Are Gen Y too lazy too work?

[dunno001]

Ugh, friggin stereotypes. No, we're not lazy, dammit. I remember looking for a job at 14, I had my working papers in hand and all, but no dice. The closest I found was that one McDonalds would be willing to hire at 15 for cleaning tables. (Of course, there was no opening there for that once I turned 15.) So I started looking right before I turned 16 again, and found a retail job; they hired me to start 2 days after my 16th birthday. It's not glamorous, but hey, it was money, and it meant that I could get what I wanted.

Now, some complain about loyalty. Even when I was going to school, I kept this job. Even when I went to college, I transferred this job, to retransfer back for the summer. I was there for about 5 years or so, moving up the chain in the meanwhile. (I went from floor associate to cashier to service desk to cash office.) I was in the cash office for a couple of years, waiting for another chance to open up. 3 more years pass, and a position for administrative coordinator opens up. I've actually been doing some of the things this position pertains to for a bit under the table. (I was the only non-supervisor who had access to request supplies to order, access to the sales reports, and even cashier tracking reports.) Now, I put in for it, and I'm told by the administrative manager that I'm one of 2 people who put in for it. But the store manager has to make the decision, and she decides to hire a person from the outside, AND has the nerve to ask me to train this person for some of the responsibilities of it. (Admin coord has to know cash office.) He lasted about a month, then she decided to give it to the other person in the store, and again, training for cash office fell on me. Of course, I asked about this, and was told flat out that the manager didn't trust my loyalty. So... I've been working here for 8 years, and for what? Nothing, apparently. This was when I saw I had no future in this store, and decided to move and transfer out. And again, the same crap happened in the other store, with no reason given. A little more than 10 years with the company, and I quit, because I wasn't going to move up any more; they decided to keep hiring more outside people. And yes, I had another job before quitting here. The only reason it didn't last was because my bank got bought out by the devil itself (Capital One), and they decided to close all supermarket locations. Obviously, there wasn't space for everyone, and some had to be let go. With my being the newest at our location, I expected to be let go, and started hunting for another job, which I hold now.

But... you want to know why I think the older generations, at least in the US, are whining about us being "lazy"? It's because they saw what all the prior generations have done- retire and then collect social security. However, with the system facing severe financial straits, they're worried that it'll go broke before they die, and hence, not get paid their whole life. They thing we should work 2-3 jobs just to pay for the rest of their life. Meanwhile, I object to paying into a system that's going to be gone before I retire, not seeing a cent of my money come back. We're not going to have this retirement option, yet those older ones think they're entitled to it, and they shouldn't have to do what we're going to have to do- work until we die.