“What we’re looking at is a generation of entitlement.” The man on the news spoke with an air of authority. He was an older white man, clean shaven with a full head of white hair, wearing a pinstripe suit and a red tie. “This is what happens when kids are given participation-” The sound of the television was sharply cut off by a ringing phone.
Just bill collectors, he thought, not bothering to look up from his breakfast, a styrofoam cup of noodles. He sat at a small plastic table with papers strewn about, one hand managing his noodles and another running along the text of a book. It was a biology textbook he’d had his nose in for the past 2 1/2 hours, since 5 AM. He put his fork down to pick up his pencil and jot down several notes on mitochondria as the phone stopped ringing.
The kitchen he sat in was sparse; the plastic table he sat at, the plastic chair he sat in, a refrigerator, a sink, a small oven, and a number of cupboards. Next to the sink sat a single cup, a single bowl, a single plate, a single fork, a single spoon, and a single knife. The cupboards contained a box of cup noodles, marked at $0.69 apiece. Next to them were a jar of peanut butter, marked at $2.23, and a loaf of white bread, marked at $1.88.
“You’re exactly right, John.” Another man on the news stated. He was an older white man, clean shaven with a full head of white hair, wearing a pinstripe suit and a red tie. “It’s an entire generation of coddled children. If this is what we’d had to offer in World War 2, the whole world would be speaking German right now. Our ancestors would be ashamed.”
He finished up his noodles and closed his textbook, sliding it into his backpack and standing up from the table. Slinging his backpack across his back, he walked over to the pantry, grabbed two more cups of noodles, and stuffed it into his backpack-they were going to be his lunch and dinner. He checked his schedule on the fridge- Biology from 8-9:15, English from 9:30-10:45, Anthropology from 12:00-1:15, Astronomy from 1:30-2:45, and then work at Target from 4:00 to 11:00. He was on the closing shift and it was the Holiday season, so he accounted for getting out at 12:30 and getting home at 1:00.
“Let’s just call it what it is,” Another man on the news chimed in. He was an older white man, clean shaven with a full head of white hair, wearing a pinstripe suit and a red tie. “ It’s laziness, pure and simple. These kids want everything given to them. Free college? Why not! Free healthcare? Sure, maybe the healthcare fairy can wave her wand and POOF, free healthcare! They don’t think about the costs of these things because they’ve never had any responsibilities in their entire lives! Everything was taken care of by mommy and daddy, but guess what kid? The real world don’t work like that. You know who has to pay for your college? Me, the taxpayer. You know who has to pay for your healthcare? Me, the taxpayer. I don’t think so. Get a job.”
He rushed from the kitchen to the living room to the door leading out of the apartment, a maneuver taking all of 8 steps to complete, grabbing his bike and opening the door. If I’m back by 1:00 AM, he thought, I can probably get my homework done by 3:00 AM, set my alarm for 6:00 AM, and study until 8:00. He was wheeling his bike out the door as he remembered he left the T.V. on- he couldn’t afford to leave the T.V. on all day while he was gone.
“I completely agree. These people simply don’t understand the meaning of a good day’s work. They have no work ethic, they want everything given to them.” The fourth man spoke. He was an older white man, clean shaven with a full head of white hair, wearing a pinstripe suit and a red tie. “I got to where I am because of hard work, and they should expect to do the same. I worked with my father in his oil business straight out of college and haven’t had a single day of being unemployed since, because I don’t simply expect the world to hand me everything I want on a silver platter. It takes hard work and dedication, something kids today simply lack. I fear for the future of our nation, frankly. This country wasn’t made great by lazy layabouts, it was made great by-” The T.V. flickered off and the man rushed out the door- he didn’t have much time to bike to school, and traffic was usually bad at this time of day.
Great irony. I like the humor of the identically dressed men with their white hair, blue suits and red ties. Maybe the ties could be slightly different Suggesting attempt to be original)–red stripes, red moire, red silk, red pattern–but in the end they are all the same…
I also like the oil baron son who had his job handed to him complaining about handouts…
How will this tension–seems like tectonic plates between the old & young–resolve? Could this specific incident connect to a larger incident that doesn’t seem related at first, but is exactly the same issue?
What would happen if this guy met another of these white old men at work–the CEO visits and they have an encounter…
http://www.forbes.com/sites/evapereira/2011/11/08/wealth-inequality-between-young-and-old-generations-reaches-record-high/#171e28d59e48
What kind of society keeps wealth for its elder and impoverished its youth? What kind of society does the reverse? What happens to a culture that does not support its youth?
I see this story could lead to some interesting tensions, conflicts and resolutions…
In all honestly I think this piece works fine as it does now. The implicit nature of it is well done, only evident in the contrasting discussion on the news. There’s a comprehensive and varied amount of detail given to the student’s life and the discussion on screen serves its purpose in reiterating the same point contradicting with the protagonist’s reality. If anything could be added to make it “sharper”, I would maybe suggest adding one moment of counterpoint within the news discussion to reference the reader’s perspective, only to be promptly rerouted back to the same point that today’s youth are “lazy”. Something like “We see a lot of these youth groups participating in and organizing protests about these very matters, what do you make of that? Surely that takes work.” To which the response would be “That’s called throwing a tantrum” or similar. But it’s definitely not necessary, again, this works well as is.