In the past, those of us who have been around for awhile earned a sort of de facto respect from society. If you lived long enough to learn what you've learned, to gain your wisdom, and to become an expert at anything, that was worth the admiration of those around you. But leave it to millenials to screw up the machine, chiming in with their "yeah, whatever" attitudes which do nothing more than to remind the rest of us that our society is doomed.
We are all taught to respect our elders. After all, they know more than us, they have seen and done more than we have, and hell they've lived longer than us. It's not rocket science to realize that an older person has seen his share of ups and downs, and understands for the most part how the world works.
In sharp, incredibly annoying contrast, millennials look at those older than they as "obstacles, speed bumps and road blocks". Millenials, with their damn smartphones, tablets, Snapchat accounts and Instagram screen names, believe that they have got it all down, and that they don't need some "old fogie" telling them how to do things.
Sure, we did the same thing to elders when we were in our 20's and 30's. But what's different now is that this new crop of know-it-alls utilize technology, to gain some sort of "edge" over the rest of us, to the point where they flaunt their tech attitudes as if they are God's gift to the world. It annoys the hell out of me, if you couldn't already tell.
Age is something to be respected, something to be seen and admired, something to be earned. Just because you have a Twitter account doesn't make you journalist with great things to say. Just because your Instagram account has pics of The Great Wall doesn't make you a world traveler. You're just a kid with some technology in your back pocket.
Millenials are not the next great generation. They are the first guinea pig technology generation, who only think they are the greatest. Technology is using millenials to learn how not to do things, while at the same time taking money from them because it's so damn easy. Millenials need to learn to look past their devices and understand humanity.
... because society is made up of human beings, not internet accounts and touch screens...