artisan granola this morning.
• So Pew defined Millennials as people who were born from 1981 to the end of 1996.
• Odd that - millennials were born in the last millennium.
• 1980 and under - you’re Gen X like me. Or Boomer if we roll back the mists of time.
• 97 - you’re Gen Z, digital native or whatever.
• So, today is a bit of a briefing episode.
• Essentially to welcome Millennials into the world of middle age.

Somehow that’s a very strange idea…

• The idea that they should be middle aged or that I’m the one welcoming them in?

Neither of those scenarios is ideal…

• Yeah - so over the last few months I’ve had various generational spats with people.
• Mostly the kind of people who call Greta Thunberg a Millennial.
• And that’s another reason for today’s show - as well as ushering Millennials into the world of khaki pants and beige blouses -
• It’s to illustrate how irritated the Gen Z-ers are at being lumped in with a bunch of Millennials they see as old people.

Old people. They see me as old people?

• Dude, the next gen, gen Alpha, the ones who are currently sitting at home not getting an education.
• That gen, Gen Alpha thinks Gen Z is old. You and me, we’re just dinosaurs to them.